5 Principles for Digital

We are living and working in the midst of what has rightly been called The Digital Age – a change to the way we live which is as fundamental as that brought about by the Iron Age and the Bronze Age before it. The speed of change we are witnessing is in keeping with the speed that Digital enables us to complete previously time consuming everyday tasks - from communication and the media to healthcare and defence, life will never be the same again.

So how do we, as businesses and nations deploying digital solutions, ensure that our products and services add value in the long term, not only to our own bottom line but to the wider global economy? I believe there are some principles that can help with this, and they are simply about putting Customers front and centre of everything we do:

• Use Digital to allow Customers to personalize and define their own experience – and Omnichannel is the perfect example of this. By having all the information at their fingertips, Customers can research and get instant assistance on the solution that suits them best, independently price benchmark, add options, and complete a purchase wherever and whenever they wish.  
• Product Development. We need to invest in the development and continuous innovation of the products, services and supporting platforms and processes that enable the freedom that Digital gives to our Customers – highly configurable, customer specific and easy to change solutions will be key to winning and retaining Customers.
• Value not cost. Savvy Customers look at the benefits a solution will bring to them and not just the ticket price. And people are time poor, so if your solution saves them a two hour round trip across town, or gives them an instant answer to a question that they currently have to wait 24 hours for, maybe your premium product is the best value after all.
• A force for good. It may sound corny, but there are examples too numerous to mention of how mobile, for example, has helped transform previously remote economies, how healthcare professionals are now able to monitor vital signs of their patients many miles away thanks to mobile apps, or how technology is being used in developing economies to provide essential learning in remote areas. It is vital that Government and international bodies proactively support and fund such initiatives to give them the best chance possible.
• Look after the data. The size of the footprint left by our digital lives is beyond the realms of our imagination and is growing exponentially every day. Analysing and interpreting that data is giving us unprecedented insights to our business, but how we secure and use that data, and how and when we destroy it, should be subject to the highest levels of scrutiny both by business and Government, to safeguard privacy and enhance lives.    

I can’t imagine that the day won’t soon come where a large percentage of the democratic world will be voting using their smartphones and secure IDs, and even adjusting what proportion of their tax goes to which area of spend on their tablets. So we need to get it right now, as even voting with their feet will soon be a thing of the past for our Customers!