BrazilSingapore's IMDA teams with BCG on digital assessment tool
Singapore digital support agency IMDA has teamed up with Boston Consulting Group on a programme to help local companies evaluate their digital progress.
Coming together for a second time, Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and the global strategy & management leader Boston Consulting Group will be again presenting local companies with the opportunity to assess their progress toward digitalisation, through the Digital Acceleration Index. The first round of assessments earlier this year saw the participation of more than 2,000 cross-sector companies of all sizes.
Aimed at helping companies to understand how far along they are on their digital journeys – including as compared to their peers – the Digital Acceleration Index (DIA) assesses digital strengths and weaknesses across multiple business dimensions, providing for actionable insights and the ability to develop and refine their digital strategies in a targeted manner. Companies will also be able to follow up on their evolution through future DAI surveys.
Through a series of questions, the diagnostic tool will determine how companies are performing across the key parameters of digital maturity, centred on six core dimensions: digitally-focused business strategy, the degree of digital maturity along the core value chain, new growth areas as driven by digital, an organisation’s digital culture and governance, their performance in leveraging the power of data and technology, and the integration of ecosystems.
For example, digital growth areas might include the development new digital products and services, pilots, and venture capital and incubator programmes, while an assessment of digital maturity across the core value chain would cover areas such as customer offerings and go-to-market, operations, and support functions. Leveraging data and technology meanwhile considers data management, along with capabilities involving AI, DevOps, cybersecurity and IoT.
Currently open to registrations of interest, the free survey will be conducted from January next year, and according to responses to the questionnaire the tool can then categorise a company’s level of maturity into one of four stages – from digital starters and literates to digital performers and ultimately leaders. To be considered the latter, digital needs to be embedded throughout an entire company, including in innovation, R&D, value proposition, tech adoption, and operations.
“IMDA’s Digital Acceleration Index has provided us with an insight into our digital maturity and a benchmark of our rank in the industry,” stated Rintu Chakravarthy, General Manager, Projects, for previous BCG survey participant Lum Chang Building Contractors. “Leveraging on this, Lum Chang is able to identify areas where existing gaps need improvement to enable us to fine tune our overarching digital roadmap for more impactful transformation.”
BCG Munich managing director Michael Grebe, who presented at IMDA’s recent SG:D Industry Day, in outlining the keys to digital maturity (roughly, investment, developing talent, and scaling pilots) previously stated; “By placing comparatively little emphasis on these dimensions, laggards will have a difficult time competing with firms that understand the desire of both businesses and consumers to have access to the most productive, useful digital tools and services.”
