Our future society is a society in which digital citizens have much bigger say, it will be a society they dominate.
Is such a future takes a long distance to reach? Is the digital society far away?
The fair answer perhaps is: such a “future” is just right under our noses. The impact has already been existed and is rapidly increasing.
For non-digital natives, it doesn’t help to repel, even being exasperated by the annoying clamor right by, it is impossible to think of getting rid of the general trend. Instead, it can be the other way around, the digital citizens are to be more impatient to tolerate “the descendants of the previous era ” snoring at their bedsides or nagging at them.
According to an updated British statistic, more than 80% of adults in their country are using the internet every day or almost daily; 94% of students aged 12 to 17 are using the internet to search for homework related information and learning materials.
Malaysia is quite fast in this regard. The remarkable growth of mobile and smartphones users is changing the ways in which products and services consumed and provided. Internet browsing, searching, sharing are around all places for adults and young people. It shows Malaysian social digital culture is rapidly shaping, the right mix of digital skills, resources, technologies, opportunities and mindsets has been acknowledged as the key to innovate.
Digital technologies, in a state of drastic change, are redefining what we are doing. Almost all businesses are facing the opportunities as well as challenges of how to deal with digital transformation, how to empower their employees for the need of digitally enabled workplace. This’s a critical moment on the brink of digital revolution.
Can this “critical moment ” be interpreted as “the future” as well as “at present”?
Agilisys, one of the UK’s leading providers of digital technology has in its recent survey disclosed, many companies actually know the benefits of digital transformation, but are hindered by their own employees.
Employees are reluctant to adopt new digital work flow, most of them insist to keep with their familiar pattern.
Of the 400 organizations surveyed, 40% of the organizations claimed to have ” a clear view” of the future, 65% of the corporate leaders thought that digital transformation was one of their top priorities. However, in the process of digital transformation, two-thirds of the employees were found pulling the brake.
By all possible, the enterprise has to sustain its vitality, it has to enhance the conditions for survival, to defend and protect the required fundamental elements from being eroded to collapse.
Though employees have their part to play, when talking about the question of survive and downfall, life and death, whatever consequence, it should be borne by those responsible to manage and lead.
If the opportunity to transform being missed, if because of whatsoever reason, the consequence turned to be miserable, if all the blames are to be put on the employees, one simple immediate question is: For what reason the corporation has engaged someone to enjoy higher remuneration and benefits than the average employee?
There must be right ration and ratio between the authority (power) and the responsibility to be borne. There should be no such thing as gray area in this specific aspect.
If people have the influential position to speak, commanding decisive power at high level, if they do not understand but pretend to be well-versed, if their voices can influence the corporate decisions and yet they are to get away without responsibility for any consequence. That is the politics of castration, not the professional leadership as we know; all innovative transformation for corporate growth will be far away if things turn to be politics.