Ready or not legal and IT, major 2.0 changes will shift how we work within the next five years. Here are six key findings from the new report, The Digital Company 2013: The Freedom to Collaborate, from The Economist Intelligence Unit.
1. Technology knowledge will permeate the enterprise.
At its lower and middle levels, the 2013 workforce will be fully at home with digital technologies—or able to master them quickly. Business leaders may be concerned about the size of the talent pool available to them, but they are confident that those they do employ in 2013 will know how to use technology effectively. Indeed, 82% of survey respondents share this optimism.
2. Social networks will be common in the workplace, like it or not.
Ambivalence reigns among surveyed executives when it comes to the role of social networks and similar collaborative applications: 44% say their firms will embrace these by 2013, but a large number are either undecided or say the reverse. Nonetheless, despite the doubts and perceived risks, these applications are likely to be a fixture in tomorrow's workplace.
3. Beware information paralysis.
Already awash in data, vast new stores of information will be generated by employees' and customers' use of digital collaboration tools. Many respondents fear business-process paralysis as a result, but most will learn to channel effectively new information filtered from discussions in blogs, wikis and instant messaging—not to mention e-mails and more traditional forms of communication.
4. Digital tools will democratise access to information.
Digital tools provide employees with greater control over the information they can access. This means that control of information will be taken out of the hands of managers. Wider access to information will lead to less hierarchical organizations. It will also lead to greater autonomy for employees, who will need to be trusted to find the information they need and act on it.
5. IT will also need to loosen the reins.
In the open and collaborative enterprise of tomorrow, IT delivery will be less centralised. More executives believe new IT investment will be funded mainly through the individual business units than think it will remain centralised. More activities will be outsourced, and the "cloud computing" model, whereby computing services are managed by external, web-based parties, will gain adherents.
6. Ceding technology control will be good medicine.
Ensuring security and performance in this environment will be a challenge, but executives are optimistic that, with the help of a more strategic-thinking CIO, IT will find the right balance. While only 27% consider IT a true partner in the business today and able to help the firm achieve most of its strategic objectives, 57% think this will come to be the case in five years' time.
Download the full report (pdf format).