We have already seen how good leadership, a people-first strategy, clear goals and a strong ideation factory are key elements to innovating successfully into 2020 and beyond. Now, we look into how an openness to digital transformation is the fifth element for companies to embrace in the coming year.

At the current pace of technological advancement, the only way organisations can transform change into opportunity is by thinking ahead of the curve, specifically by embracing the new capabilities of digital innovation.

While there is certainly a correlation between the speed of execution (the first-movers) and degree of innovation (the high-performers), every organisation should have digitised innovation processes in place if they are to become strong innovators.

A report by BCG on the most innovative companies showed that 79% of strong innovators have digitised innovation processes compared to 29% of weak innovators.

Most companies do indeed expect to fully digitise their innovation engine. A report by Arthur D. Little on digital technologies found that 93% of companies agree that digital innovation will transform their organisations, yet 89% feel that their current strategies are insufficient and that they will require a new approach to innovation management.

To tackle digital transformation successfully, innovation leaders should invest in making people and partners innovate together as one global team, across all job functions, experiences, levels and regions.

This presents a double advantage for businesses which should be explored: on the one hand, they can use a digital approach to transform the way their companies innovate and the way things are done; and on the other, focus their innovation efforts in exploring the opportunities brought about by introducing new technologies and digitising processes, products and services even further.

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