Introduction Letter

We are pleased to present to your attention a special issue of BCG Review dedicated to the 10th Astana Economic Forum-2017.

Dear Readers,

We are happy to introduce the latest edition of the BCG Review Digital, dedicated entirely to the topic of digital transformation.

Until recently digitization was primarily a focus for B2C sectors, but it has become apparent that traditional industries are heading in the same direction. In this issue, we cover the main aspects of digitization, including implementation of innovations, AI, and Big Data, as well as key specificities of digital transformation and adapting IT infrastructures in complex organizations.

In the article Digital Race, we offer our view on digitization in a business context. The use of digital technology across all aspects of business can help maximize the potential of an organization. But in addition to technology, there must be clear business targets and robust data. In Corporate Venturing Shifts Gears, we address the critical importance of investments in innovation in order for a business to stay competitive in the future. Our learnings are based on a BCG study of venture investments in seven different industries in the years from 2010 to 2015.

A Russia-specific view of digitization is the subject of an interview with Kirill Varlamov, CEO of Internet Initiatives Development Fund (IIDF) in an article entitled KPIs Need to Be Long-Term.

The article Using Advanced Analytics To Make Better Operational Decisions, demonstrates how to improve efficiency in an organization with the help of modern analytical methods and Big Data.

More on Big Data can be found in an interview with Mikhail Dubin, Managing Director, IT Assets, USM Group and co-founder and owner of oneFactor, entitled Is Big Data a 'New Oil' or a New Challenge?

Designing Digital Organizations is dedicated to the process by which companies adapt to digital economics -- a corporate reinvention that can maintain leadership while moving the company forward. Adapting IT Infrastructure to digital change is discussed in The End of Two-Speed IT.

And finally, our interview with Alexey Marey, COO and Board Member of Alfa-Bank, Digitization as a Paradigm Shift, illustrates how both the technological and management challenges of digitization can be overcome, as well as the rewards of applying the agile concept.

I hope you will enjoy reading this special issue.

030 People List

  • Technology, Media, and Telecommunications
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