Tag: digital innovation

Ever since the shift from stone to metal tools, the world has steadily been moving towards an increasingly digital age. However, the rate at which technological developments take place today is expanding exponentially and over the last two years digital adoption and transformation has been accelerated at a rapid pace.

Encouraging public sector organisations to become more innovative has always been important. However, doing so has likely never mattered more as the world wrestles with the challenges of the COVID-19 outbreak and recovery.

Nuts & Bolts is a book about hope; it is full of stories about real people and companies who are making a difference, with testimonies from entrepreneurs, experienced ecosystem builders and innovators. It captures deep insights, from the considerable time McLean has spent with entrepreneurs and innovators, on the importance of inclusive innovation and entrepreneurship, and provides a mix of global experiences and entrepreneurship narratives that eloquently sketch out the ‘nuts and bolts’ for entrepreneurship and innovation.

Our recently released study takes an in-depth look at the state of innovation in South Africa specifically, however the study indicates that even though the majority of South African companies are expecting to be disrupted by innovations in their industries over the next three years, half of them are not prepared to cope with it.

Fuel forecourt retailers or convenience shops are highly vulnerable to disruption. Although their operations have always provided a convenience-driven competitive advantage, they now have a lot more to grapple with. South African consumers are more tech-savvy and time-strapped, demanding greater relevance and convenience from service providers, all within a tighter economy and rising fuel costs.

The concept of open banking is forcing banks to reconsider the way they think about financial services and is poised to reshape banking as it’s understood today. Realising that this is the new frontier of banking, we are far advanced in our research into open banking, including its challenges and the opportunities it presents.

Youth unemployment is a national crisis affecting millions of South Africans. According to Stats SA, the burden of unemployment is concentrated amongst the youths (aged 15-34 years) as they account for 63,4% of the total number of unemployed persons in 2019.

Digital innovation is accelerating in South Africa - from call centres using chatbots and automatic transcription to improve customer service, to financial advisors harnessing machine learning and data analytics, rapidly matching client and solution, and emerging use cases of Internet of Things (IoT) sensors and AR/VR training in the mining and manufacturing sectors.  

As digital transformation continues to evolve the business landscape, the market remains fiercely competitive for businesses and brands – especially when it comes to customer loyalty and retention. One industry where this rings especially true is aviation, where customers’ requirements for on-demand access to expert airline consultants must be met through a variety of channels when navigating their travel experience.

As exponential, digital-driven technologies transform the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR) from a buzzword into reality, the financial services sector - and insurance in particular - face massive disruption, it starts with a radical reimagining of the very model insurance has been built on since its origins in the 14th Century, and Africa is no exception.