INTERVIEW | The Future of Economy is in Digitalization | Roman Lindauer
Roman Lindauer, Dipl. Mgmt. Currently working as Senior Risk Manager at SAP. Also a proud member of LIGS University faculty staff. During our interview, we discussed the digital phenomena in economics. And how the current pandemic situation uncovers the whole preparedness of economics and its process of digitalization.
How did you become fond of digitalization studies and which aspect of this field interests you the most?
I believe that the main accelerator has been the global coronavirus pandemic. Because of the various restrictions and thus a forced change in traditional business models, digitization has gradually proved to be an effective solution for many fields. I began to see digitization as a way to change the understanding of business, speed up many industries and help to optimize them.
Why do you think it is important to study this particular field and encouraged you to start preparing this specialization?
In my opinion, education about digitization is important for several reasons. One reason is to understand that digitalization already has and will definitely have a profound impact on many industries and most service sectors. Another reason is also a change in the traditional role of the customer or recipient of services and their providers. Thanks to digitization, for the first time in the history of industrial production, it will be possible to individualize mass production, for example by changing order processes. I believe that digitization will become an essential part of our lives and needs to be addressed and recognized. If we know what's going on, we won't have to worry about it.
To what extent do you think managers should be aware of the issue of digitization?
In my opinion, it is managers who should have an idea of how global digitization can affect their field or industry. It is important to know what the future can bring because that is the only way to start thinking about changes in current processes and organizational solutions. Digitization will bring new job roles and managers need to get a more accurate idea of what to expect from this global trend.
Does the pandemic accelerate digitization or, on the contrary, reveal the (un)preparedness of economies for this phenomenon?
The first part of your question is certainly correct. The coronavirus pandemic was the major impetus that accelerated digitization worldwide.
In your opinion, is the local and the global economy ready for digitization?
I think that the Czech economy is built on industrial production and this is exactly what digitization can change. The robotization of production will undoubtedly proceed and, for example, the digitization of banking will bring the need for the development of new applications, control of data flows and subsequent analysis using big data technology. Our future world will be defined by transferable process management, perfect knowledge of online data regarding production or financial management. I think that the Czech economy will have to make a leap forward in this sense. The traditional anchoring of the Czech economy is very likely to move to services.
What needs to be taken into account with regard to developing countries?
Digitization depends on the availability of an internet connection. Once developing countries have resolved the issue of the necessary infrastructure, it can be expected that these countries will also very quickly benefit from the digitization of some sectors.
Finally, what aspect of digitization and in which segment are you most looking forward to seeing bloom in the future?
In my opinion, it will be interesting to follow the development of artificial intelligence and its influence on the digitization of managerial decisions. I mean, the digital age manager will have some kind of permanent help in the form of multi-level data analysis, which will allow you to make decisions based on more detailed information.
Thank you for sharing such valuable insight into such an interesting topic, Mr. Lindauer.