Why a strong foundation in digital education is necessary to make future-ready entrepreneurs

Digitization and the automation of operations have been re-defining the work and business landscape for most part of the past decade, and will continue to do so in the coming years.

In fact, a McKinsey Global Institute report, Jobs lost, jobs gained: Workforce transitions in a time of automation, says advances in automation, digitization and artificial intelligence will affect the careers of as many 375 million workers in some form or the other by 2030. As a result, they would be required to switch jobs.

When it comes to the business landscape, organizations across the board have been leveraging digital technologies at an unprecedented pace to keep their existing operations afloat.

Organizations are also using digital solutions and services to take up new opportunities, pivot to new areas, and enable remote working, all while reducing overhead expenses. As a result, companies that have embraced digitization are seeing a revenue growth advantage.

How education in one of the pillars to navigating change

There is no way around it: The power of digital will fuel the growth of businesses in the years to come. India itself is home to close to 500 million internet subscribers, thanks to the reduced prices of smartphones and government-led initiatives such as ‘Digital India’ giving a fillip to the acceptance of internet-based services among the masses.

With the whirlwind pace at which transformations are taking place, education, skilling and reskilling are taking centre-stage to retrain and redeploy millions of workers. According to another McKinsey survey, nearly 66 percent of the surveyed organizations saw the need to significantly invest in retraining and upskilling workers and address gaps brought about by digitization and automation.

In fact, the landscape of the technology industry itself is rapidly undergoing an overhaul. NASSCOM predicted that close to 65 percent of IT jobs are expected to undergo a transition in the next five years, and around 58 percent of professionals will need to up-skill themselves.

Keeping this trend in mind, the government’s National Educational Policy has also underscored the need for educational institutions and systems to focus on digital infrastructure, content and capacity building so that students are prepared for the future.

The role of digital education for businesses to be future-ready

Business owners of the future have to learn to be able to navigate a complex, digital-first environment that is constantly evolving at a frantic pace. Key principles around business operations, including achieving the right product-market fit, finance, marketing, branding and positioning, among others, might no longer be applicable.

And while large corporations might be able to use their vast resources to swiftly adjust to such changes, business owners of the small and medium segment often lack the knowledge and resources to identify and adopt what’s best for them.

An immersive learning programme for founders — ‘Digital Scale-Up: ‍The Medium Business Course’ — by Dell Technologies provides working knowledge on the fundamentals of entrepreneurship and digital transformation to fuel the growth journey of an enterprise.

The course is designed to help key decision-makers in the medium business segment create a resilient and competitive business. Right from evaluating business ideas to approaching scale in a sustainable manner, the programme aims to provide indispensable tools and knowledge that will fast-track the growth of enterprises.

To know more about the course, click here.