Digital principles aimed to help businesses evolve

The digital revolution that has begun will change, redefine and disrupt almost every sector across the country, says New Zealand Techleaders chair David Kennedy.

Mew Zealand’s Techleaders have released a set of digital principles to support the country’s transformation into a more digitally competitive nation by helping Kiwi businesses and government agencies commit to digital transformation.

The TechLeaders executive was formed late last year because New Zealand, like every other country, is facing unprecedented change driven by rapidly advancing technologies.

Tech leaders are a group of New Zealand tech, digital and ICT focused senior executives from some of New Zealand’s biggest and most influential organisations.

Kennedy (pictured) says the digital principles are vital for the country’s future prosperity and by coordinating the digital transformation, they can turn the challenges into advantages for New Zealand.

“All business, from large corporations and government agencies, through to small and medium firms throughout New Zealand, will at some stage in the next few years undergo a digital transformation as rapidly advancing digital technologies drive changes in the way our organisations work.

“In many cases these digital technologies will make organisations much more efficient and productive, however there is also risk that these changes will impact people’s jobs.

“Many people will quite quickly find that they don’t have necessary skills for a digital workplace, while at the same time there is a growing shortage of digitally skilled employees. Businesses must realise that the solution is to take a planned approach to these changes and help their employees develop the skills that the organisation will need in the coming years.

“We must start now, the prosperity of New Zealand will be linked to how well our organisations embrace a digital future, and how well they go through digital transformation.

“Kiwis are great at solving problems in new and innovative ways, so we will foster our creativity and amplify this cultural advantage by constantly trying new things in our organisations to rise to digital opportunities.

“Every day we will ask ourselves how we can adapt and think differently. We will foster the working habits, approach and mind-set which allows new thinking to flourish, identifies opportunities, and tests ideas to improve ourselves and our environment every day. 

“The digital revolution will create new jobs that will require different skills and ways of thinking. For New Zealand to meet this demand at the scale required, we need to be adaptive and flexible in our approach by creating a culture where everyone, at all levels is continually learning,” Kennedy says.