The Digital Transformation Journey
Published on : Tuesday 06-10-2020
ARCs 18th India Virtual Forum discusses the Digital Transformation journey, says Sharada Prahladrao.
ARC’s 18th India Forum titled Driving Digital Transformation in Industry and Cities on September 8-9, 2020 was a virtual event and attracted over 300 delegates. The pandemic has dramatically changed how we communicate and collaborate globally. Business strategies and models are undergoing a sea change and it is clear that flexibility, agility, and innovative approaches are required to succeed during these uncertain times. As Charles Darwin said, “it’s not the strongest or most intelligent of the species that survives, but the one that’s most adaptable to change.” While technology has opened new doors of opportunity, organisations that do not adapt to the accelerating pace of change will become extinct.
For the last several years, the core theme across all ARC global forums has been digital transformation. And on this journey we’ve moved to the next level of discussing how digitalisation can help industries and cities grow in a secure, collaborative environment. The age of questioning and doubting the digital imperative is over; it’s no longer about if and when – it’s about “have to, but how?” Collaboration at all levels (information technology (IT), operational technology (OT), engineering technology (ET), and other services) is the norm to achieve real-time integrated operations. Some companies already have a strategy for digital transformation, along with a realisable roadmap.
This two-day virtual forum provided end users, solution providers and decision makers an opportunity to learn from each other and get an overall view of the market and its requirements. Typically, the India Forum attracts a large number of end users. This time too, we had many end user attendees and high profile speakers from companies, such as Reliance Industries, Petroleum Development Oman, DCM Shriram, Tata Steel, Tata Consulting Engineers, Ace Micromatic MIT, Haldor Topsoe, NTPC, and industry bodies like NASSCOM. Speakers from the supplier side brought in their customers, highlighting case studies.
The welcome address by G Ganapathiraman, Vice President and General Manager, ARC Advisory Group, India set the tenor for the keynote presentations. After each presentation there were short Q&A sessions. Presentations focused on digital transformation initiatives covering the gamut from overcoming barriers to digital twin applications, cybersecurity, and future architectures. The attendees understood how companies are digitalising business processes, the digital transformation journey, and where they are on the digital maturity curve. Organisational readiness and the human element to accept new approaches was an important component of almost all the presentations.
Forum Sponsors
The success of our forum is largely due to the tremendous support we received from our supplier, industry association, and media sponsors.
Supplier sponsors included: Platinum Sponsors, Bentley Systems and Uniper; and Global Sponsor Siemens.
Industry Association Sponsors: ODVA and PLCopen
Media Sponsors: A&D, AutomatedBuildings.com, Chemical Engineering World, Chemical Industry Digest, Chemical Today, Control Engineering, EM, Highways Today, Industrial Automation, OffshoreWorld, Reliabilityweb.com, Uptime, and World of Chemicals.
Sharada Prahladrao is editor and public relations manager at ARC India. She edits ARC's Global Market Outlook studies and co-authors ARC Strategy Reports and Insights. She has the innate ability to understand complex concepts and express them lucidly. Prior to joining ARC, Sharada worked as a copywriter for F.D. Stewart and Clarion Advertising; provided media-related work for Corvo Shandwick, a PR firm; and freelanced for local newspapers. She has been involved with two NGOs: integrating children with disability into mainstream education and rural education programs.
