Digital transformation markets well underway

A NEW REPORT by MIT Technology Review Insights in association with Huawei, finds that digital transformation in Asia-Pacific markets including Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, Australia, and New Zealand is already heavily underway particularly in terms of internal systems, products, and services.

From follower to leader: Digital transformation and the road to 5G, found the digitalisation of manufacturing and supply chains is lagging, but will be substantially accelerated by the launch of 5G. Key findings for the manufacturing sector include:

• Southern Asia-Pacific is a front-runner in the digital era.

• Homegrown companies are solving unique regional challenges.

• Manufacturing is a gap and an opportunity. Survey respondents reported the lowest level of digital transformation in their manufacturing and supply chain processes.

• The survey also found that manufacturing would be the industry to benefit the most from 5G availability across the region. The technologies selected as having the greatest impact across the six countries were IoT, AI and cloud computing.

• Asia-Pacific is already a test-bed for 5G. Experts expect immediate impact in manufacturing first, and later in mass IoT, smart cities, and autonomous vehicles.

• Companies expect 5G within two to three years

• Regulatory reform, data security, and organisational stasis are obstacles to digital transformation in the 5G era.

• While manufacturing is the landing site of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), the blurring of boundaries between software and the physical world means these same tools are reaching the pocket, the home, the street and the farm, from consumer devices to smart cities and even agriculture.

• Companies in southern Asia-Pacific have already made the greatest headway in transforming enterprise technology and internal systems, followed by customer-facing processes and products and services. The lag is in manufacturing and supply chain with 36 percent being either behind the industry or unsure of how their business compares to peers.

• Manufacturers are among the first adopters of 5G with 61 percent of survey respondents saying that this sector will benefit the most.

• Asian automotive manufacturers, and the supply chain participants, will need to play an active role in the 5G era to compete as makers of tomorrow’s vehicles.

• In some respects, the 5G era will build upon the current ecosystem and players: a majority of survey participants (53 percent) think original equipment manufacturers (OEM) should lead tie-ups within the industry in the 5G era, and 82 percent believe that telco operators will lead the 5G ecosystem.