In face of the push for digital transformation, with much of it being catalysed by the global pandemic and a need to increase future business resilience, ASEAN鈥檚 main challenge is to overcome 鈥渁 weak local digital ecosystem.鈥� But rather than be handicapped by this reality, Southeast Asian companies can work around it by accelerating their digital agenda where they empower it’s people with a sense of purpose.

People reforms first

This is something many companies often miss out on鈥攖hey drive digitisation without looking at how they can empower their workforce. A classic case of putting the cart before the horse, this leads to a type of workforce whose obsolete skills and traditional mindsets only cost the organisations in the long run. Remember: When employees are imbued with a clear sense of purpose, they will have a better idea of how they can adopt agile attributes and enhance their career skills to help drive their company鈥檚 transformation.

That said, how can business leaders champion a purpose-driven innovation? How can companies align people agenda with their business strategy to foster a holistic digitisation? Here are ways to consider:

1. Make HR a change enabler.

The foundation of digital transformation involves a mindset reset. However, many companies make the mistake of introducing digital solutions without preparing their workforce for it. What鈥檚 needed therefore in today鈥檚 workplace is an HR that is far from being reactive鈥攎eaning, an HR that feels the urgency of upskilling their employees and that which takes the lead in de-hierarchising their organisations. Once employees realise the importance of digital in improving their career prospects, it becomes easier for them to drive pockets of leadership in the workplace and sustain a company鈥檚 digitisation efforts. Take the case of China Datacom, a mobile Internet service provider. Because of its constant push for a data-driven performance management system, it鈥檚 now able to see clearly into the career development of the company鈥檚 1,500 employees, allowing its HR to act faster and support better business decisions.

What is needed in today鈥檚 workplace is an HR that is far from being reactive.

2. Leverage external partnerships.

There are a good number of small- and medium-sized Asian businesses that are poised to expand. These companies however can鈥檛 exactly afford to fund large-scale digital transformation because their resources are set aside to improve the core aspects of its operations. Companies in transition can boost their chances of digital success by seeking external partnerships that will hone a digital-ready workforce. The partnership forged between the ASEAN Foundation and 麻豆原创 SE provides an enlightening example. Intended to create a positive social impact in Southeast Asia, the partnership seeks to equip youths with the skills they need to thrive in the digital economy, while allowing local enterprises to build their own capabilities. The partnership will also facilitate capacity building and workforce development programmes to build an entrepreneurial culture in Southeast Asia and scale up youth-oriented projects.

3. Create a new employee experience.

HR should cultivate a dynamic and collaborative relationship with its employees. Employees are the heart of every organisation, and it鈥檚 important that they aren鈥檛 treated as mere numbers. When you have a mobile-ready workforce, your HR is required to provide a smart and聽connected experience for employees. How can HR do this? By adopting data-driven solutions to improve talent recruitment, onboarding, learning and development, and even career succession. This is key to improving your employees鈥� loyalty. It also assures them that the company is ready to invest in their future.

Empower today鈥檚 workforce

Without a connected workplace, instilling purpose in your employees becomes harder to do. And this only leads to poor business performance. To correct this, HR must start becoming a proponent of change. As the most direct line to the workforce, it must hone employees who welcome digital transformation as an enabling reality.

and empower your workforce to build a more resilient business today.聽

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Deepening Digital Government Efforts Across Southeast Asia

We are no longer at the early stages of digitization. Across industries, companies and organizations have become digital. And consumers (also citizens) 鈥� used to seamless interactions and conveniences from big techs such as Apple, Google and Amazon 鈥� have come to expect the same from their governments. At the same time, , also known as the fourth industrial revolution, is well underway. To sustain a nation鈥檚 economic competitiveness, and drive continual positive social outcomes, the pace for technology innovation must keep up.

鈥淭hink of an economy as a human body, and the digital core as the heart. In this regard, data is the lifeblood.鈥�

Data: Lifeblood of Digital Government

But this is not about digitizing more processes or offering more government services online. Neither is it about innovating in an ad-hoc manner. To reap the full potential of a digital economy, governments need to be digital from the core 鈥� with the right foundational technology infrastructure. And become capable of using data as a strategic asset.

To illustrate this, let me draw an analogy: Think of an economy as a human body, and the digital core as the heart. In this regard, data is the lifeblood. To ensure vitality and amplify the body鈥檚 ability to fuel growth, one requires a healthy blood flow.

To attain desired economic and societal outcomes 鈥� whether in education, health, employment, transportation, security, sustainability or justice 鈥� governments, and in turn, their economies, must become data driven. This is critical. And its importance is emphasized by the extent of the resources channeled into this outcome. For example, OECD has a guide on聽.

Data-Driven Government: What It Means

What does that mean pragmatically? How can we achieve data-driven governments, and in turn, data-driven economies?

Governments need to rethink how they work and engage with citizens and businesses, so they become more data-driven 鈥� from policy and planning to operations, and across service delivery to citizen engagement. This begins with questions such as 鈥淗ow can we drive our constituents to interact with us digitally so that we have data to fuel transformation in a sector, and across the economy?鈥�

This step is key. As citizens and business engage with public sectors digitally, governments can collect valuable data for policies to be adjusted based on data, rather than by trial and error. Combined with intelligent technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, operational responses can become predictive and proactive, instead of reactive. While services become anticipatory and personalized, instead of one-size-fits-all.

Examples: Becoming Data-Driven

Some examples of data-driven public services include:

• OSR鈥檚 Machine-Learning-Enabled Tax System Reduces Debt: The聽聽so less people can incur debt. Its data-driven capabilities allow OSR to generate 360-degree views of taxpayer needs and behaviors. OSR has been able to predict taxpayers at risk of default with 71% accuracy and this accuracy is growing with more data points.
• French town Antibes鈥� IoT-Based System Enables Water Security and Reduces Water Cost: Antibes uses the Internet of Things (IoT)聽to controls its water management system. By helping the city anticipate breakdowns, optimize maintenance schedules, and plan future infrastructure investments, it ensures water security. The effort has also drastically reduced the cost of water for its citizens. Today, the聽citizens of Antibes pay less than half the national average聽per cubic meter.
• Thailand鈥檚 NDID Supports Digital Transactions and a Thriving Digital Economy: Data-driven efforts are evident in Thailand too. The nation has moved forward with the聽. The scheme will see its citizens receiving a digital ID to support self-identification in digital transactions. This is part of the Thai government鈥檚 efforts to put important digital infrastructure in place so that citizens and businesses can thrive in the digital economy. Empowered by blockchain technology, the Digital Identity Platform is flexible and highly secured.聽听飞丑颈肠丑听.

Important Reasons to Make Data-Driven Government Real

The Thai government has important motivations to become a data-driven government and to make Thailand a data-driven economy.

Enabling the EEC Aspiration: The 聽initiative, conceived as part of Thailand 4.0, is one such reason. Covering Rayong, Chonburi, and Chachoengsao provinces, with a total area of 13,000 square kilometers, the聽聽will offer modern and efficient infrastructure such as deep seaports, airports, rail systems, highways, and industrial estates, as well as a skilled labor pool, plus a leading location for tourism. This large-scale program cutting across government ministries, businesses and nonprofit organizations require data as its lifeblood to succeed.

Supporting Tourism Goals: Ambitious tourism goals are another. For the fiscal year of 2018, the 聽in all dimensions 鈥� including an emphasis on respect for the environment and geographical balance. It is hence investing in efforts to spread tourists out across a greater range of sites so that there is no overcrowding or environmental stress in popular areas. To that end, the Thai government has launched a聽. It鈥檚 even聽聽via an e-payment system. For the overall effort to flourish, data is too needed for informed decision-making.

Turning an Aging Workforce into a Boon: Thailand, like many of its SEA neighbors, faces . This makes the digitization critical in the face of its EEC and tourism goals, as well as the overarching Thailand 4.0 ambitions. AI, machine learning and robotic process automation (RPA) can be used to direct a contracting workforce to areas which provides greater value-add to the economy. Furthermore, by adopting the right technologies and innovations, an聽聽has showed that aging economies can turn demographic challenges into opportunities.

Collaborative Approaches Drive Success

Indeed, for Thailand 4.0 goals to come to fruition, the government must first become a digital and data-driven government. In turn, key sectors such as national logistics and tourism will digitize and become data driven. These series of efforts will then cascade across the country 鈥� for Thailand to prosper.

Fortunately, there鈥檚 no need for government agencies to tackle data-driven transformations in isolation today. Increasingly, there are community-based approaches that includes co-innovation across federal, state and local governments, as well as with technology partners, nonprofits and other relevant businesses.

Collaborative partners often have a wealth of experience to draw on which reduce risk and accelerate transformation. Working with different stakeholders also promote ownership of outcomes.

, Digital Transformation and Enterprise Architecture

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