When members of the board of directors go back to school
The newly launched Digital Board Academy provides board members with compact know-how in two evening modules, enabling them to better assess the upcoming challenges in the digital field. The continuing education course on the topic of "Digital Transformation" is being offered in various Swiss cities. The first courses that have taken place so far were fully booked in a very short time.
Many companies lack digital competence not only at management level, but above all at board level. Especially there, the selection of "digital first" thinkers is very small to non-existent. With the newly launched "Digital Board Academy," members of the board of directors will be able to further educate themselves in two evening modules on digital topics such as data exchange, big data, digital strategy, cyber threats and the development of smartphone technology. The course will be offered in Zurich, Bern and Basel as a first step.
Burning issue of digitization
The program was launched by Maurice Nyffeler and Dominic Lüthi. Nyffeler is a transformation expert with a focus on business and culture. Lüthi initiated the first digital mediation platform for boards of directors, foundation boards and advisory boards (f/m) in Switzerland. Based on this professional background, they have recognized that digitization/digital transformation is a burning issue for most SMEs, but one that is often neglected due to ignorance or lack of understanding and, in the worst case, can have a negative impact on a company's future prospects.
Says Dominic Lüthi: "Our goal was to develop a course that would give board members enough know-how to include digitization in the development of long-term corporate strategy. With this knowledge, board members also become more effective for companies and more attractive to the market." Maurice Nyffeler also points out another point: "Digital transformation not only brings technological challenges, but also demands holistic development from a cultural perspective. This is a major challenge for many company managers, which we also address in Digital Board Academy."
Board members must not miss the boat
Digital transformation can offer SMEs in particular great opportunities, which is why it is important that they do not miss the boat on the digital future. Because digital transformation is more than just "digitization": It affects not only technology, but also organization and business. It has come about through the convergence of three developments called SoLoMo, where So stands for Social, Lo for Local and Mo for Mobile. Social refers to the ability to exchange large amounts of data in real time, independent of location and time. Local refers not only to GPS, RFID chips, etc., but also to the immersion in large amounts of data ("Big Data"), while Mobile deals with the breathtaking development of smartphones.
The first modules of the Digital Board Academy have already been held. The excellent feedback shows that although many companies are concerned about the topic of digitization, the topic has not yet arrived everywhere at board level.
More information: www.digitalboardacademy.com
