When to convert digital?

In the long run, every individual and organization will have to transform digitally, no one can stand aside. However, the impact of digital technology on organizations and industries is different, so the transformation roadmap will be different. A brick manufacturing enterprise may be less affected by digital technology than a transportation enterprise.

If a large business does not innovate, it will likely be replaced by new, smaller, more agile businesses.

Digital transformation resets the competitive landscape between businesses, shifting from “big fish eat small fish” to “fast fish eat slow fish”. In digital transformation, businesses that move quickly will have a competitive advantage.

Illustration photo.

Digital transformation before the crisis?

In the context of the world's press facing difficulties due to the continuous decline in advertising revenue, the New York Times in the US recorded an impressive revenue milestone. In the fourth quarter of 2019, the digital business of this editorial office exceeded the threshold of 800 million USD, of which 420 million USD came from paying readers, higher than the revenue from the traditional business segment of advertising. By the end of 2020, the number of paying readers for print and digital publications of The New York Times reached more than 7.5 million. Of which, subscriptions for digital publications exceeded 5 million, accounting for 67% (1).

The New York Times’ success did not come by accident. Its leaders saw early on that the Internet offered a great opportunity to leverage its core value of delivering stories of the highest journalistic standard to readers around the world. After years of consistently following its own path with a focus on digital revenue growth, the New York Times’ efforts have paid off as it now holds the distinction of being the most prestigious newsroom with 120 Pulitzer Prizes and also has the highest percentage of programmers in the industry.

Or crisis then transformation?

Founded in 1986 by three journalists, the British newspaper The Independent has become home to such notable journalists as Robert Fisk, a longtime Middle East correspondent, and Andrew Marr, a renowned broadcaster and historian. One of the early participants was writer Helen Fielding, author of the bestselling Bridget Jones's Diary, who wrote an anonymous column for the Independent.

At its peak, the Independent newspaper published 400,000 copies per day, but then, with the development of the Internet, the number of publications decreased to only 40,000 copies per day in 2015 and announced the cessation of publication in 2016.

When it appeared and entered its peak, Doc Lap was considered a pioneer in the field of journalism. And then when it stopped, Doc Lap was considered a newspaper that was closed down due to the impact of the Internet.

What is the best way to predict the future?

Digital transformation is about creating something new, something unprecedented. The digital era is the era of the impossible becoming possible and vice versa. And the best way to predict the future is to proactively create it.

The most important digital transformation is the transformation of thinking and perception. That can be done immediately, because it depends only on each of us.