AS the novel coronavirus pandemic resets the way businesses operate, more companies are chosing to employ more technology or face the risk of being left behind in a fast-evolving digital society.

“Digitise or you die! If you are unable to digitise or meet the needs of your customers from where you are, you are going to have a problem,” warned Ewort Atkinson, interactive media manager at Digicel Jamaica, further urging companies stuck on old models of operating to adjust, as the pandemic intensifies the need for digital communications.

Atkinson notes that in the digital transformation process the early adopters are the companies that stand to benefit, especially those operating using a model in which there was integration of a digital mindset that filters down from top management and has been interwoven into the company’s mission/vision and daily operations.

“For companies that still have traditional-minded chief executive officers (CEO), their days are almost numbered. You have to be in the digital space right now, even if you are going to start from stage one and work your way up. You have to understand that digital is the way to go,” he reasoned.

Atkinson outlined five domains of digital transformation which companies must embrace, including the engagement of customers, competitors, innovation, value and how companies deal with data. He said all could help businesses scale up from the lowest stage, where there is no digital engagement, to more advanced levels in which they transition to fully digital entities.

The interactive media manager said project investments through these mediums were usually far more cost-effective than traditional organisations. Consequently, he said that digitally driven businesses were more poised to become strong contenders in the workplace of the future, offering more flexibility to employees whilst increasing value and revenues for companies.

“I think so far we have been going in the right direction. With the launch of initiatives such as the ENDS programme, companies have now begun to realise that e-commerce is one of the ways to go,” Atkinson said. He predicts that the so-called end of the pandemic will not slow down the digital transformation. “I’m also now seeing small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) gravitating towards more digital elements and also integrating it into their entire operation. It’s not going to change — the momentum is going to go even faster as we move into this year and beyond,” Atkinson said in his assessment of the landscape for digital transformation.

Digicel is committing US$200 million or $30.8 billion to build out a local digital hub, expanding its fibre network and state-of-the-art broadcast facilities aimed at improving infrastructure and driving economic opportunities. To date, the telecommunications and digital operator said it had invested well over US$1 billion or $150 billion in Jamaica.

Commenting on the company’s commitment to building Jamaica as a digital hub, its CEO Jabbor Kayumov said, “We’ve done it before and we’ll do it again. When we launched in Jamaica 20 years ago we transformed the communications landscape with a promise to connect everyone, everywhere to affordable mobile communications. Now we’re setting our sights on superfast Internet for everyone, everywhere,” Kayumov said.