Day #34: KPI and metrics

We keep being inspired by the course assignment! In order to evaluate business strategy and BRM policies, we quite often make use of KPIs or Key Performance Indicators. But the digital era and the progressive digitization and digitalization in our society make difficult to measure the return of investment (ROI). Old ROI metrics focused on efficiencies, but today they should talk about revenue and customer experience.

That is very well described in the article How to measure IT ROI in the digital era, from a website called The Enterprisers Project, a community helping IT leaders to solve problems.

Specific metrics are considered and split in three categories: strategic, operational and cost impact. Examples of the strategic impact metrics are the customer retention or the time to market for new services. Operational impact metrics might include increase in scale and operational efficiencies. Finally, cost impact metrics are related to business costs or total cost of ownership assets.

Besides, how many IT ROI metrics do you need? Answer below the picture!

a) One is enough
b) Two or three
c) Five to nine
d) Around 15
e) As much as possible

Image from getthematic.com

And the answer, according to Paul Proctor, analyst at Gartner, is.... c! 

Day #5: Digitalization and who controls our data

I read a piece of news in the Spanish newspaper informing about a fine that has been imposed to a Swedish school in Skellefteå for using facial recognition to control the students attendance. It was a test implemented during three weeks in one classroom, with 22 students who had given their consent to be monitored in such way. However, the school must face a fine of 200 000 kr because this project violates the GDPR. Consent is not enough in this situation, since those who own the data (students) are in a weaker or depending position with respect to those who control them now (the school board).

This situation brings up an interesting and polemic subject: what happens with our data and who controls them. It is not new, I would say that it is extremely recurrent. One of the latest times was when discussing the Russian app FaceApp, which aged our faces in a funny way to post in Instagram. It went viral during the summer, and the debate about privacy arose once more, since our facial information was being shared. 

But it is not just FaceApp, or any other suspicious up. It's everything. We share our data, our personal information everyday. We must accept conditions and grant permits every time we download a new app. In most cases they don't make sense, but that is the price we have to pay, and we pay it. We have become digital, but that has enormous implications for our privacy.

What can we do, if anything? I don't know, and I would like to know. It seems that the lost of privacy is one of the drawbacks of the progressive digitalization of our lives. Legislation such as the aforementioned GDPR certainly helps and it is needed, to protect us, customers. Or products, I should say. Because when we get something for free, it unfortunately means that we, i.e. our data, are the product. 

Image from EUGDPR - Information Portal (eugdpr.org)

Day #4: Digitization or digitalization?

From i-scoop.eu

There is no word in Spanish for "digitization", we use the term "digitalization" for both the immediate conversion of analog data into digital; and the deeper transformation of businesses and processes. That is why I have been struggling with these terms throughout the week. Apparently, even in specialised media there is some confusion between those two words, which only differ in two letters. So how can't I be confused, if I can't translate them to my mother tongue?

I found an article particularly interesting. It is a bit long, but it's worth reading: Digitization, digitalization and digital transformation: the differences.

Long story short, they establish a difference between:

• Digitization: "it’s simply converting and/or representing something non-digital (other examples include signals, health records, location data, identity cards, etc.) into a digital format which then can be used by a computing system for numerous possible reasons."

• Digitalization: "In business, digitalization most often refers to enabling, improving and/or transforming business operations and/or business functions and/or business models/processes and/or activities, by leveraging digital technologies and a broader use and context of digitized data, turned into actionable, knowledge, with a specific benefit in mind. It requires digitization of information but it means more and at the very center of it is data."

• Digital transformation: "Digital transformation, as we use it today, is broader than digitalization as a way to move to digital business."

It may sound confusing, and it is, according to the article, since "digitization" and "digitalization" may be interchangeable sometimes, and there is not an objective limit between "digitalization" and "digital transformation". But at least we have got some hints by now, and we can double check when we use these words...

Bonus track: I really liked the sentence from Charlene Li: “Transformation and disruption have something very interesting in similar: they’re both human issues, both human problems to be tackled, not technology problems”.

Day #3: Those left behind: a digitization problem

I live in a country, Sweden, which is becoming cashless day by day. When I first realised that I could use my credit card to pay pretty much everything, I was shocked. Really? Isn't there a minimum amount? Don't all shops complain about fees due to credit card payment? Apparently not. Not only paying with card is advisable, but also necessary in some places, where cash is no longer accepted. Of course, other digital payment methods such as bank apps are also widely accepted.

This cashless environment is a common feature in societies with a high degree of digitization. However, the reason why I am commenting this is because it is also a good example of how digitization processes may leave some population segments behind. 

From time to time, a new statistic pops up about which year Sweden will become a full cashless society. Some say 2023, although is it really possible that cash will disappear?. And every time there is a small part of the society which feels upset or at least a bit worried. For example old people who are not very familiar with digital services, people with some kind of disability who have it hard to control expenses and use money, families with small kids who don't want to give them the freedom of using a credit card... For most of us, paying with card or app is not a big deal, I actually prefer it. It's easy, safe and fast. But if I stop for a second and think, I can understand other people's concerns. Perhaps it isn't the best idea to make people like my grandmother feel so vulnerable or unprotected by just removing cash from their lives. We all agree, it is easy, safe and fast, but then we should invest in teaching them or making the transition somehow smoother. 

The solution to this problem is not easy, and that is why I think that it is a good example of the dark side of the digitization. How do we deal as a society with the people who are left behind?

As a funny final fact, this article from the news. It talks a bit more about Sweden going cashless and it introduces one coffee place in a neighbourhood in Stockholm which only accepts cash. 

Day #2: Estonia: best example of digitization?

After knowing that one of the topics this week is the idea of "digitization", I remembered a piece of news that I read some months ago about Estonia. Their impressive system of e-government is a model for many developed countries. I don't recall exactly the article I read, yet there is plenty of information when googling "Estonia" + "digitization", such as this, this or this.

They all talk about the same: e-Estonia. That is the name of the approach taken by the government to incorporate electronic solutions to the interaction cititzens-state. That includes many aspects, from voting (i-Voting) to taxes (e-Tax Board), from schools and universities (e-School) to telemedicine.

One of the most interesting aspect is the idea of e-Residence, started in 2014. Estonia became the first country to offer electronic residence to people from outside the country. Although it doesn't grant physical residence or the right to enter the country, it lets non-residents access other Estonian electronic services, as well as signing documents over the Internet.

But perhaps the most surprising fact is that 20 years ago, just after Estonia became independent, under half of the population had a phone line. It proves that a strong commitment with technology makes the society advance towards full digitization.

However, I think that this kind of revolutionary changes can only work in small places, like Estonia or Singapore, another country with a high index of digitization. Or at least nowadays. In my case, I really feel the difference between the level of digitization in Spain, my home country, and Sweden, where I live. And I consider that one of the many reasons for this difference is the number of inhabitants, in the sense that  services like these are easier to implement and controll with a low number of users.

Anyway, that is not a excuse, and I feel that Estonia's effort should be an example for all countries interested in digitization. Actually, the former Estonian president credited for this digitization process, Toomas Hendrik Ilves, will help the Greek government to prepare the digitization of the Greek public administration. 

e-Residency kit, from e-resident.gov.ee