Digital Leader Summit 2019
Co-Creation as a Strategic Success Factor for the Digital Economy
Co-Creation as a Strategic Success Factor for the Digital Economy
Report from the Digital Leader Summit 2019
More than 40 CIOs, CDOs and digital experts from German DAX companies met "off-site" from July 4-6 in a relaxed atmosphere in Berchtesgaden at the Digital Leader Summit 2019 of the independent IT analyst Crisp Research AG.
Under the motto Co-Create the Digital Flow, digital ecosystems and business models were discussed, and it was emphasized that a company alone could hardly exist today. In an increasingly complex and faster digital economy, co-creation is becoming a strategic success factor. Creative and partner-like cooperation with the help of digital platforms and ecosystems shapes IT transformation and the future success of companies.
Topics of the Digital Leader Summit 2019
Co-Creation as a Strategic Success Factor for the Digital Economy
Arvato Systems, together with its partner Microsoft, sponsored the event and provided the participants with a keynote speech and the co-moderation of some workshop sessions with impulses for the discussions about digital platforms.
So how do leading companies get their organizations to establish digital platforms and live co-creation?
The examples and insights were as varied as the participants of the event.
- Dr. Petra Zimmermann, VP Digital Services & Head of Vorwerk Digital, reported on the Thermomix food processor. In detail, she reported on "how digital it is today" and on "how the journey from idea to digital business model looked like."
- Andreas Herden, Sales Director at Equinix, provided insights into the development status of Smart Cities in Germany. His assessment that many opportunities are currently untapped did not surprise the participants.
- Michael Rudrich, Vice President - Central Europe Riverbed, explained that only fact-based decisions could make digitization strategies successful. He provided the matching information: For example, of the 7,7 billion people on earth today, 4,5 billion are online. If the loading of a website takes one second longer than expected, the company loses 7% of its turnover.
- Dr. Carsten Voigtländer, CEO of Vaillant for many years, gave an insight into the view of a CEO and board of directors on the challenges of implementing digital strategies.
- Kai Panitzki, the Managing Partner at BitStone Capital, reported that digitization is also causing upheavals in the construction and real estate industries. In the meantime, there are already research/reflections on how to make cement "smart" so that it can report cracks and pressures.
- Dr. André Knoerchen, Head of New Technology & IoT Underwriting at MunichRE, provided insights into the co-creation of risk transfer solutions in a digital world. In addition to assuming the risks of start-ups (including Cyber Security issues, etc.), the insurance company also invests in young companies via their VC companies.
Creativity & Entrepreneurship: Bertelsmann's new and old values
In keeping with the motto of the conference as well as the reinforced Bertelsmann Essentials "Creativity & Entrepreneurship," Arvato Systems, together with Microsoft, contributed insights on corporate values and culture on the one hand and the impact of digital platforms on the other.
Gregor Schumacher (Cloud Transformation Lead) and Andreas Tamm (Lead Enterprise Architect ) from Arvato Systems were guided by the motto of Bertelsmann CEO Thomas Rabe "We're shoveling our own grave." That developed ideas for a group-wide corporate platform designed to help entrepreneurs - i.e., entrepreneurs within the company - jointly develop ideas and make them available to others. Based on Azure Platform Services, the project team has created a minimum viable product for a Bertelsmann-wide collaboration platform within three months.
Networking & New Impulses
In retrospect, it was not only during the actual workshops in which numerous inspirations and motivations could be set, but ideas were also eagerly discussed during the breaks and free times. The spirit was less influenced by the question of why but "why not," which made the discussed topics received gratefully by the participants. Now it is up to the participants to put the answers into practice in the next few weeks.