Different organisations have different ways of applying digital transformation, but in order for digitalisation to create value for the whole organisation, the strategy must generally consider three key components. These are:
1. The processes involved
2. The technologies being used, and
3. The culture of the people interacting with them
Combining these three pillars in support of digital transformation with a measurable level of maturity is a straightforward way of determining a company’s own performance at a fundamental level. Understanding where your organisation is, whether at the foundational level of establishing good data management practices through to the mature level of leveraging the most advanced technologies is a vital first step to take before embarking on a digital transformation project.
The model proposed by Thetius as a simple method of understanding the strength of performance in digital maturity across the three core domains – processes, technology, and culture.
Bringing the pillars together
One example of process, technology, and culture coming together can be found onboard ships. Even today, the most common approach to data collection is through manual entry. For noon reports, crew members would traditionally capture data by writing it down in a notebook with an officer or engineer manually entering the figures onto a spreadsheet or logbook system. This approach is riddled with potential risks to data quality.
At the most foundational level, data that is collected manually will be entered into digital systems. More mature organisations may use data plausibility checks. These are an effective way for companies to control the data quality that is flowing into their digital data processes. The most mature organisations will seek to remove humans from the data capture process entirely, instead relying on sensors or other automated systems as much as possible.
These pillars work in tandem. For each level of maturity, the process changes; the technologies required onboard change and the behaviours of the crew need to change to accommodate. You can install a fully automated system onto a ship where the crew culture tolerates poor data quality, but it will likely fail because no one is willing to check the information generated. Similarly, a crew that really understands and encourages data quality may feel hampered if the technology they are working with does not allow for timely, automated and accurate data collection.
Transforming information into insight and action
Insight is generated when information is effectively analysed to answer a certain question in a specific context. It is only when we analyse the situation and the associated factors that are available that we are able to transform information into actionable insights.
The true value of data is when it is used to generate insights, and for those insights to influence our decisions. These are an effective way for companies to control the data quality that is flowing into their digital data processes. and our actions. For companies to successfully accomplish this, the process of effectively creating value from data requires several considerations such as aligning the data to business questions, the stakeholders, and the necessary metrics, developing sustainable analytics initiatives that continue to generate value for the company as time goes on, and creating a narrative that is able to educate stakeholders and further promote the level of data literacy within the entire organisation.
To learn more about measuring digital maturity and transforming information, read our thought leadership report, produced in collaboration with Lloyd’s Register, The Benchmark: Measuring the Progress of Digital Transformation in Ship Operations. This report provides a deep dive into the journey towards digital maturity for maritime businesses. You can download a copy here.
