IDC: Digitalisation of APAC GDP to reach $1.2 trillion by 2022

Recovering from the economic disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and adjusting to changes in social and business practices will dominate organisation IT investment decisions and reshape priorities over the next five years. This is the case for the Asia–Pacific, as it leapfrogs other regions in IDC’s five-stage crisis to recovery framework.

With accelerated DX investments creating economic gravity, the IDC predicts that the digital economy will accelerate, with over 65% of APAC GDP expected to be digitalised and spending to hit US$1.2 trillion between 2020 and 2023.

Business leaders in the region are focused on their Return to Growth investments and Next Normal operating or business models and are looking for guidance. The IDC has revealed its top technology predictions for 2021 and beyond, with Sandra Ng, Group Vice President for ICT Research at IDC Asia/Pacific, predicting that as organisations accelerate their race to recovery, there will be three waves to market dominance in 2021.

“APAC is already leading the race with digital core investments to strengthen organisational foundation and digital innovation initiatives to overcome COVID-19 pandemic exposed gaps as well as acceleration projects that introduce new business/operating models and help to gain market shares,” Ng said.

According to Ng, these are the top predictions for ICT and industries that will impact how APAC organisations can adapt to survive and reimagine to lead in the Next Normal. The IDC predicts that by 2023, 70% of leaders in A2000 (the top 2000 APAC-based) organisations will have shifted their management orientation from processes to outcomes, establishing more agile, innovative and empathetic operating models.

Organisations in the APAC region will also adopt a digital-first approach in employee engagements, with 60% of enterprises investing heavily in digitalising employee experiences (EX) in 2021, transforming the relationship between employers and employees.

“A key pillar to becoming a future enterprise in a post-COVID outbreak era is digital resiliency. We now know that resiliency as we knew it pre-COVID is not good enough. We need a new benchmark to futureproof us from forward crisis and disruptions, be it the next infection cycle or the next economic crisis,” Ng said.

By 2021, 65% of organisations will have shifted to digital-first through automated operations and contactless experiences, to deliver customer empathy at scale. IDC also predicts that in 2022, enterprises focused on digital resiliency will adapt to disruption and extend services in response to new conditions 50% faster than ones fixated on restoring existing business resiliency levels.

“Digital resiliency is the ability of an organisation to rapidly adapt to business disruptions, leverage digital capabilities to maintain continuous business operations and quickly adjust to take advantage of changed conditions,” Ng said.

Risk management and growth acceleration can (and should) co-exist; by 2022, driven by board level agenda, 50% of A2000 companies will formalise human oversight of AI-based decision automation to combat distrust of auto-generated recommendations and reputational risk. By 2021, 25% of organisations will leverage employee productivity software to monitor and improve the digital workflows of their full-time, work-from-home employees.

By 2021, at last 50% of organisations will accelerate innovation to support business and operating model reinvention, fast-tracking transformation programs, to futureproof their businesses. By 2025, driven by volatile global conditions, 75% of business leaders will use digital platforms and ecosystem capabilities to adapt their value chains to new markets, industries and ecosystems.

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