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Silicon Valley. Digital Denmark. Digital Dublin Hub. Tech City UK. Singapore Smart Nation.
All have become or are becoming synonymous with technological innovation and digital solutions creating blueprints for global adoption.
According to a Digital/McKinsey report published in October 2016, the Middle East is at a pivotal moment as it too transforms into a leading digital economy, with the digital market adding a potential U.S.$95bn per year to the region's annual GDP by 2020.
Key to achieving this on a macro level is universal buy-in to the e-economy at both public and private sector level, with government and corporations collaborating and sharing knowledge.
At the micro level, the same applies to business, with all layers of the organisation anticipating and accepting the change management that comes with the implementation of innovative technologies.
Understanding digital
Jeremy Nicholls, group business development manager at Dubai-based recruitment, training and business consultancy MCG Associates, says there are two major challenges to this: understanding the concept of digital and finding suitable candidates.
Many of the firm's clients are asking what "digital" means, he says. "This includes a number of people working within digital companies not fully understanding what digital is. Companies with a historically non-digital background have even less of an understanding of digital transformation."
Clients are looking to train their finance, HR and sales teams to understand digital and how it can be incorporated into their departments to improve efficiencies and save money, he explains. "Other clients are looking for readymade digital experts to come in and deliver change to their organisations."
Successful digital adoption requires all company divisions to embrace change. Nicholls says the lead for this is the finance and procurement departments. They control the budgets and can apportion funds that can finance technological initiatives either in-house or outsourced.
Digitisation as business driver
Finance executives are increasingly aware of how digitisation has become a bigger driver of how their business can grow and gain a competitive advantage. They are more involved with technological enhancement, as opposed to technical accounting.
They are also cognisant of the investment required in underlying technologies and capabilities such as network and connectivity, computing and storage and human capital.
For the digitisation of an organisation to be effective, an empathetic, technologically aware and malleable workforce is critical. The second of the challenges Nicholls outlines is attracting the right talent.
Finding the right people
"It's not easy and not cheap," Nicholls says. "Many clients here want candidates with experience delivering similar projects in the Middle East when at times they can be the first people here doing it, hence what they are looking for does not exist."
Consulting firm Deloitte identified digital HR, HR analytics and learning as three of the top 10 human capital trends in 2016 in the Middle East and UAE. Predictive analytics, in particular, will help HR departments identify employees they will retain, cultivate those with next-generation leader potential and those who will leave.
Continuous learning, training and development are vehicles to educate and assist on-going professional development and employee performance.
Using digitisation to its greatest potential
"Everyone wants the best talent available," says Nicholls. "In other regions e-commerce is a large, mature industry. In the Middle East, it is yet to be cracked and there are many organisations looking to own and grow a share of the market. There is serious competition for quality candidates."
Those quality candidates are required for roles within the IT and marketing divisions. Both departments must understand the nuts and bolts of the technology involved in the company's transformative practices and use digitisation to its greatest potential, from back office optimisation to online shop window presence.
Nicholls says digital is intrinsic to a company profile. "It's now very rare for clients looking to hire people for their marketing teams without 'digital' experience. Uses of social media, banner ads and pop-ups are now taking priority for clients looking to market their brands and grow their online presence."
Collaboration is another important concept, since business departments are increasingly refraining from a silo and singular approach and becoming symbiotic, integrating with other divisions as business partners and utilising the same technology with a similar mindset and education.
© Oracle 2017
