Unlocking growth in Asean's digital economy - the time is now

IN just decades, digital advancement has enabled technology to shift from being a business enabler to being THE business.

As businesses look into their plans for 2018, many tell us that the goal is to leverage new technologies to transform their business models. However, while they are taking action to stay competitive in the Internet economy, they also express difficulties in navigating the digital landscape. This is likely because digital innovation is happening and being adopted by consumers at a faster pace than these companies can handle.

Despite the challenges, there is no going back. For the opportunities are too big to ignore. According to forecasts by Google and Temasek Holdings, South-east Asia's digital market would have reached US$50 billion in 2017 and could exceed US$200 billion by 2025. Of that, e-commerce could rise to US$88 billion from the projected US$10.9 billion in 2017 and US$5.5 billion in 2015.