BUSINESS leaders in Philippines are showing urgency in embracing the fourth Industrial Revolution, a survey by Microsoft Corp.’s Asia operations revealed.
According to the Microsoft Asia Digital Transformation Survey, 86 percent of the 111 executives polled believe they need to transform to a digital business to enable future growth and that new data insights can lead to new revenue streams for their organizations.
Technology advancements have ushered in the fourth Industrial Revolution, where cutting-edge technologies, such as Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), advanced data analytics and mixed reality are powered by cloud computing to create limitless possibilities in transforming the way people work, live and play, Microsoft said in a statement.
“This revolution, together with rapid urbanization, emergence of the millennial work force and a fragile global economic climate, is ushering societal and economic changes at an unprecedented pace,” the company said on February 23.
Sadly, the transformation journey for most organizations in Philippines is still at its infancy, the poll revealed.
“In fact, only 32 percent of business leaders, however, have a full digital transformation strategy, while 43 percent are in progress with specific digital transformation initiatives for selected parts of their business,” Microsoft said, citing the survey results. About 25 percent of respondents said their business have very limited or no strategy in place. According to Cian O’Neill, chief operating and chief marketing officer for Microsoft Philippines, past industrial revolutions revealed “organizations that do not evolve fast enough will be less competitive or even obsolete as they face disruptions in every industry”.
According to Microsoft, the study was conducted between October to November last year involving 1,494 business leaders in 13 Asia Pacific markets. The 13 markets include Australia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand. All respondents were prequalified as being involved in shaping their organizations’ digital strategy, and are working in firms with more than 250 employees.