Companies that are working to move digitization forward need a digital responsibility strategy. Businesses today are highly focused on the opportunities inherent in digitization. But are they really aware of the risks? What happens to companies that fail to take the risks seriously and find ways of addressing them? An article by Thomas Tschersich, Head of Group Security Services Deutsche Telekom AG.
A brief look back to the 1980s can help us put this issue in perspective. At that time, nuclear power was considered synonymous with "cheap, clean energy." And final storage of nuclear waste? – Well, that issue would be solved within the next 10 years or so, so the prevailing opinion. People were very bullish on nuclear power, and they bet highly on its promise. Today, nearly 30 years later, we still haven't solved the problem of how to store nuclear waste permanently and safely. And accidents at nuclear power plants have reminded us that we are far from having the risks under control, and that our 1980s nuclear strategies were naive. In Germany, we've decided to phase out nuclear power, the once-vaunted technology of the future. It was a legislative decision; industry had no say in it. The costs of the phaseout will run into the tens of billions. Overnight, a great hope officially lost its promise.
This example illustrates what can happen when strategies fail to take proper account of risks.
Could digitization experience a similar fate? The companies that are now working to advance digitization in our economies and societies tend to focus their pertinent strategies solely on the opportunities that digitization offers. While such optimism is good, and justified, it's inadequate in a long-term perspective.
If these companies fail to apply a digital responsibility strategy, they will lose out in the long run.
As digitization proceeds, just about everything that can be automated will be automated. This will profoundly change our workplaces. It will eliminate many jobs, especially those jobs with few or no creative or artistic components.
This will create enormous economic challenges. Not surprisingly, the idea of an unconditional basic income is already receiving serious consideration.
The companies seen as the drivers of digitization might also find themselves seen as the drivers of the job losses. Perhaps things won't get to that point. Perhaps policymakers will intervene in time. If they do, they will introduce new obstacles for digitization. In either case, the relevant companies will be affected in negative ways.
A digitization strategy that takes proper account of digital responsibility can address this dilemma. Digitization is a task that calls for careful communication, planning and analysis. Companies need to highlight the opportunities inherent in digitization, i.e. the opportunities for themselves and for their customers, but – in the interest of their long-term success – they also need to identify ways of addressing the attendant risks. This is the orientation that companies must have if they want to avoid being "phased out," to stay with the example of nuclear power. In the long term, the companies that have a digital responsibility strategy will be the winners in digitization.
