By the end of 2025, every firm will declare itself as digitized or digital in some way. Virtually, however, all such companies would be left stating the same, that they are still in the process of becoming digitally fluent, which basically refers to their ability to become the smartest, fastest, and continuous learners at the same time, along with the changing digital world around them.
Digital fluency is not only about the acceptance of technology. It comprises a trinity of three elements: data, design, and human behavior, and their interaction creates the trinity. It is the backing of the conviction and the facilitation of the smooth transition from a global strategy to a local nuance and vice versa, the encouragement that one’s digital change will be as open as the business.
With Glocal View, we have arrived at the stage of being born where fluency is the new literacy for the 21st-century organization. It marks the boundary between those that are only using digital tools and the ones that are actually nurturing digital cultures.
A fluency checklist has been prepared for the evaluation of the fluency level of your business by the year 2025.
1. Digital Thinking First?
A digitally savvy company does not consider the technology a hindrance to the old operations but uses digital thinking to overhaul the organization from the ground IP. The same language of connectivity is being communicated through the strategy, operations, and customer experience.
Consider these questions for reflection:
- Are digital issues the first to come up for discussion in every strategic meeting?
- Is today’s decision-making process based on real-time data rather than on old reports?
Is it only the IT department that is involved in innovation, or is the whole innovation process just being friendly, and are all the stakeholders invited?
2. Can Your Brand Speak Across Borders?
In a turbulent and diverse market, the success story will definitely be the one that perfectly balances global and local preferences.
- Could it be that the brand’s story is told in slightly different ways in different places but retains the same essence?
- Are all your online promotions fully aware of the local trends and cultures?
- In the development of a global strategy, do you take the local data into account?
The glocal area where the global ambition encounters the local understanding is the place where true digital fluency exists. It is about a strategy that can be altered to fit different places and cultures while still retaining its essence.
3. AI: Partner or Process Only?
AI has become the primary decision-maker in the business world. Nevertheless, the right application of it remains a significant challenge—the aim is to improve and not to replace automation.
Put the following questions to yourself:
- Is AI an aide in your decision-making or merely a process expeditor?
- Have your employees been trained to such a level that they can evaluate AI-generated insights?
- Do your machines ever foster creativity and empathy, or do they just suck them dry?
Being AI fluent means that you are employing it to back up human intelligence and not to replace it. The most progressive companies allow AI to take on the hard part, while the humans do the easy one.
4. Are You Fluent in Data?
Even though data is the new business language, there are many companies that do not use it properly.
- Are you just collecting data, or gathering it for a specific reason?
- Is your data legal, ethical, and open?
- Can your people turn numbers into stories that trigger actions?
Being able to handle data with ease means not only making use of dashboards but also going deep into the matter. It is understanding the data’s message and finding the right moment to open the next chapter of growth with it.
5. Is Your Product or Service Experience Free of Flaws?
The first thing you notice about a digital organization that is fluent in technology is its invisibility—the tech absorbs itself, and a smooth and human experience is all that remains.
- Does the customer experience vary according to the different devices and platforms he/she uses?
- Can your customers easily go from the virtual world to the physical one and vice versa?
- Are your systems capable of anticipating customer needs even before they are expressed?
The digital experience, when it is done properly, comes across as being intuitive rather than instructional. The customers feel the company is understanding them, not managing them.
6. Are Your Employees Empowered to Experiment and Discover Insights?
Curiosity is a trait that should be nurtured, and an organization has to be digitally fluent before it can sense that. Technologies change; people will always find their way. Fluency exists in a cultural environment where trial and error are safe and learning is the most important thing.
- Are your departments undergoing continuous digital training?
- Do you encourage innovation, even if it fails?
- Are the collaboration tools facilitating the flow of creativity instead of the flow of bureaucracy?
The execs are the ones who communicate the best within the organization. In case a technology is to be introduced, it will be the experts who will handle it.
7. Are You Ready for the Next Digital Step
It is next to impossible for technology to give a notice beforehand that it is about to bring a change in the world. The next set of innovations, like quantum computers, spatial web, and generative ecosystem, are quietly making their presence felt already.
- Is your infrastructure flexible, and is it possible to change it easily?
- Are you funding innovation on a project basis along with your operational improvement?
- Is your partner network constantly futurizing?
Digital fluency is not predicting the future, but it is being ready to act when it comes.
The Fluent Edge
Digital fluency is not a destination but a journey for an individual. It is a rhythm, a cycle that is accompanied by chances. It is also the reason that organizations cannot only adjust but also set the trend through the tech changes.
Our company, Glocal View, partners with the firms to discover the pace of the establishment of a digital culture that is globally conscious, locally oriented, and constantly developing. More importantly, in 2025 and afterward, fluency will not be merely a different quality, but it will be a must for doing business.