The Drum Awards for Marketing - Extended Deadline

-d -h -min -sec

Economy Technology

What the UK needs to do to be a major contender in the digital economy

By Jim Mason, Executive Director Strategy & Insight

August 17, 2016 | 6 min read

I love the Olympics. One of my favorite parts of the Games is athletes’ responses when they realise they have won a medal. Their faces light up in genuine emotion that you rarely see captured in such a powerful way. And then I wonder about the athlete who finished in fourth place – unquestionably the toughest position in the competition and not where anyone wants to be.

UK digital

Seeing the recent Barclays report showing the United Kingdom finished in fourth place in its global Digital Development Index, I was immediately disappointed both personally and professionally in our performance – there were no medals here. Barclays' comprehensive report on digital development surveyed 10,000 people across 10 countries to assess the digital skills and confidence of the workforce as well as the governmental policies to support digital growth – a digital Olympics if you will. The report provides insight into the readiness of the UK for the digital economy and we are clearly not match fit.

It all sounds bleak but digging deeper and with my glass half full I’ve realised there are three things we should be immensely proud of, three things we have already won a gold medal for:

Gold #1: We beat our immediate competition

Although we didn’t make the medal platform, we did beat some of our closest competitors (the US, China, and India). The countries that finished in the first three spots (Estonia, South Korea, and Sweden) each have compelling strengths (including world-leading broadband access), but they lack the scale to be long-term threats to the UK. As such, it is most notable that the UK is deemed to be in a stronger position moving forward than the US, China, or India.

Gold #2: Digital expansion outside of London

Like our Olympic team in Rio, the UK is strengthening its digital talent and the number of digital enterprises outside the M25. For continued success, the UK needs a broad base of growth instead of complete reliance on London. So it was nice to see the BBC indicate digital growth was reasonably well distributed across the country. In fact, Wales was the fastest growing digital economic region in the UK outside of London. This nationwide success creates a healthier environment for all parties involved, and should help to further embed digital capabilities in other businesses across those regions.

Gold #3: Increasing prominence of coding in the school curriculum

With the new curriculum changes, students are learning to code, and they like it. In fact, coding has become the most popular language in schools: more students would prefer to study coding over French by a ratio of 3:1. Coding is a beautiful combination of language, logic and creation. It enables students to not just learn a theory, but to create something tangible that works. One student sums it up nicely: “You can put your knowledge all together into one and make a program that works. It's cool." This wide base of digital literacy will reap long-term dividends as we look to fill the digital talent gap and narrow the digital divide.

But we still have a long way to go to be the best. Here are my thoughts to get our industry Olympic-ready:

1. Continue the digital investment

Consumer expectations of digital experiences continue to rise, and UK-based companies must continue to invest in order to meet and exceed those expectations. Don’t let the uncertainty of Brexit limit digital investment and divert your organisation’s focus. The impact of Brexit is uncertain, whereas the impact of digital transformation is certain. Intelligent spending on improved consumer experiences will yield significant benefits.

2. Attend to the gender gap

The UK had one of the more pronounced gender gaps in the workforce’s confidence in digital skills. Men were materially more comfortable and confident in their digital abilities. This is troubling since a lack of confidence can lead to decreased engagement with digital. Companies must take a leadership role in encouraging women to engage with digital. This effort should encompass all generations of women: encouraging those in school to pursue coding and computer science related studies; providing mentorship to those starting their careers; and enabling growth for those more firmly established in their careers.

3. Digitally empower your workforce

Only 38 per cent of UK workers indicate their employers offer digital training. In India that figure is almost twice as high, and it is over 25 per cent higher in both the US and China. The World Economic Forum identified an inadequately educated workforce as the second biggest barrier to doing business in Britain. Companies can improve their internal operational efficiency and productivity through additional digital training and an expanded set of digital tools.

To be a major contender in the digital economy, we need to compete even harder. The UK didn’t get the gold medal this time for its digital development, but still has numerous reasons to be hopeful for the future. By inspiring UK-based companies and investing further in digital I’m sure it won’t be long before we are on top of the podium.

Jim Mason is executive director of strategy & insight at Razorfish

Economy Technology

More from Economy

View all

Trending

Industry insights

View all
Add your own content +