Over the past five weeks in July, I have experienced new ways to learn, absorb, assimilate and imbibe. Across three independent events in India and the US, I had the opportunity to interact with some awesome, high-energy people. In India, it was meeting new team members who recently joined us after completing their MBAs from top tier institutes. In the US, one was an exhilarating meeting with a customer’s key leadership team, whose business is going through a fundamental shift with the rapid change in the industry landscape: how a new set of digitally enabled business processes, a new mindset on culture alignment and technology roadmap can help. Also in the US, the other event attended was the PAN IIT Global Leadership Conference in Santa Clara, CA. In addition to catching up with alumni from IIT B, I met a few top industry leaders with some of the most amazing minds.

I think I gained some great learning views from across the spectrum: from a team that will create the leaders of tomorrow, another team that is dealing with real here-and-now issues in an amazingly fast-paced business environment, and a group from the PAN IIT event with some of the sharpest minds that we are fortunate to have amongst us in business, society, government and philanthropy.

Freshness always brings a new perspective and new ideas. The ability to challenge the status quo in thinking is the only way forward in the new world. Curiosity is the key to learning. When the mind is open and ready to learn – you will find the directions to the answers you seek. A conversation, I have learned, is far more an effective tool to communicate than a talk or speech. People connect much more emphatically with stories than with PPTs. It is so refreshing to meet young, fearless and ambitious souls. Their high energy is positively infectious and elevates you to fly higher.

Learning through partnering with world class business leaders, who are shaping the industry through fundamental shifts, and being in the trenches with them has its own adrenaline rush. They excel in rapid and analytical decision, and gutsy, bold moves. They bet on new trends, as much as they work very hard to ensure cultural alignment across the ecosystem. Their deep personal conviction is only the beginning; more important is ensuring that everyone goes along the journey to shape a better tomorrow – that is what the best of the best do.

Interacting and learning from some of the most curious and amazing minds in the world is awesome. These individuals have reached the pinnacle of success in their respective fields and have created massive global impact through their work in business, education, social, government, philanthropy, etc. It was a sheer joy to interact with them at the PAN IIT event and listen to them speak. Their intellect, humility, attention to details, amazing ability to focus deep, larger than life purpose and intense passion are simply a treat to observe and learn from. They are also great story tellers, and that comes with a huge amount of practice!

Learning is a continuous and ever-evolving, lifelong commitment. There is always fun and excitement in new ways to learn – it never stops.

Today, the word digital instantly brings to our mind the image of cool companies, cool products, platforms and services which create innovative consumer products – all managed through mobile devices. While this is definitely true and has raised the profile of digital, there is a different world hidden in plain sight that is being digitally transformed without the spotlight! Digital is also creating opportunities in companies from the mature industries – opportunities and benefits which were unthinkable even a few years ago.

It is the quiet world of digital for these companies. They do not create much fanfare and are not often covered in the media. The average consumer does not interact with them in daily life and hence, has very little awareness of how digital is impacting industries such as farming, mining, railroad freight, industrial machinery, energy production, etc. Digital has made massive inroads into these traditional industries: impacting companies’ core business processes, redefining market access and product launches, creating revenue and profit impact, retooling customer services, and rekindling engagements with employees, customers and partners.

Agricultural farming has embraced digital and associated technologies well. This industry is in a perfect storm: a growing global population year after year and fewer people working on the farms each year. How can enough food be produced to feed everyone? There lies the massive opportunities in farming – to significantly increase high quality yield through digital. Digital and IoT enabled precision farm equipment help assess soil quality at extremely small intervals, use weather data and sow seeds accordingly through GPS-controlled machines to maximize yield.

According to a report from The Economist, Monsanto, one of the largest Agrochemical companies in the world, has made major strides in leveraging digital technologies to improve farm yield. It acquired Climate Corporation (a weather and soil assessing company) in 2010, and then acquired Precision Planting in 2012 (manufacturer of seed drills that are pulled behind farn tractors.) Its FieldScripts platform integrate the soil and weather data into the seed drills to ensure each seed is planted for the best possible yield success.

Mining is another mature industry which is adopting digital technologies to drive improved safety, higher efficiencies and better throughput. Proximity meters, speed controllers, lane departure warning systems, etc. which feature in high-end automobiles today, are quickly finding inroads into the mining industry.

A report by Siemens highlighted that most mining equipment are currently being used sub-optimally. Since most mining machines are very heavy (e.g. an excavator weighs over 1,600 tons), machine operators err on the safer side. However, a little less capacity and a little less extraction each time slows productivity and operations become costlier. Today, digital mining companies are deploying sensors in their equipment to enable the driver to push towards full capacity, safely. As the sensors become more ubiquitous, efficient and connected, automated mining machines will become more mainstream, driving costs down while eliminating risks to human life.Codelco, the world’s largest copper producer, has become the first mining company to join the Industrial Internet Consortium and is clearly leveraging the digital and IoT technologies to redefine the future of the mining industry.

Freight rail is among the most mature and established economies in the US, having been a part of the fabric for over 180 years. Freight rail transports approximately 40% of all freight in the US by ton miles, delivering everything from consumer goods, cars, agricultural produce, oil, coal, industrial goods, commodities, chemicals, etc.

The freight rail industry has perhaps the most imperative need to improve safety monitoring and asset management, since an upsurge in freight accidents, derailments, etc. Digital, communication and IoT technologies are being leveraged to implement and modernize freight rail. Union Pacific now deploys infrared sensors every 20 miles on its track to measure heat, and microphones to listen for growling bearings in the wheels. Data is sent via fiber-optic cables and intricate pattern-matching algorithms flag the outliers. These measures have helped them cut bearing-related derailments by 75%. With advanced digital, communication and IoT technologies, the freight rail industry is clearly moving towards more real time and predictive data analytics driven thinking and processes.

Applicability of digital in these industries is driven more by business and operations effectiveness rather than just the front end digital apps. Several other mature industries such as industrial machinery, energy production and management, etc. have brought digital to the center of their next gen thinking. Digitalization should also act as a catalyst for all these industries to rethink their business and technology processes that can help them to create new products/markets, improve operating efficiencies, compete with digital natives and traditional enterprises, and stay relevant to the ecosystem of all stakeholders

All mega and life changing innovations that have created or have the potential to create massive impact on people, societies and businesses have the following dimensions:
(1) technology / engineering to enable the idea / innovation / research;
(2) leverage of an available platform to push the idea;
(3) mass adoption through consumerism; and
(4) government, policies and regulations which impact and define the implementation and roll outs.

Today’s mainstream products and services have progressed through these 4 dimensions, and similarly, what will become mainstream tomorrow will evolve through these attributes as well.

For example, the US automobile industry, which is such a mainstream and integral part of people’s lives today, was initiated by Henry Ford with his famous Model T in 1908. Ford leveraged two key platforms:
(1) the factory assembly line to produce these cars significantly faster; and
(2) the roads which were enabled by the Federal Aid Road Act in 1916 and, subsequently the Federal Highway Act in 1921. The highways acted as the platform for the widespread adoption of automobiles as the primary means of travel in the US. These cars were priced right for mass adoption to enable everyone to afford it, including Ford’s own workers in the factory.

Today, the potential impact of driverless or self-driving cars is also massively transformative in nature. The technology is available and all of the major auto companies have some level of readiness with self-driving cars. However, they are still a couple of years away from being mainstream, while simultaneously raising significant policy and regulation issues at the state and federal level. Some US states have passed a bill to allow them on their roads for test purposes. Imagine an area in a city or even a complete city itself, where self-driving cars are the only means of commuting – they could make people significantly more productive, be safer and make cities less congested and more ecofriendly. It could potentially even do away with the idea of car ownership completely by just keeping an available fleet of self-driving vehicles on a “pay-per-use” mode.

A similar but non-human commute-related area is the use of drones. Drones are particularly useful for close-range aerial surveillance and/or ultrafast transport, and could potentially be used in a myriad of ways including as weather monitor, in emergencies, for delivery of goods and life-saving supplies to remote areas, etc. However, the key barrier regarding dones is not technology, but the lack of broader regulation and policies on them. Drones will not become mainstream until regulations associated with safety, airlines/airspace and privacy happen. Ironically, the fast-growing global drone industry is not waiting for government policies to be ratified, and a growing ecosystem of drone software and hardware players already cater to industries such as leisure, agriculture, land management, energy, construction, etc.

Personalized medicine is yet another area which needs all 4 attributes. Most medical treatments have been designed for the “average patient.” As a result of this “one-size-fits-all-approach,” treatments can be very successful for some patients but not for others. This is changing with the emergence of precision medicine, an innovative approach to disease prevention and treatment that takes into account individual variations in people’s genes, environment and lifestyle. More fundamental research in genomics, the completion of the human genome map, and development of “targeted” diagnostics and therapeutics will drive growth in personalized medicine.

While personalized medicine is a disruptive innovation and creating a massive market, data analytics will give rise to an even larger disruptive industry of personalized medicines where no 2 antibiotics will look alike, no 2 chemotherapy drugs will be alike, etc. Medicine and its dosage will be customized based on patient medical data for maximum effectiveness and minimum side effects. However, price points needs to be brought down significantly for mass adoption and high consumerism. The US government plays a pivotal role in the mass adoption of the personalized medicines – complementing robust investments to broadly support research, development, and innovation. President Obama’s 2016 Budget has a $215 million investment for this purpose.

Sensors and software are the building blocks and technology platform for the creation of next generation cities – commonly referred as smart cities. Local government investment in smart cities by virtue of these embedded sensors can monitor and regulate transportation, energy, healthcare, water, waste, etc., all of which enhance the performance and well-being of its citizens while reducing costs and resource consumption.

Innovations such as 3D printing, renewable energy and other commercial successes are on the verge of mainstream, and the 4 attributes of technology, platform, consumerism and government need to align for them to realize their full potential.

Advent of Data sciences

Pharma companies’ tryst with handling electronic data traces back to 1970s since the time Pharma companies moved on to EDC and set up IBRD(Institute for Biological Research and Development) , Cambridge Structural Database (CSD) and the Protein Data Bank (PDB)to circumvent data clean-up problems arising due to manual clinical data forms. This was only a starting point for development of tools that could analyze data and effectively using statistical models for Toxicity prediction, 3D Molecular modeling and Clinical Data analysis.

Age of Big data and Predictive Analytics

With the data deluge that follows the end-to-end drug discovery and development cycle, the resultant new age mantra is “Big data”. Pharma companies are looking to explore this data that can provide answers to questions they may not have even thought to ask. And these answers come from the most untraditional and unstructured channels of data. The key to gaining a multidimensional insight is to couple Big data with the traditional types of information that is generally collected and analyzed since time immemorial. It is a no-brainer that no organization would want to “hold” so much of data with themselves due to the sheer volume that needs to be stored and this has led to the emergence of aggregators that offer platforms and services for acquiring, organizing and analyzing big data, with enterprise-class performance, availability, supportability, and security features. Technologies such as Hadoop(open-source platform) aid in consolidating, combining, and transforming large data volumes while programming frameworks such as MapReduce support processing large data sets on distributed nodes to generate aggregated results.

Role of Data scientists

Data scientists who analyze and make meaningful inferences from big data in the Clinical side have aided Pharma companies in Patient Selection based on targeted genetic information, Real-Time Monitoring of clinical trials for Safety and efficacy and for prediction of adverse event even before commencement of a trial by tapping into historic side-effect data. Data Science has aided in targeted Sales and Marketing through Population Health Management programs focusing on target therapeutic areas and geographies, these have been facilitated through real-time analytics enabled mobile platforms. From a post-marketing perspective patient follow ups have been enabled through analyzing data from Social Media and from smart phones and wired health apps for understanding the drivers for non-compliance. Discussion forums (Patient and Physician) present the opinions about drugs in the markets. The key point here is that there is data lying everywhere in all possible forms waiting to be explored by the data scientists.

The flip side to the big data exploitation is the rising concerns on patient data privacy. As stated by McKinsey, “Pharmaceutical enterprises must understand and mitigate the legal, regulatory, and intellectual-property risks associated with a more collaborative approach.” There are consortiums such as International Pharmaceutical Privacy Consortium (IPPC) to take up issues pertaining to breach of data privacy. If the issues of data privacy are completely addressed and FDA issues a clean chit to all processes of collecting and processing Big data and the use that the results are put to, Data Science is definitely here to stay!

Why open data and crowdsourcing approaches are critical in today’s world?

In today’s increasingly connected and collaborative world, advancements in science cannot be done behind closed doors and in silos. Especially it is important for the big pharmaceutical companies where they are going through a phase of dwindling R&D pipelines and also an ever increasing demand for new drugs. Hence there is a greater need for continued and accelerated development of new therapies along with their speedy approvals. Pharma companies are in a dilemma – faced with a multi- forked problem – on one hand there is a need to strike a balance between the demand and supply of new drugs, on the other hand manage the increasing pressure to curb the rising R&D expenditure, increase affordability by reducing the price of drugs, improvise on patient safety and improve their efficiency metrics of R&D i.e. how many potential drug candidates finally come to the market and how soon. But is this steep increase in R&D costs and the static rate of drug approvals, affecting just the pharma alone? No, it isn’t – the burden has to be borne by all – all stakeholders including patients who are a part of the global healthcare community.

To tackle this plethora of problems the recent trends show a surge in collaborations amongst various stakeholders of the pharma industry with a focus on reducing the duplication of efforts, harnessing the collective insights and expertise gathered from these collaborative activities as well as testing new ideas for the betterment of the drug discovery and development process while also improving on patient safety, outcome and data quality aspects. In this context, one of the key areas of focus is on cross organization (pharma, researchers, patients, regulators, technology providers etc.) collaborations around data sharing and data transparency.

Pharmaceutical companies should be able to share information on elements under their study protocols, compound libraries, study designs and statistical analysis methodologies, trial processes and results, relevant patient data, manufacturing techniques etc.

Critical points to consider while undertaking an initiative of data sharing and transparency

To bring in real value & collaborative success and also to realize the cost-benefit, the data sharing exercise should be carefully and meticulously planned. So before an organization decides to undertake an initiative on data sharing and transparency, they should consider the following points

1. Decide on the kind of information/data and the quantum of the data that can be shared with others
2. Decide on whom to share the data with and the intended use of the shared data
3. Decide on processes and methods to address patient confidentiality, regulatory compliance and data privacy aspects
4. Implement data de-identification standards (currently the industry is still in the process of defining the rules that need to be applied for data de-identification)
5. Implement proper access controls and review mechanisms around internal data sharing guidelines
6. Secure transmission of data into the target data repositories
7. Ensure that the data shared is used in a secure manner in accordance with the data sharing and usage agreement i.e.  – intended users should be using the data, establish a traceability matrix of the data shared etc.

The debate on trial transparency and data sharing has not been new and so are the initiatives around it. Few pioneering initiatives to push this ‘open-access movement’ have been through the efforts of the Cochrane collaboration, PhRMA, EFPIA, C-Path Institute, ClinicalTrials.gov site for study results, Yale University Open Data Access, AllTrials, Transcelerate, Project Data Sphere for oncology trials historical control data, Lilly Ventures, GSK’s DPAc – Discovery Partnerships with Academia, Janssen Research and Development, etc. Data sharing has come a long way from the initial efforts of sharing just the trial summaries to now being able to do pooled analysis across trials and sponsors, to even getting access to the individual subject level data. It is predicted that the open data/open access movement will see increasing focus as more and more organizations are expected to come forward to be part of these initiatives.

IT & Procurement Organizations across industries worldwide have mastered the sourcing of “Run the Business” Services. The sourcing models in existence today have matured over a period of time and these models fulfill the organizational needs from a sourcing engagement with a service provider.

“Application Development” or “Change the Business” services on the other hand are still in the initial stages of evolution as challenges involved in AD are unique and IT organizations are experimenting various models and seeking innovative constructs from service providers. One of the key challenges in “Application Development Sourcing” is the growing Capability gap between skills required across the various stages of the entire CTB life cycle viz.  Right from Conceptualization (blue printing / Business case establishment) upto execution (Design, development, testing and implementation).

While the former needs niche consulting skills and business appreciation, the latter is more of technical expertise. De facto view that customers adopt is to have multi- vendors co-existing i.e. one vendor for each of the Business/ Technology division. There are inherent challenges due to nuances in each of the SDLC phases.

Customers are exploring newer AD Strategies and are contemplating to have exclusive vendors for “Design & Build” (proven core- competency of IOPs) and “Plan” / Business Organization  phase(Similar to Helpdesk being retained by infrastructure Vendor and outsourcing of L2 and L3 services to OSPs).

HCL through working with Customer IT Teams has evolved in building effective AD organizations. Gen 2.0 outsourcing organizations are attempting to evolve beyond the segregation into “Plan” and “Design & Build” Organizations, i.e. classification of systems into “Differentiation”, “Innovation” & “Record” based on utility of system. Another trend that’s prevalent among the AD organizations is, there is a clear interest in a very lean core team (Similar to KTLO in ASM) to have “Plan” activities functional whilst earlier approach was to have heavily loaded Development team.  The advantage of having a lean core team is twofold – a) optimal Business case & b) responsibilities of Knowledge management and transfer is bestowed upon a set of core team members.

Upcoming years will see the Industry exploring various options (not restricted to above) and a proven AD model will evolve.

In the last two decades, the world has witnessed a huge amount of technological advancements emerge. The Omnipresent nature of Mobile devices, emergence of Internet of Things , Machine to Machine (M2M) technologies  are drastically changing the way the consumers are empowered in consuming the services in wide array of industries including Banking, Insurance, Automotive and others.

Healthcare Industry is no exception and Consumerization in Healthcare is emerging as a stronger phenomenon like never before.  Once considered a domain of product companies, consumerization is becoming a key trend in Healthcare industry spanning across its sub segments including Payors, Providers and Life sciences companies.

Consumerization is generally defined as “ Reorientation of product and service designs around the end user “.  In Healthcare context, Consumerization is about the changing role of consumers ( patients ) from being a reactive recipient of care to playing a more proactive role in managing their own health, deciding their payment plans, being better informed about the choices available and demand more quality of service.

For example, the advent of wearable devices has empowered many consumers to measure and track their daily health for some of the vital parameters such as Blood Pressure, Glucose levels, Body temperature, calories intake vs calories burnt etc..   On the other hand, the advancements in mobile and Information technology have also enabled the physicians to constantly monitor their patients health and proactively advise / alert on deviations in their health patterns, so that they can quickly take necessary corrections, there by leading to increased wellness and healthcare costs.

Some of the other key interesting statistics reflecting consumerization of Healthcare worldwide:

1. The mobile health technology industry is expected to reach a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 61% by 2017 Research and Markets

2. By 2017, 50% of mobile users are expected to download a health app. Research and Markets

3. Remote patient monitoring is expected to save the world’s healthcare systems up to $36 billion. Jupiter Research

4.  80% of physicians are using mobile technology to provide patient care. 2nd Annual HIMSS Mobile Technology Survey

5.  30 million wearable health devices were shipped in 2012, a 37% increase over 2011. ABI Research

6.  75 million US adults used their mobile devices to access health information in 2012, up from 61 million in 2011.  Manhattan Research

Consumerization in Healthcare makes it imperative for different stakeholders of the Health ecosystem such as Payors, Providers, Life sciences companies to understand the nuances of their end consumers / patients and come out with more innovative business models that will redefine the way they engage with the consumers in terms of increased touch points with improved health outcomes.

Information Technology companies would play a vital role in implementing tools and systems that increase the consumer engagement through integration of disparate patient system records, clinical records, Claim records from different healthcare ecosystem stakeholders including Payors, Providers and Pharma companies.

As noted by one of the popular Heathcare consultant : “ Decisions regarding which technologies and services will be adopted in healthcare will be based on whether the benefits outweigh the costs. Compassion, empathy, and human connection will always be critical components to a holistic model.  Incorporating the latest technology into this emerging consumer-centric model, whereby “virtual” house calls or biometric wearables that facilitate diagnoses without ever leaving the comfort of our home, might just be the real disruptive innovations that drive the future of healthcare”.

On the whole, the consumers are now empowered to be more of proactive self health managers, rather than mere reactive Patients. Consumerization of Healthcare would be a revolutionary force that would change the dynamics of Healthcare Industry and it would be an exciting and enriching times ahead for all the stakeholders of the Healthcare industry!!!

The Indian IT segment is a strong USD 150+Billion Industry, with approximately USD 100 Billion of it coming from exports / global market. Over the past 25+ years, the industry has matured significantly, though it only became mainstream in the past 15 years and has evolved through multiple phases. It currently partners with many Global 1000 companies and has several mega relationships built over the years.

The top 5 Indian IT companies, as of the quarter ending March 2015, have 223 relationships which are each worth 50+M per annum. The number has grown from 172 to 223, 30% increase over the previous 2 years – a very strong and credible growth. A partner relationship of such significance grows over time – some over a long period of time. Having been involved in creating, nurturing and developing many such relationships across industries and geographies, I believe the following 7 tenets are key to make a relationship grow:

• Relevancy is the most important currency for any relationship. In ever-changing times, it is critical to stay relevant if relationships are to stay fresh and vibrant. The IT industry is ever-evolving and time-tested relationships which have evolved can be traced with these changes. Customers’ businesses are always evolving and dealing with new opportunities and challenges, and likewise they need partners who will not only walk with them but also provide new, contextual and innovative ideas and solutions. Today, it is equally important to provide services related to digital, cloud, analytics, etc., as it is to connect the dots and embrace the future as market segments open and opportunities arise for businesses. Stay Relevant!

• Agility: companies partner to increase their momentum and velocity. A relationship developed over time can certainly increase the agility of business quotient for customers. New product launches, new markets addressal, business processes optimization, significant cost take out, transformation delivery, merger and demerger alignment, etc. are several avenues where partners have increased customers’ agility. This is key to long term growth and success. Be Agile!

• Business value is the cornerstone of any long term partnership. Delivering business value is key to quantify, and must be properly and continuously communicated to all stakeholders. Connecting the dots from technologies, processes, IT, etc. to business is where the magic happens. At the end, what can be quantified and measured brings everyone in sync and on the same page. Relationships built on strong foundations with clearly articulated value across executive and operating levels go a long way in ensuring healthy and successful partnerships. Measure and Communicate Business Value!

• Trust is as important in any long term relationship as the premise on which the partnership was formed. Trust between partners must be built and earned inch by inch and day by day by demonstrating commitment to hard and soft deliverables. Trust matters in resolving open issues. Build Trust!

• Bilateral wins: there must be joint wins, successes, pride and honor for all sides in a long term partnership. Over time, not only are customers’ successes paramount and key, but it is equally important to ensure the same for service providers as well. Significant relationships must anchor new thoughts, ideas, seed a new business line, etc. to ensure that the scale of operations should not become a detriment. Long-term and strategic customers are equally interested in investing and creating value for service providers. Leverage Bilateral Wins!

• Leadership matters. People who can dream, take charge and deliver always take a central role in growing a long term partnership. A relationship which has grown over a number of years must certainly have had great leaders on both sides who actualized visions and demonstrated actions to build a growth partnership. Invest in and create Leaders!

• Cultural alignment is often an overlooked aspect, yet it clearly plays a pivotal part in any long-term relationship. A partnership that grows over time must ensure consistent and continuous focus on cultural aspects of the relationship at all levels of engagement. No two organizations are culturally the same as each has its own character, identity, processes, etc. Nor do cultures remain fixed, as happens with a change in leadership. A relationship which spans years has certainly stood the test of time in managing cultural alignment!

The era of Digital Darwinism is upon us. Businesses have no choice but to adopt digital technologies or disappear. Traditional businesses which do not leverage digital technologies risk becoming irrelevant or losing business to native digital companies which understand technology better. The good news is that most companies realize the importance of digital. However, the not so good news is that many still approach digital as “nice” or “cool to have” rather than treating it as an important aspect for business. Digital is no longer good to have: either be digital or be extinct – there is simply no other option.

Most businesses realize this today and strive for a footprint in the digital world. Many have refreshed their web presence, are taking orders online, creating mobile apps, running social media campaigns, etc. to reach their customers. Several banks have mobile apps which enable remote deposit of checks and online transactions; retailers have mobile apps for online ordering and tracking etc.; and utilities companies have mobile web presence for bill payments and customer engagements. While these are laudable initiatives, the digital customer or user experience is just the starting point of the digital journey and not the end game. An effective digital enterprise is one that integrates front-end digital customer/user experience with the system integration value chain and brings the entire organization onto an integrated digital platform. True digital integration is as much about middle- and back-office system integration as it is about front-end systems. It not only enables a seamless and consistent customer experience across all touch points but also creates significant supply chain efficiencies and unlocks the true potential of data analytics.

Highly successful native digital companies such as Uber, Airbnb, Netflix, Facebook, etc. have been built with true digital system integration that spans the entire value continuum, and not just the front-end apps. This is what makes them successful. For example, Uber has effectively leveraged Google Maps and online payment systems to create a frictionless experience for the taxi business and eliminated two major inconveniences – the unpredictability of hailing a taxi and the payment after a ride. It has also efficiently integrated engagement with its drivers, their onboarding and settlement, etc. on a weekly basis. For digitalized businesses, their mobile presence is just the beginning. Their true strengths come from the digitally integrated value chains that allow them to predict and respond to market changes.

Traditional enterprises which are being reincarnated as digital have decades of existing systems and processes which need to be digitalized and integrated into the value chain before impacting the customer/user experience. When a customer deposits a check using a bank’s mobile app, the initial convenience of remote deposit fades if the funds are not credited within a day. Sometimes, due to integration issues between the front-end and back-end systems, it can take 3-5 days before a check is credited and the funds become available. The financial world is preparing for crypto currencies, messenger-based payment systems, instant mobile payments, etc. Digital will impact the entire financial value chain. Native born digital companies have created massive disruption in every industry and have also forced traditional enterprises to become more agile, effective and market relevant.

Digital transformation for traditional enterprises must have CEO sponsorship, talent, collaboration across multiple business units and relentless user (internal and external) centricity. Several companies have created an exclusive digital centric team anchored by the Chief Digital Officer (CDO). CDOs have the mandate to architect an enterprise wide digital strategy, manage the implementation and drive business results in collaboration with the business units. Since technology is the biggest competitive advantage and a major ally in the digital pursuits, relevant partnerships with platform, software, digital solutions and services companies are important elements which can be leveraged well by enterprises.

Digitalization is a marathon and not a sprint. Design thinking, platform development and support, global launches, business units, partner and eco-system integration, digital run, operations and continuous improvement, etc. are key components of any successful digital enterprise. Security enabled technologies are essential for the long term success of digital programs. The ever-expanding global internet penetration, new platform and technologies, mobile and wearable devices, industrial and consumer IoT, cloud, analytics and big data, social collaboration, etc. will accelerate digital adoption across the globe and impact all industries. All businesses must fast become digital-led. Either be digital or be extinct. Digital is the new D – Darwin.

Big data and predictive real-time analytics are critical dimensions of technology which have wide applicability across industries. IDC forecasts the big data technology and services market to become a USD 41.5 billion business through 2018. This market is growing with a CAGR of six times faster than the overall IT market and the growth rate of data and information has been incredible. As per IBM, 2.5 quintillion bytes of data is generated every day from the internet, posts on social media sites, emails, ecommerce transactions, website contents, videos, digital photos, sensors and more. All this, with only 41% of the world connected to the internet. Imagine the colossal amount of data that will be generated when the entire world is online and hundreds of billion devices become connected through the Internet of Things, IoT.

The key to harnessing the true potential of advancements in computer, network and storage technologies is software centric, and software is key to growth in all industries. The power of software-led big data is the ability to mine meaningful insights from the deluge of information around us.

Big data has the immense potential to impact individual health. In the 12 years since the completion of the Human Genome Project, there has been an exponential reduction in the cost of genome sequencing, to the extent that it now costs approximately USD 1,000 for a single genome sequencing and will certainly cost less than USD 100 by the end of this decade. Genome sequencing is being leveraged by life sciences companies to create personalized medicine for an individual with a specific disease. Creating personalized medicine based on the individual’s DNA and other related conditions will have a significantly higher rate of success in a cure and wellness. It will not only reduce the cost of care but, more importantly, increase treatment accuracy, one patient at a time.

Another relevant area where big data and real-time analytics could play a huge role is in agriculture and farming. Amazing results could be derived by combining the power of big data to face the challenges of growing enough food to feed increasing populations, reducing waste, and creating a sustainable and eco-friendly future. By 2050, the world will have 9+ billion people and to generate enough food, we must not only produce substantially more, but we must also produce them with smart/precision agriculture. Soil types vary widely from farm to farm, from region to region. The technology available today could combine years of data with advanced soil maps and upcoming weather patterns to predict farming conditions, enabling customized decisions to optimize yield. The insight from such data analysis could immensely help farm owners, more so in the developing and emerging countries where yield could be significantly improved while reducing substantial waste. Monsanto’s acquisition of Climate Corporation is an example of the way forward for smart agriculture. Smart/precision agriculture is the future, and big data with predictive analytics is the tool to improve yield, one acre at a time.

Software is omnipresent across manufacturing industries and has become the biggest investment areas for several companies. As per Jeffery Immelt, GE CEO, “The industrial world is changing dramatically, and those companies that make the best use of data will be the most successful”. Manufacturing is one of the key sectors to have leveraged the use of sensors effectively and in many ways, proliferated the IoT. These sensors are now embedded in multiple devices and products, and capture constant streams of data. They are in simple devices such as wearable health trackers which capture wellness data, and are also in complex systems such as aircraft and automobiles which capture the maintenance and operational efficiencies of critical parts. Currently, an automobile has an average of 60-100 sensors (expected to increase to 200 by 2020) embedded across multiple subsystems, capturing real time data about performance. Combined with predictive analytics, big data can drive higher benefits at an individual level. For example, it can predict when to replace the fan belt as effectively and accurately as when to refill gas. It is the impact on each unit of car for each passenger that is the key advantage for big data and predictive analytics.

There are innumerable areas where big data is now, and in the future could be, leveraged to drive transformational benefits across all sectors and industries. Digital and mobile are mainstream, and the data set will continue to increase with an ever-increasing momentum as the world continues to onboard the internet and IoT. The advantages and impacts of big data are when its benefit can be applied to a person, a unit or an instance, one at a time. That is when its massive power comes together to deliver real value.