Why the digital world will be turned upside down

65% of existing jobs will be changed by 2020?!

Female data scientists will be more valuable than ever?!

Oh by the way… welcome to the Data Innovation Summit conference!

The digital world is a reality and disruption is key!

On the 23th of March the second edition of the Data Innovation Summit took place. As exciting it was last year, it was even better this year! This time it was all about “Digital Transformation”. Digital world is reality and disruption is key! Don’t think you are in the safe zone! You aren’t! Digital transformation impacts everybody and doesn’t choose sides.

The classical walls wil come down; sectors will have to disappear and competition will have to be disruptive. Success will be privilege to those who disrupt the most. As it is with revolutions and disruptive mechanisms, it will come from unexpected corners. Existing solutions and frameworks will no longer suffice. The retailer of today may become the bank of tomorrow!

Saskia Van Uffelen, CEO from Ericsson explains it with an example in the utility sector.

The energy sector is producing more and more energy. By 2030, your house will create more energy than it will actually use. So what will happen? You will become an energy provider! Talking about disruption…

As fast as Barry Allen

Don’t assume digital transformation will go slow. It’s true, it took us more than 100 years to connect 100.000 central places via telephone. But we only needed 25 years to connect 5 billion people (mobile phone) and it will only cost us 15 years to connect 15 billion devices. Digital Transformation is moving like a tornado through the world! By 2020 65% of existing jobs will be impacted. This doesn’t imply these jobs will disappear but they will have changed. The actual job content will be different.

Bring out your inner-geek

If I already scared you, sorry about that, but I’m afraid I’m not finished yet. Digital transformation and consequently all changes will imply new needed skills. No you don’t need to follow a bunch of trainings, workshops, … It’s even more complex, especially when you are a man, sorry again. Female competences will be more valuable than ever. The world is in need for intelligent, inspiring, creative people who can do project management, bring the product to market and can work in a collaborative world. So let’s get rid of the gender diversity and embrace full and active participation of our female colleagues.

Moreover, it’s time to get rid of stereotyping the data world as a men’s world full of nerdy people. According to the definition of a “Nerd”, a data scientist would be a person who is overly intellectual, obsessive, or socially impaired. He or she may spend inordinate amounts of time on unpopular, obscure and non-mainstream activities… When looking at 4C’s Insights team, more than 60% is female and if you know anyone of the team, you will agree they are not stereotypical socially and physically awkward!

So don’t be scared but be prepared and embrace change, manage it for the future and last but not least, be disruptive!