73% of Singapore businesses speeding up digitalisation amid Covid-19: study

NEARLY three in four Singapore organisations are accelerating their pace of digitalisation in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a study on innovation by Microsoft Asia and IDC Asia/Pacific released on Thursday.

The study surveyed 202 business decision makers and 219 workers in Singapore within a six-month period, before and since the pandemic. Those surveyed were from organisations with over 250 staff members.

The study was part of a broader survey of decision makers and workers across 15 markets in the Asia-Pacific conducted over the same time period, Microsoft said in a statement.

Microsoft Singapore managing director Kevin Wo said organisations in Singapore are performing better relative to their regional counterparts, with businesses displaying strong potential and appetite to digitalise and recover despite the crisis.

These digitalisation initiatives include launching digital products, introducing digital payments, and embracing e-commerce and automation.

The study also found that 34 per cent of Singapore firms think their business model will lose its competitiveness in five years' time. This figure rose to 45 per cent among companies which are innovation leaders, said Sandra Ng, group vice-president, practice group, IDC Asia/Pacific. The study defined innovation leaders as organisations with the most mature culture of innovation.

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Eighty per cent of business decision makers said innovation is now "a must" to respond quickly to market challenges and opportunities, compared with 67 per cent before the pandemic hit, Microsoft said.

It added that in the span of six months, Singapore organisations had matured in their innovation culture by 8 per cent, lower than the 11 per cent average increase across the 15 markets surveyed.

However, the Republic clocked a higher proportion of innovation leaders - at 16 per cent of all businesses surveyed, compared with an 8 per cent average across the markets.

During Covid-19, the proportion of Singapore businesses which are innovation leaders also rose by more than 30 per cent compared to before the crisis. Almost one in three innovation leaders expect to increase their market share despite the pandemic, while 45 per cent believe their organisations can recover from the pandemic in six months or less, Microsoft said.

The study, which assessed companies' approach to innovation across four dimensions - people, processes, data, and technology - also found that people and technology were the two foremost priorities for Singapore organisations going into 2021.

Business decision makers said they would prioritise the need to introduce new ways of working - with remote work being the new norm - as a long-term strategy to future-proof their business, Microsoft noted.

Mr Wo said: "It is encouraging to see that business leaders in Singapore are recognising that without a focus on people and digital culture, any digital transformation ambition is weakened. Investing in their employees' capabilities and skills to better leverage technology... is a critical component of the culture of innovation."