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Tag: Digital

  • Global vendor revenue from cloud hits $32.6b in 2016

    Global vendor revenue from cloud hits $32.6b in 2016

    Vendor revenue from sales of infrastructure products (server, storage, and Ethernet switch) for cloud IT, including public and private cloud, grew by 9.2% year over year to $32.6 billion in 2016, IDC estimates.

    Vendor revenue for the fourth quarter meanwhile grew at 7.3% year-on-year to $9.2 billion, the research firm said.

    Cloud IT infrastructure sales as a share of overall worldwide IT spending climbed to 37.2% in 4Q16, up from 33.4% a year ago. Revenue from infrastructure sales to private cloud grew by 10.2% to $3.8 billion, and to public cloud by 5.3% to $5.4 billion.

    In comparison, revenue in the traditional (non-cloud) IT infrastructure segment decreased 9.0% year over year in the fourth quarter. Private cloud infrastructure growth was led by Ethernet switch at 52.7% year-over-year growth, followed by server at 9.3%, and storage at 3.6%.

    Public cloud growth was also led by Ethernet switch at 30.0% year-over-year growth, followed by server at 2.4% and a 2.1% decline in storage. In traditional IT deployments, storage declined the most (10.8% year over year), with Ethernet switch and server declining 3.4% and 9.0%, respectively.

    “Growth slowed to single digits in 2016 in the cloud IT infrastructure market as hyperscale cloud datacenter growth continued its pause,” said Kuba Stolarski, research director for Computing Platforms at IDC.

    “Network upgrades continue to be the focus of public cloud deployments, as network bandwidth has become by far the largest bottleneck in cloud datacenters. After some delays for a few hyperscalers, datacenter buildouts and refresh are expected to accelerate throughout 2017, built on newer generation hardware, primarily using Intel’s Skylake architecture.”

    From a regional perspective, vendor revenue from cloud IT infrastructure sales grew fastest in Japan at 42.3% year over year in 4Q16, followed by Middle East & Africa at 33.6%, Canada at 16.6%, Western Europe at 15.6%, Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) at 14.5%, Central and Eastern Europe at 11.6%, Latin America at 9.9%, and the United States at 0.1%.

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  • Digital Free Trade Zone For Malaysian E-commerce Growth

    Digital Free Trade Zone For Malaysian E-commerce Growth

    The announcement of the much-anticipated Digital Free Trade Zone (DFTZ) by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak today comes amidst a time where businesses in Malaysia are encouraged to capitalise on this initiative to boost the Digital Economy in the country. First-ever and a pilot programme, we foresee the DFTZ to benefit local SMEs and entrepreneurs, and pave the way to a more global market for them.

    With the implementation of a DFTZ in Malaysia, the comprehensive approach, covering fulfilment, global supply chain, payment gateways, training and employment prospects, will set a conducive platform to cement Malaysia as a digital hub in the Southeast Asia region, as well as to encourage traditional brick-and-mortar businesses especially local SMEs to transition onto the e-commerce sphere, and trade across ASEAN countries and soon, the world.

    Furthermore, the Government’s introduction of a Digital Free Trade Zone exemplifies an intention to impart knowledge and equip entrepreneurs with the knowledge and know-hows of e-commerce complementing the vast facilities that the trade zone will stand to offer. Resonating this intention, 11street’s owned training programme which is recognised by the Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) aims to help e-entrepreneurs understand the basic rudiments of online business, sharing with them the effective strategies that will propel their businesses to a different height and be competitive in the global market.

    In conclusion, the Digital Free Trade Zone is shaping up to be a boon to local SMEs. The trade zone will serve as gateway to the ASEAN market and allow local products to tap into a wider market. We at 11street will continue to support to initiatives to evolve e-commerce in Malaysia, so as to open up opportunities for a better e-commerce climate for both e-commerce platforms and also entrepreneurs.

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  • AirAsia plans to go fully cashless; stresses on digitisation

    AirAsia plans to go fully cashless; stresses on digitisation

    “I think cash is old fashioned,” said AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes, as he introduced plans of making all in-flight purchases on AirAsia flights cashless.

    From demonetisation to flights, going cashless seems to be the norm. Notably, airlines in the United States started going cashless for in-flight transactions as early as 2009. Even in India, airlines offer customers the option of paying for purchases using cards.

    “I would like all our in-flight sales to be electronic,” Fernandes elaborated. “So you can just use your mobile phone to pay for food, WiFi, etc.”

    He said that AirAsia hopes to launch this service by April-May and that this exercise is a part of digitising the airline. “All our cabin crew will have a mobile phone. When you go on to an Air Asia plane, they will know you,” he added, giving examples of the digitising that the carrier aims to embrace.

    “Transacting in different currencies on international flights can get cumbersome, making it harder for the customer,” Nikunj Shanti, Chief Data Officer, Group Digital, AirAsia, told. “What we are trying to do is make it faster and easier.”

    “This could also give us better information in terms of stock control, etc, so that we are stocking the right goods on the plane,” Shanti said. “Right now, it’s all manual. If we get this information digitally, we can apply learning algorithms and classification algorithms and put better products on the plane.”

    “This digital revolution is a chance for ASEAN and AirAsia to move up the economic value chain,” Fernandes said, clarifying that he doesn’t think the digitising will lead to loss of jobs. “We are already training our sales agents and guest services to become more knowledge-based. We are already anticipating that.”

    Social media platforms

    AirAsia is also personalising its website. “That’s step one. By next month, when you log-on, we will know about you, where you flew, etc,” Fernandes said. Purchasing of tickets from social media platforms is another aspect.

    “Three per cent of our sales come from Facebook. You can buy tickets from Line, WeChat,” he added.

    Hackathon event

    Airvolution 2017, a hackathon for participants from across the Asia-Pacific region, was organised by AirAsia at their headquarters in Kuala Lumpur. This was the first such event organised by the carrier, which also tied into its aim of becoming a digital airline.

    The event saw participation from 20 teams from Singapore, Australia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Thailand, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Australia and four teams from India.

    The 18-hour hackathon involved giving the teams a problem statement on how they will profile AirAsia customers based on their digital social footprints to improve their experience.

  • Singtel announces tie-up with polytechnics to help F&B businesses go digital

    Singtel announces tie-up with polytechnics to help F&B businesses go digital

    Singtel has announced a new initiative with the two Singapore-based polytechnics — Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP) and Singapore Polytechnic (SP) — in Singapore to help F&B and retail businesses go digital.

    First, it will collaborate with the NYP – Singapore Institute of Retail Studies (SIRS) to help these SMEs hire digital professionals who will offer their expertise in e-commerce, retail analytics and digital marketing solutions such as SEO and Search Engine Marketing.

    These digital professionals will comprise of professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) who have been re-skilled.

    SMEs which sign up for this scheme will be able to claim up to 90 per cent in government subsidies.

    In addition, they can also seek additional support on social media marketing, online merchandising and analysis of online consumers from students and lecturers at the NYP’s Customer Experience and Analytics Centre.

    Next, Singtel will work with an integrated team of business, IT and communication students from SP to help F&B owners showcase their offerings on the 99% SME website — a portal set up by DBS and Singtel in 2015 which provides digital tools and resources to SMEs to boost productivity.

    Additionally, the SP students will help these businesses adopt Singtel’s Connected Restaurant solution. This solution offers an online reservation and pick up service.

    SP students will also offer recommendations and develop a suite of solutions to boost businesses’ products and digital and marketing capabilities.

    “Through the 99% SME movement, our collaboration with Nanyang Polytechnic and the Singapore Institute of Retail Studies are three-fold. First, it helps SMEs improve productivity, reduce costs, gain new revenue and scale their businesses,” said Andrew Lim, Managing Director, Business Group, Group Enterprise at Singtel, in an official press statement.

    “Second, PMETs are being re-skilled and re-employed while using their skills to help SMEs in their digital journey. Third, the students will acquire deep skills and develop entrepreneurial spirit, which prime them for their career development in the digital field.”

    Last week, Singtel and Lazada announced the launch of 99% SME e-marketplace – a dedicated portal hosted on Lazada Singapore’s website for SMEs to advertise their offerings and tap on a wider online customer base.

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  • SMEs to get more help in going digital

    SMEs to get more help in going digital

    The Government is committed to getting its hands dirty to help more small and medium enterprises (SMEs) transform digitally to stay in business amid disruptive technological innovations.

    The Info-communications Media Development Authority (IMDA), the government agency leading the charge, will play sector “chief information officer” to SMEs, providing customised help from funding and consultancy to approving tech products and participating in joint pilots.

    This will be available under a new scheme dubbed SMEs Go Digital, targeted at the 200,000 SMEs in Singapore.

    During the debate on his ministry’s budget yesterday, Minister for Communications and Information Yaacob Ibrahim said: “It will help raise SMEs’ overall level of digital readiness by giving them step-by-step advice on the technologies to use at each stage of their digital journey.”

    The kitty is $80 million over four years from April under this scheme which was first announced two weeks ago by Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat.

    SMEs Go Digital aims to defray up to 70 per cent of the cost of technology purchase, capped at $300,000 per SME.

    It will replace a seven-year-old iSprint scheme, which provided similar subsidies and basic tech advice, benefiting some 8,000 SMEs.

    SMEs Go Digital aims to be more comprehensive than iSprint by also helping SMEs with more advanced needs such as cybersecurity, data analytics and artificial intelligence through a new SME Digital Tech Hub to be set up by September.

    In reponse to Dr Yaacob’s announcement, nominated MP Thomas Chua, who is president of the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, voiced concern about the prospect of disparate technologies being implemented by different firms.

    Specifically, supply chains that connect buyers and sellers must be interoperable.

    COMMON LANGUAGE

    “Applying a standardised system for the industry is like learning a common language to facilitate communication… If not, the transfer of large masses of data could cause system errors,” said Mr Chua.

    To this, Dr Yaacob said IMDA will adopt a sectorial approach to ensure systems talk to one another and to accelerate the pace of transformation, especially for the deployment of more sophisticated systems.

    Specifically, IMDA will partner influential companies to pilot sector-specific solutions that have the potential to scale up.

    It will start with sectors such as retail, food services, logistics and cleaning.

    For instance, IMDA has partnered retail store Robinsons to integrate some 200 SME suppliers on a common e-procurement platform for better sales planning and inventory management.

    IMDA has also partnered StarHub to target 1,000 SMEs in the food and beverage business, offering them a comprehensive automation package including broadband services, retail analytics, digital ordering and payment systems. StarHub is working with the Tampines Merchant Association for this.

    While recognising that SMEs’ digital needs vary widely across and within sectors, Dr Yaacob noted that his ministry is open to feedback to fine-tune the new scheme.

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  • The Trade Desk launches in Indonesia to capitalise on digital ad potential

    The Trade Desk launches in Indonesia to capitalise on digital ad potential

    The Trade Desk has launched into Indonesia, a market it believes has huge potential for growth in programmatic ad trading. The company has launched alongside partnerships secured with Unruly, Grapeshot, Spotify, Tapad and Mobilewalla.

    Matt Harty, SVP of Asia and Australia at The Trade Desk, told The Drum that with Zenith numbers claiming that Indonesia will be in the top 10 ad markets in the world within the next three years, it was important to establish local operations.

    “It’s compelling stuff, there’s a huge growth in middle class and it’s a boat I can’t see us wanting to miss. Boston Consulting figures suggest there will be 141 million Indonesian middle class by 2020, adding 8 or 9 million consumers buy big ticket items each year. I don’t think other markets will see a demand for 9 million new bikes each year, as first time buyers. It couldn’t be more exciting as a market,” he said.

    The office, which will be located in Jakarta’s central business district, will be the sixth for the ad tech company in Asia Pacific region. The office will launch with two members of staff, with the Singapore office still acting as its regional headquarters.

    The timing of the launch has been set to ensure that brands and agency planners have strategies in place ahead of Ramadan, which takes place in late May this year. Harty said that after taking a year to work out the Indonesian market last year, ahead of launch, a key learning was how important it was to plan ahead of the religious holiday.

    “Last year was the first year of real scale doing business in Indonesia, but from Singapore. We were taken by surprise about key things around Indonesian planning, so now we have boots on the street and are very well prepared and we time to be in place for Ramadan,” he added.

    The office marks one of the first new Asian markets for the company since it publicly floated on the stock markets last year. The company hit the headlines after its IPO was widely considered to have been a success.

  • Vietnam to digitize medical records for all citizens

    Vietnam to digitize medical records for all citizens

    The electronic system can be shared by healthcare providers across the countries to save time and money. The Vietnamese government has announced a plan to spend VND5 trillion ($220 million) on an ambitious project to create a nationwide system of electronic medical records.

    Under the plan, the government will still issue paper-based records to patients first but these will gradually be replaced by a digital system, built and run by the welfare agency Vietnam Social Security.

    The system, which will store personal medical records for all citizens, can be shared by health care providers to save time and money.

    Vietnam, like many other developing countries, is dealing with the double burden of infectious and non-infectious diseases, said Luong Ngoc Khue, a senior health official, adding that among non-communicable diseases, cancer has emerged as an alarming problem.

    Online personal health records can make it more efficient for doctors to make early diagnosis as well as easily monitor symptoms.

    The Vietnamese government has also announced a plan to issue electronic healthcare cards to all citizens to certify their rights to medical services anywhere, according to the government’s online news portal. With the new system, electronic healthcare registries in all 63 cities and provinces will be synced.

    Vietnam Social Security is in charge of developing a plan to sync health, social security and unemployment insurance into one single card.

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  • AXA Financial Indonesia seeks new customers from digital platform

    AXA Financial Indonesia seeks new customers from digital platform

    Life insurer AXA Financial Indonesia, part of the AXA Indonesia Group, launched a digital tool to expand its customer base on Monday.

    The tool provides easy access to information for several purposes, namely creating a children’s education fund, retirement fund, business capital and tourism or pilgrimage fund.

    AXA Financial Indonesia chief agency officer Nina Ong said the tool and products were directed at modern dynamic citizens, ages 25 to 45 years old.

    The company expects the tool to help attract 20 percent to 30 percent of such citizens as its new clients and expand its customer base, which is now served by about 14,000 agents.

    AXA Financial Indonesia’s move is part of an overall strategy by the insurance industry, which has continued to report low insurance penetration despite Indonesia’s status as the largest economy in Southeast Asia.

    Data from the Financial Services Authority (OJK) shows that the insurance penetration ratio stood at 2.63 percent only, as of September, below the ratios in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand at over 5 percent.

    AXA Financial Indonesia booked Rp 1.44 trillion (US$108.03 million) in total revenue in the first nine months of 2016, a more than sixfold increase compared to the same period in 2015, supported by positive results in its investments.

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  • Singapore leads Asia by digital readiness

    Singapore leads Asia by digital readiness

    Singapore leads the way in Asia in terms of possessing the requrired building blocks to ensure business success in a connected world, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit.

    The EIU’s “Connecting Capabilities” report includes the first ever Asian Digital Transformation Index, a quantitative ranking of 11 Asian markets and three global comparators using 20 indicators across three key categories relevant to business performance — digital infrastructure, human capital and industry connectedness.

    The EIU has surveyed more than 850 businesses and 94% said a country’s infrastructure is important to their organization’s digital transformation, reinforcing the fact that access to high quality telecommunications and technology services is vital for business success.

    Singapore’s strong performance is primarily due to its well-developed digital infrastructure, as well as a highly supportive and coordinated set of government policies in support of infrastructure development, business use of technology and entrepreneurship.

    The city state ranks behind Japan in industry connectivity, which is broadly, the ability to draw on resources external to the organization such as digital partnerships with other companies, networks or communities.

    Recruiting the right talent is a challenge in Singapore, which ranked fourth on human capital. Building talent pools with advanced digital skills and expanding data sharing to enrich its firms’ digital partnerships are key areas for improvement.

    While several Asian countries are performing well, a comparison with the other three markets United States, Australia and the United Kingdom shows the region as a whole is behind when it comes to digital infrastructure and human capital.

    “In the EIU survey, 87% of companies globally agreed digital transformation will be important to their organization over the next three years, but if your business lacks access to the necessary infrastructure, skills and ideas, then it would be difficult to take full advantage of the opportunities created by digital technology,” Telstra group MD for international Paul Tyler said.

    “In this regard, 55% of companies in Singapore say the country has been only ‘somewhat successful’ in providing an environment for digital transformation,” said Tyler.

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  • Nokia launches a digital assistant for telcos

    Nokia launches a digital assistant for telcos

    Nokia has announced the launch of MIKA, the first digital assistant customized for the telecommunications industry.

    MIKA (multi-purpose intuitive knowledge assistant) is designed to provide voice-activated access to information for telecoms engineers, to reduce the time needed to find essential information needed to maintain complex multi-technology network environments.

    MIKA is powered by the Nokia AVA cognitive services platform, and provides access to the AVA knowledge library of best practice gathered from Nokia’s network projecs around the world.

    The platform combines augmented intelligence with automated machine learning based on Bell Labs learning algorithms.

    “Finding the right information is a daily challenge for telco engineers tasked with boosting network quality,” Nokia head of global services Igor Leprince said.

    “MIKA taps into the power of the Nokia AVA platform to provide quick and accurate answers, avoiding time wasted on fruitless searches. MIKA is customized to support the specific needs of telecoms, and can deliver recommendations based on experience from networks around the world.”

    Nokia also introduced a new predictive repair service, which will enable operators to reduce costs by predicting hardware failures and recommending replacements up to 14 days in advance. The vendor said the service can achieve up to 95% accuracy.

    Predictive repair will be available to operators using Nokia’s 3G and 4G equipment.

  • Higher attrition rate seen among digital consumers

    Higher attrition rate seen among digital consumers

    Customer retention dropped by 7% in 2016 compared to one year previously, a study from Verint Systems shows.

    This research was commissioned by Verint from June 23 to July 20, 2016 in association with Opinium Research. Interviews were conducted among 24,001 consumers in Australia, Brazil, India, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, South Africa, United Kingdom and United States.

    Results show that consumers who prefer to do business through digital channels are more likely to swap providers than those that engage with businesses through human touch interactions, such as those that take place by phone via the contact center or in-store.

    Across all sectors, 57% of consumers have been with their service providers for more than three years. Banks led in terms of customer retention, with 73% of consumers reporting they have been with their provider for more than three years, whereas only 8% said they have been with their bank for less than a year.

    Mobile operators ranked second best, with 63% of consumers remaining with their provider for more than three years.

    Japanese companies had the highest retention rates of all countries surveyed—an average of 64% of consumers have been with their providers for more than three years.

    French and American companies also fared well, with 60% of French consumers and 55% of American consumers  staying with their providers for more than three years.

    The study also shows a clear link between communication channel preferences and retention. Consumers who prefer to engage with organizations digitally are more prone to switching providers.

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  • Indonesian mall integrates tech in the shopping experience

    Indonesian mall integrates tech in the shopping experience

    Supermal Karawaci, one of the largest mall entertainment center in Western Jakarta, has launched an interactive mobile application that would allow retailers to offer personalized content and engage with customers better.

    The 125,000-square-meter retail destination in Banten Province, West of Jakarta has over 1,000 retail stores and outlets, three cinemas and the largest Timezone arcade in Southeast Asia.

    The app, which was built on the shopper engagement platform of Singaporean technology firm Sprooki, is integrated with Supermal Karawaci’s touchpoints and mobile apps. Using location and contextual data, retailers would be able to offer individualized content such as vouchers, special offers, event alerts and store information.

    The system allows social sign-in and content sharing on platforms, including Facebook, which has more than 76 million users in Indonesia as of end 2016 and projected to grow to 86.4 million by end of 2017, according to eMarketer. The service will also be available in both English and Bahasa.

    Pipih Tjandra, Supermal Karawaci Marketing and Leasing General Manager, said the Sprooki platform would help keep the shopping hub at the cutting edge of technology, which customers had come to expect.

    “Supermal Karawaci works every day to be in tune with what today’s consumers want and expect through innovative marketing strategies. By implementing the Sprooki platform, our mall will be one of the first shopping precincts in Indonesia to incorporate a data-driven mobile platform to improve shopper experience, helping our tenants to increase in-store traffic and sales,” he said in a news release.

    Pablo Amante, Sprooki’s Head of Marketing, said in an email interview that the Indonesian market is ready to start adopting location-based and engagement technologies to help retailers and business to engage their shoppers, making the Indonesian retail industry much more competitive.

    The latest report from eMarketer shows that the number of smartphone users in Indonesia will rise from 55 million in 2015 to 92 million in 2019 and would be the third largest smartphone market in the Asia-Pacific.

    According to Lee Kang, the Vice Chairman of the Indonesian Cellular Phone Association (APSI), number of smartphone users in Indonesia has been growing between 30 and 50 percent each year and this growth momentum will remain intact due to the availability of affordable 4G smartphones on the Indonesian market and further development of Indonesia’s 4G network.

    “Based on these figures, retailers, shopping malls, and all companies focused on engaging their customers through mobile will see in our software a powerful tool to optimize their sales and marketing strategies, based on real data about their customers’ behavior,” Amante said.

    Cloud-based platform

    The Sprooki software is a cloud-based platform that analyzes physical and digital shopper behavior detected inside and outside stores. The platform is an analytics and contextual engine that algorithmically analyzes digital and physical data and predicts what shoppers are most likely to respond to, offering shoppers most relevant products at the best moments and locations.

    “Mall’s retailers benefit most from Sprooki platform, which gives them the possibility of engaging mobile shoppers in context and personalized ways; driving footfall to their stores; rewarding their top customers; making data and insights actionable through integrated reporting and predictive recommendations, and all these by using only one platform, saving time and efforts, so retailers and malls can focus on their marketing and sales strategies,” Amante explained.

    The software can be integrated either in mobile apps or websites. In these environments, consumers are always able to opt out or not sign in. The challenge, however, is to provide highly targeted and relevant content in a way that shoppers appreciate the added value of having access to these offers, campaigns or rewards.

    “When our customers provide to its shoppers with contextual and personalized offers, general response by consumers is very positive, as the shopping experience is different for each one and it’s relevant according to their likes and what they are looking for,” Amante added.

    While this is the first implementation of Sprooki technology in Indonesia, its customers are already spread across Southeast Asia.

    Amante said some of its customers include the 313@somerset iconic mall at Orchard Road in Singapore where the company implemented Sprooki Campaigns module, which allows shoppers to access to exclusive offers and coupons through vouchers. At Far East Organization /Shop Far East Asia (Singapore), it has also implemented Sprooki Rewards, a module that allows the mall to offer a card-less loyalty program to its shoppers.  In Vietnam, the technology allows location-based features and beacon technology to work both outside and inside the Crescent Mall to collect strategic data, providing a unique experience to shoppers.

    At this stage, Supermal Karawaci shoppers are exploring this new way of access to exclusive offers, and the response has been more than positive, with a high rate of voucher downloads since its launch last December 15.

    “Sprooki is delighted to enable Supermal Karawaci with the most advanced technology for engaging with customers and understanding their behavior. Our mobile platform will give the precinct’s retail tenants an effective way to drive frequency of visits and increase sales conversions,” said Sprooki CEO and Co-founder Michael Gethen in a media statement during the launch.

    Retail challenges ahead

    Sprooki is confident that location-based, data-driven mobile services are the present and the future for the retail industry.

    “After the struggles that retailers have suffered in the last years due to the e-commerce and online shops, the game is again on for big retailers and shopping malls that want to bring shoppers back to the physical stores. And the only way to make this happen is by providing a new shopping experience, based on offering what the digital world already offers (personalization, analytics, related purchases, recommendations, rewards, etc.),” Amante said.

    Shoppers nowadays also expect more from their brands in terms of product offerings, customer services, efficiency, and engagement. That is the reason why features such as ‘click and collect’, digital voucher redemption, scan receipts, faster and easier payment methods are raising, in order to meet consumers’ expectations.

    Taking a look at the region and the challenges that retailers are facing in Southeast Asia, Sprooki sees a lot of opportunities.

    “Retailers nowadays have a big gap in terms of what they know about their shoppers, and how they behave in their shopping journey. Even the most advanced retailers that work already with big data haven’t found an effective and sustainable way to manage all these data without the need of investing a lot of money and time,” Amante said.

    Sprooki today is currently based in Singapore, and has offices in Hong Kong and Australia, with local contacts in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and Vietnam.

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  • Digital transformation and what it means for Indonesia

    Digital transformation and what it means for Indonesia

    Digital transformation will attain macroeconomic scale in Indonesia over the next 2-3 years, according to new predictions from IDC.

    The analyst firm says this will change the way enterprises operate and reshape the global economy. IDC calls this as the dawn of the DX Economy.

    “As digital transformation reaches macroeconomic levels, a DX economy will emerge and will become the core of what industry leaders do and operate,” says Mevira Munindra, research manager, Consulting of IDC Indonesia.

    “Essentially, to succeed, Indonesian enterprises must begin to think of the relevancy of their business in 10 years, and how they should react in the face of disruptive forces,” Munindra explains.

    Munindra also revealed the strategic top predictions that will unfold in 2017 and beyond and make the biggest impact to organisations in Indonesia:

    1. By 2019, 50% of IT organisations will create new customer-facing and ecosystem-facing services to meet the business DX needs.

    2. By 2018, lack of vision, credibility, or ability to influence will keep 80% of IT executives from attaining leadership roles in enterprise DX.

    3. By 2020, Indonesian firms will use open innovation to allocate expertise to 15% of new projects, aiming to increase their new product introduction success rates by over 50%.

    4. By 2020, nearly 20% of operational processes will be self-healing and self-learning — minimising the need for human intervention or adjustments.

    5. By 2018, online brand ambassadors and social media influencers will have more marketing power than traditional digital advertising, although this will subside through 2019 and beyond.

    6. By 2019, digital transformation investments will double, drawing funds away from store capital and profoundly changing the retail industry.

    7. By 2019, only 30% of manufacturers investing in digital transformation will be able to maximize the outcome; the rest are held back by outdated business models and technology.

    8. By 2019, cloud adoption will reduce infrastructure spend by 25% among top-tier banks.

    9. By 2019, 20% of local and regional governments will use IoT to turn infrastructure like roads, street lights, and traffic signals into assets instead of liabilities.

    10. By 2017, 90% of Indonesian cities will fail to take full advantage of Smart City data and digital assets due to a lack of process, project management, and change management skills.

    “In Indonesia, Digital Transformation is still not adequately represented within the enterprise, and this disparity in leadership will lead towards a delayed response towards market changes that will adversely impact business,” says Sydev Bangah, country manager at IDC Indonesia.

    “Timing is critical, and archaic thinking of riding-out trying economic times is no longer relevant, and should be addressed with process-led innovation,” Bangah  adds.

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  • Bitcoin penetrates deeper into Indonesian market

    Bitcoin penetrates deeper into Indonesian market

    Bitcoin, a cryptocurrency that uses cryptography to make transactions anonymous, has penetrated deeper into the Indonesian market even though there is currently no legal umbrella for the currency’s use in the country.

    Bitcoin Indonesia currently has 250,000 members, up from 80,000 at the end of 2015, with a daily transaction value of Rp 20 billion (US$1.48 million).

    Bitcoin Indonesia business development manager Suasti Atmastuti Astaman said it was natural to see such a positive trend as Bitcoin had successfully gained global trust, especially following the recent Russian government’s decision to legitimize Bitcoin as an official currency at the end of November 2016.

    “Bitcoin’s value completely depends on supply and demand in the market. At present, as more and more countries have relaxed their stances on digital currency, including the United States, China and Russia, more and more people are putting their trust in it. That’s why Bitcoin’s value has been rapidly surging,” Suasti said.

    However, Suasti also said the Indonesian government might need more time to learn the know-how of Bitcoin, while waiting for its real impact in other countries that had legitimized the digital currency. “So, if someone asks when will Indonesia make Bitcoin an official currency, only God knows,” she said.

    As of Monday, Bitcoin was priced at $1,018 with a market capitalization of $16.36 billion, seeing an annual increase of 151.7 percent, according to CoinMarketCap.

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  • Bright prospects seen for digital banking

    Bright prospects seen for digital banking

    Nguyễn Thanh Trúc in District 1 has just paid her monthly electricity bills via internet banking.

    “I have used the service for more than one year. This is a very convenient service and helps me save time from going to electricity bill collection points,” she said.

    In fact, more and more Vietnamese consumers are turning to computers, smartphones and tablets to do business with their banks. They have opted to make deposits online or online payments of electricity and water bills and even buy gold on their smartphones, according to experts.

    There is huge potential to develop digital banking in Việt Nam.

    According to a report discussed at a workshop held recently in HCM City, Việt Nam posts an internet growth rate of 9 per cent a year, ranking 15th in the world. The number of internet users accounts for 52 per cent of the country’s population.

    About 44 per cent of customers at commercial banks have used digital services.

    The fourth industrial revolution and Government policy to encourage credit card payment instead of cash have enlarged digital banking potential in the country.

    In the past, along with growth in internet and mobile device use, commercial banks in Việt Nam have been expanding and developing internet banking on mobile devices to offer better services to customers.

    To attract customers to use the Internet and mobile banking services, banks have launched promotions.

    LienVietPostBank, for instance, discounts 30 per cent of the transaction value to customers who pay bills for TV services or discounts VNĐ20,000 to customers who pay electricity or water bills using Ví Việt app until January 31.

    Similarity, at Viet Capital Bank, customers using the Payoo app to pay their TV bills of HanoiCab and MyTV Cần Thơ will be given back 30 per cent of the transaction value until January 31.

    Many banks, including VietinBank and VPBank, are offering bonus interest rates to customers who make online deposits.

    Banking finance expert Cấn Văn Lực said technology is the key to shorten the distance between banks and customers as well as help save big costs compared to traditional transaction methods.

    “Banks themselves also understand that if they do not invest in digital technology, they will be left behind. Customers today can actively perform transactions anytime, anywhere, via computer or smartphone with all types of products and services that they can conduct at a traditional banking branch,” Lực said.

    A general director of a joint stock bank, who did not want to be named, said: “A digital banking project can cost some millions of US dollars, but in the long-term, this investment is still cheaper than expanding branch networks.”

    Faster, more convenient and more secure electronic payment transactions were the targets that commercial banks were aiming for in the digital banking competition, he said.

    Lực said digital banking was certainly going to be a new way of banking for all banks.

    Transactions using digital technology would contribute 40 per cent of banking revenue in 2018, up 32 per cent compared to 2014, he said.

    “One of the factors in developing digital banking is to build trust and confidence among consumers about the security of online transactions,” he added.

    Online shopping boom

    Online shopping has been popular worldwide and Việt Nam is keeping up with the trend thanks to its active Internet use, according to a recent KPMG International’s survey.

    Chong Kwang Puay, managing partner and consumer markets lead of KPMG in Việt Nam and Cambodia, said with its high Internet penetration rate, Việt Nam would see online shopping surge soon.

    According to the survey, 18 per cent of consumers in Việt Nam and Cambodia purchased goods from an online-only retailer, such as Amazon, Lazada and Nhommua. Some 10 per cent purchased from the website of a retail shop, and only 3 per cent purchased directly from a manufacturer or brand’s website.

    The number one reason consumers gave for shopping online is the convenience of shopping. This is followed by having the ability to compare prices, or to find online sales or better deals.

    To gain consumer trust, companies and brands are recommended to improve online security and privacy protection. Most respondents (26.5 per cent) consider customer data and information protection to be of utmost importance, and 20.4 per cent consider food and product safety as the most important attributes.

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