Week in Review: Enter the third certainty of life

By Karamjit Singh July 15, 2016

For businesses, anything and everything that can go digital, will
Two more additions to the stellar lineup at What’s Next

Week in Review: Enter the third certainty of life I WAS recently interviewed by The Edge, the leading business publication in Malaysia, about Digital News Asia’s upcoming What’s Next conference, and I wanted to say something that would be catchy and yet show the importance of this trend of ‘life going digital.’

And this is what I told the journalist: “They say there are two certainties in life – death and taxes. To that, add a third certainty – for businesses, everything and anything that can go digital, will.”

As if to prove that point, my colleague in Indonesia, Masyitha Baziad, writes about how Pos Indonesia is going to use the digital transformation of its logistics arm Pos Logistics as the anchor for its own eventual transformation.

And our headline was no exaggeration, as readers will roll their eyes at some of the basic issues Pos Logistics had to face.

But guess what? With buy-in from the very top – and I am talking at the ministerial level – it will be able to make the change, especially with a hard-stop deadline of an IPO (initial public offering) in 2020 and with the roadshow to drum up investor support to start in 2019.

There is nothing like a huge financial incentive such as this to get things moving, as clearly even the booming e-commerce scene in Indonesia had failed to wake Pos Indonesia from its comfortable slumber.

But not anymore, and this just goes to support my point, whether I made it elegantly or not, that in business, many processes and services will have to go digital or they will not have many customers to serve and will die a slow and painful death, wondering who to blame for not seeing the speeding train that hit them.

You will surely see the pace of brick-and-mortar companies going digital to pick up steam, and this will be led by the large companies as they not only have the resources but also the most to lose if they fail to make the transition.

And in fact, Leslie Loh, managing director of Red Dot Ventures, predicts that the hybrid bricks-and-clicks model is how most traditional companies will make the adaption to life going digital.

Loh also happens to be the latest addition to an already stellar line-up at What’s Next: The Business Impact of Disruptive Technology conference.

While anyone who has organised a conference before (and I hope not many of you have – I wouldn’t recommend it!) will know how my gut is feeling now, I am also beginning to get excited about the conversations that we will have with our speakers on the day.

Loh is also joined by Dr Mubbashir Iftikhar, head of Digital Transformation at KPJ Healthcare, another business leader from a large brick-and-mortar company, so I’m really excited.

Have a restful weekend and a productive week after.

Editor’s Picks:

Pos Logistics’ digital transformation: You will not believe some of its issues

What’s Next: And what are hospitals doing about digital transformation?

What’s Next 2016: From a small town, the entrepreneur-turned-investor

Most people believe technology can lead to better living: Microsoft survey

As viewers cut the cord, pay-TV operators need to think ‘digital’

Upgraded EasyStore ready to take on e-marketplace industry

Will China devour the global videogame industry?

Previous Instalments:

Week in Review: Telco challengers to the fore

Week in Review: SEA e-commerce claims another high-profile victim

Week in Review: More moolah for SEA startups, and Digerati50 2.0 is up!

Week in Review: Should the CEO be a chief pivoting officer?

Week in Review: Adapting to the digital reality