Saudi Gazette

RIYADH – Businesses and organizations that don’t have a digital strategy are at a high risk of not surviving in the coming years, according to experts and industry leaders who gathered at the Kingdom Digital Enterprise Transformation Show here.

The 2-day forum that ends today (Nov.8), hosted local and international technology companies to discuss innovative solutions to help businesses in the Kingdom to embrace digital transformation.

The National Digitization Unit (NDU), a government entity dedicated to digitizing citizens’ services in partnership with the private sector, highlighted digital transformation is key to transition from an oil-based into a knowledge-based economy.

In 10 years time, the NDU aims to achieve several goals in the Kingdom, including sustainable, intelligent cities, new job opportunities from a digital economy, and a leading engaging, digital government.

The population of a majority of youth and tech-savvy citizens are an asset to embrace such change, experts said.

There remains low awareness in embracing digital transformation across many sectors, however.

Businesses should take into consideration that everything will be either disrupted or rethought, according to Dimension Data's chief technology officer Stephen Green. “The digital transformation is the most important executive conversation can be having right now. Leaders should have a digital strategy for their organization,” he said.

He added “many companies don’t believe there’s a threat. The challenge is getting people to change and let them know it’s actually beneficial to them.”

Resistance to change is another factor businesses are left behind. “People are against change. Changing the culture is a challenge,” he further said.

In 10 years time, more than half of companies are at the risk of disappearing. The IT industry is not immune either. 40% of enterprise companies will no longer exist, said Green.

Technology has become an enabler for solving old problems, said SAP’s regional managing director Ahmed Al-Faifi. “The way problems are addressed is changing and there’s a technology touch. For example, solutions to public issues such as unemployment have multiple angles as opposed to in the past.”

On businesses, he added: “We encourage companies to think of future enterprise. It’s an evolving process. It needs to continue looking ahead and keep innovating.”