On Thursday, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) released the results of an in-depth study of how the relationship between technology, business and people evolved during the COVID-19 pandemic. The EIU heard from business leaders across eight distinct industries about the challenges and opportunities the disruption created for organizations and how digital initiatives shifted to confront a new reality.
Overwhelmingly, business leaders cited digital preparedness as key to their ability to adapt. The mass move to remote work also led to a heightened focus on employee engagement — so much so that empowerment topics like skill-building, well-being and creating lasting benefits for society at large now lead the transformation agenda for many organizations.
“We’ve long seen the advantages that digital transformation brings customers — and this data gives us concrete insights into how industries have handled the challenges of the past year,” said Deb Cupp, Microsoft’s corporate vice president for enterprise and commercial industries. “The findings confirm trends we’ve seen emerging and reinforce our commitment to delivering insights, products and services that help customers in every industry pivot when they need to, empower workers of all kinds and achieve more.”
Commissioned by Microsoft, the EIU research seeks to unlock insights from the past year and focus on the way forward. The study looked specifically at supply chains, remote work, predictive analytics, decision-making, and employee safety and well-being.
