BrazilBelgian companies score ahead of peers in digital maturity
Belgian organisations are ahead of the global average when it comes to digital maturity, according to a report by Fastfwd Belgium tapped McKinsey & Company.
As in the rest of the world, many Belgian companies relied to a large extent on digital solutions to continue their activities during the Covid-19 crisis. While many of the world’s largest economies are still struggling withthis process, however, in Belgium, companies got things right comparatively swiftly.
But was this due to hard work during the coronavirus outbreak, or were Belgian organisations already well ahead with their digital transformations? To answer that question, agency Fastfwd Belgium tapped McKinsey & Company – who investigated and determined the digital maturity of Belgian organisations.
For their analysis, the consultants took a closer look at a total of eighty Belgian companies. On average, the companies had a digital maturity score of 39/100, while the global average remains at 34/100 and the Western European average at 33/100.
On this basis, companies in Belgium are not doing badly at all. Especially in the technology, media and telecom sector, Belgium-based organisations outperform their peers in digital maturity (a score of 46/100), with financial service providers not far behind on the back of a score of 42/100.
Worryingly, though, the Benelux country also has some sectors that fall behind the curve. Organisations active in consumer goods and manufacturing companies lagged with an average digital maturity score of 25/100 and 28/100, respectively – and with supply chain issues and inflation putting pressure on these two sectors, this could cost firms dearly in the coming months.
The researchers also looked at the relationship between the size of the organisations and digital maturity scores. The analysis revealed that large companies (with at least two hundred and fifty employees) outperform their peers – not very surprising, because implementing a digital transformation requires major investments, both in technology and in people.
“Larger companies outperform smaller companies on each of the six dimensions. However, the difference is limited in a few cases, such as in the dimensions agile delivery & culture and strategy, while the gap is greatest in the field of data,” according to McKinsey’s report.
However, in the long-run, this might ring alarm bells for some people that a widening gap is emerging in the economy – leaving many small and mid-sized companies behind.
As the economy continues to struggle to rebound from the pandemic recession, and navigate the impacts of geopolitical conflict, the importance of digital is only set to increase in the coming years.
