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The art of digital transformation: this was ConclusiON! 2024
When digital developments occur in rapid succession, how do you maintain control? This was the main topic of the well-attended ConclusiON! 2024 Event in Tivoli Vredenburg. Throughout the entire event, all facets concerning the digital transformation converged on our inspiration square. Managing Director Conclusion Nederland Seger Theuns and CEO Conclusion Group Engbert Verkoren opened the afternoon by sharing their vision on the art of digital transformation. They talked about why the power of imagination is so essential for successful digital and business transformations. Because your sense of imagination is what makes it possible to see that dot on the horizon, to be able to think out-of-the-box and thereby come up with better solutions.
July 11th, 2024 | News | By: Conclusion
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Power of imagination in transformations
It was precisely this power of imagination that tech artist Daan Roosegaarde delved more deeply into during his keynote speech. According to him, a better world can be realized not only through technology, but it also revolves around perception. “Technology is a tool to help realize a dream. Numbers, by themselves, will not bring about change. A sense of experience will,” he said. These words are also relevant in inspiring people to be more sustainable in their entrepreneurship. Not because you have to, but because you want to. Daan shared inspiring images in which art and technology come together, including biodegradable fireworks and the ‘Afsluitdijk (dam) Project Icon’. He also discussed the importance of collaboration among the various expertises in order to create real solutions. Something that the companies in the Conclusion ecosystem do on a daily basis. After this opening speech, attendees gathered in various halls to meet engaging Conclusion clients who conducted inspiration sessions and shared their vision on the art of digital transformation.
Collaboration between business and IT
If you want to change as an organization, collaboration between business and IT is crucial. This was the main theme in the discussion that was held by Conclusion’s Eugène Reijgersberg and Renewi’s Group IT Director Ans Verlooy and Business Transformation Leader Frederik Paauwe. They shared their experiences with implementing a new ERP system and the importance of IT departments staying in constant touch with the business segment. Ans: “Talk about the direction the business wants to take and where the bottlenecks are. And then translate that into what the system should look like.” She emphasized the importance of addressing this in a step-by-step fashion. Frederick concurred: “You can only go as fast as an organization is able to go. So, take your time.
Ron Kolkman from the Dutch Ministry of Waterways and Public Works (Rijkswaterstaat) also underscored the importance of an integrated approach to business and IT. The Ministry’s goal is to ensure a safe, liveable and accessible country. IT is indispensible in achieving this goal. Certainly considering the challenges that the Netherlands faces. “Not only climate change, but also the demand for more sustainable energy and the fragile state of maintaining the quality of nature in the Netherlands. The digital world plays a huge role in all of these areas.”
The human dimension
That humans are the focal point within the digital transformation is something that Diederik Huszár, Managing Director Marketing & Propositions of APG pensions also realizes. The organization faces the advent of a totally new pension system, but this is not the only challenge they face.
APG also strives to educate consumers to help them gain more insight into their own pensions. To achieve this, Diederik sees digitization as an enormous opportunity. “With digitization, we can improve our current products and services based on the needs of participants and employers. This enables us to combine the digital world with a warm welcome and personal contact in one comprehensive journey that removes those thresholds.”
During the session held by Gordon Smit, CIO of Hunkemöller, the human dimension was also the focal point, literally. “We aim to provide young women with their first bra as a teenager and the bras they will wear when they get older,” he said. “This meant that we had to grow quickly, but the out-dated ICT infrastructure was barely able to keep up. Gordon provided further details on what you as a business can do to shape your digital transformation. “We moved the ERP system to the cloud so that employees could have access to data and applications from anywhere. MyBrand Conclusion helped them with their transformation.
Ready for the future
Many companies require a digital transformation in order to be ready for the future. This is certainly the case for the NS (National Railways). Geert van Hoek, Director Data, Innovation & Analytics, showed the attendees how, together with Hot ITem Conclusion, they developed a new data platform to provide travellers with the best experience. “Thanks to the new data platform, we have clear definitions and properly structured data governance. It can also be made to scale because we have moved to the cloud. This enables us to optimize our services, predict peak periods, enhance safety and provide appealing work schedules for our personnel.” For the coming years, there are plenty of items on the to-do list. “There are so many developments happening, such as those in AI, for example. We are very much looking forward to utilizing these to help us implement improvements,” says Geert.
Conclusion’s own Paul de Metter and Adil Bohoudi also focused on the array of AI possibilities during their presentation. “Not all of the AI possibilities that speak to our sense of imagination are also responsible choices,” adds Paul. “Problems arise in the area of copyrights. And, which data was trained with AI? Adil concurs: “It’s not only about what is technically possible, but it’s also about how you handle AI in a morally responsible fashion.” He emphasized the importance of finding a balance between innovation and ethical considerations.
Lots of inspiration for the journey home
After the sessions, we had an informal gathering with the revolutionary Touch DJ and our guests were able to exchange stories over drinks and appetizers. The visitors went home with lots of inspiration when it comes to managing their digital progress. The initial event-survey results are also very positive. All of us are looking forward to the next edition. See you all next year!
