Australia has ranked second last on the Digital Maturity Index according to a report released this week by global leader in next-generation digital services, Infosys.
The report found that Australia was behind its global counterparts with a Digital Maturity Index of 53.1 compared to the global average of 57.4.
According to the report, the four biggest barriers for accelerating their digital transformation journey is the lack of digital skills (42%), risk adverse culture (42%), inadequate collaboration between IT and business lines (43%), and lack of change management capabilities (45%).
Now in its second year, the report seeks to better understand where Australia and New Zealand’s biggest enterprises are in their digital transformation journey and what is required to accelerate that journey.
Infosys vice president Australia and New Zealand, Ashok Mysore, said that digital transformation was not just about technology but also about building a visionary mind-set and an experimental culture.
“Australia is trailing behind our global counterparts; the organisations surveyed cite the digital skills gap as the number one inhibitor to accelerating the digital transformation journey,” Mr Mysore said.
“To help reduce the digital skills gap and help organisations accelerate their digital journey, I believe we need to embed a culture of continuous learning and education in every organisation and everyone.”
Businesses are encouraged to bridge the digital skills gap by building a culture that rewards and inspires learning. Collaboration among teams and using artificial intelligence and automation to create new business opportunities will be the key to a successful digital transformation.
Infosys plans to build three innovation hubs by 2020 and is currently hiring and training 1200 new employees in Australia.
“The hiring and the Innovation hubs will serve as a platform to build more digital skills and to enable Infosys to co-create and co-innovate alongside clients, academia and government.”
