Global industries are digitally transforming and there’s no turning back. Here’s why…

New research reveals that industries and businesses are rapidly adopting digital transformation strategies to drive performance and ensure future sustainability, writes Sara Volpe, Senior Vice President, Portfolio and Industry Marketing, AVEVA

The last 18 months have provided inspiration for industrial companies to rapidly accelerate their digital transformation strategies. That’s according to the findings of the latest AVEVA survey of over 850 leaders. The extensive global study reveals that the pandemic hastened corporate digital transformation as data proved itself a valuable new currency.

Our survey reveals that 84% of companies accelerated their investment in digital transformation during the pandemic – of those, 43% said the investment was “significant”. And for two out of five respondents, digitalization is the “primary focus” of their business for the next 12 months.

What’s more, 85% of businesses plan to increase investment in digital transformation over the next three years to tackle climate change, embrace automation, and unlock the performance benefits of advanced technologies.

When broken down by type, the majority of new digital investment will be used for digital workforce solutions (71%), cybersecurity (69%), connected worker strategies (65%), and transitioning to the cloud (62%).

The Age of Performance

The Age of Performance is a new era of industrial evolution. By bringing together rich, industrial data with the scope and scale of the cloud, smart analytics and AI, teams can collaborate better, operate with agility and elevate what they can achieve. We call this Performance Intelligence – the unique benefits that flow from combining accurate data with insight.

Three quarters of companies identified themselves as being “in transition” towards the Age of Performance (76%) and 50% feel they are “mostly ready” to embrace the possibilities of Performance Intelligence, and 26% are “about halfway” to being ready.

As data rapidly becomes the global new currency, sharing accurate information with multidisciplinary project teams is proven to drive higher performance. This is key to remaining competitive and driving sustainability.

Ushering in the ‘connected workforce’

Human insight, creativity and experience will undoubtedly continue to represent the cornerstone of success for every business. But the role that technology can play in augmenting and enhancing human capabilities is evolving.

99 per cent of survey respondents see a connected workforce as key to success, using real time digital tools, connected by the cloud, and AI-infused analytics that provide guidance and decision support.

An additional driver for technologies around the connected workforce is the shift in working behaviours catalyzed by the pandemic. Slightly more than a third (34%) of employees are expected to work partly or wholly on a remote basis even after the pandemic has ended. Just over half of leaders (55%) agree the connected workforces already have the agility needed to thrive in this new environment.

What’s more, nine out of ten businesses see combining IIoT, AI and cloud with their team’s insight is key to driving better performance

Technology Powers Sustainability

As the world focuses on climate action, the majority of industrial enterprises (90%) say the climate emergency is a core action area for the business. Nine in ten (89%) are committed to achieving net-zero carbon emissions across their business and to tackling climate change within a five-year horizon.

Sustainability-led innovation will consequently drive innovation across supply chain operations, 85% of companies say. These companies are planning to increase visibility and performance assurance to sustainability related metrics as a result. This trend is closely allied to digital technologies for most respondents: 89% say their company is investigating how to go about it already, with a focus on collaboration tools, real-time data and predictive analytics.

Amid a backdrop of growing and critical sustainability concerns, Performance Intelligence lends greater operational agility and resilience to industries, enabling operational processes to benefit from rich, reliable data – thereby optimizing the entire industrial lifecycle.