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Digitalization a bedrock for growth
At the industry level, accelerated digitalization is impacting high growth industries via increased productivity in Asia.
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No cash needed: Sutariyah, a 36-year-old food seller, prepares meals for customers in her food stall located in front of Al-Azhar University in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta. Her food stall accept cashless payments by using QR codes from some e-wallets such as Go-Pay, OVO and OttoPay. (-/-)
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ccelerated digitalization is transforming the process industry — comparable to how the sharing economy has democratized access to jobs and income. Homegrown Southeast Asian based mobile application heavyweights, such as Grab and Go-Jek, have shown how digital innovation has disrupted the land transport industry.
These super platforms have democratized digital access to local populations and provided great value to customers. At the industry level, accelerated digitalization is impacting high growth industries via increased productivity in Asia.
Artificial intelligence (AI) gives process companies a competitive market advantage to advance strategically. According to MIT Sloan Management Review (USA), about 60 percent of industry executives believe that it is urgent for companies to develop an AI strategy and 87 percent believe that AI will help build a competitive advantage.
As investor guru Warren Buffett puts it, “If you’ve got a wonderful castle, these are people out there who are going to try and attack it and take it away from you. And I want a castle that I can understand, but I want a castle with a moat around it.” With the ability to transform businesses, AI can help strengthen moats for process companies.
Companies can also systematically increase productivity in a sustainable manner via the latest software — built upon existing technology infrastructure. Yet, digital transformation will remain elusive without critical changes in place.
Workers need to be flexible generalists with the ability to think critically. The process industry has a reputational challenge with the younger workforce, as technical graduates tend to shy away from the hydrocarbon industry. With greater use of technology, companies can attract more millennial workers to address the current skills shortage situation. Workers can also be at safer, more centralized locations and be empowered to make more strategic decisions.
According to Oxford Economics, most of the top 10 fastest growing emerging market economies are in Asia — with Thailand in seventh place; Malaysia in fifth place; China in fourth place; Indonesia in third place; the Philippines in second place and India in the lead with 6.5 percent projected gross domestic product (GDP) growth.
