Digital Transformation & Ethical Decisions 

 

Digital Transformation (DX) provides the critical response needed by organizations to meet rising customer expectations, deliver scalable, individualized experiences, and respond to market forces with ever increasing levels of business agility. Technologies like cloud computing, robotics, AI and big data combined with optimized operating models enable organizations to drive innovation and respond to internal and external events quicker and cheaper than ever before. All of these seem to be steps in the right direction and while they can definitely get characterized as being so, one cannot overlook the challenges posed by DX. Ethical concerns like individual privacy rights, potential job losses, implicit consent, digital trust, unanticipated consequences of innovations and decision making by machines must be carefully evaluated and addressed.

  Through this post, I want to pick your brain regarding some of the less rosy consequences of rapid DX. According to World Economic Forum (WEF), current estimates of global job losses due to digitalization range from 2 million to 2 billion by 2030. Also, for every 1% increase in global GDP, CO₂e emissions have risen by approximately 0.5% and resource intensity by 0.4%. The trend will contribute to a global gap of 8 billion tonnes between the supply and demand of natural resources by 2030, translating to $4.5 trillion of lost economic growth by 2030. According to the Edelman Trust Barometer, trust in all technology-based sectors is declining with concerns over data privacy and security being key factors. Broader ethical questions about the way organizations use digital technology also threaten to erode trust in DX. Few organizations and their leaders develop an overall approach to the ethical impacts of technology use—at least not at the start of a digital transformation. In a recent study, only 35 percent of respondents said their organization’s leaders spend enough time thinking about and communicating the impact of digital initiatives on society.

In order to be truly savvy in the age of advanced, connected, and autonomous technologies, leaders must think beyond designing and implementing technologically driven capabilities. They should consider how to do so responsibly from the start. In order to be ethically driven from the start, business leaders need to be proactive and stay ahead of potential ethical challenges and consider designing new technology-driven products and services with ethical principles in mind from the start. This can help organizations anticipate and avoid problems, rather than having to react after a situation arises.

  PMI’s Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct provides guidelines which can help in addressing many ethical concerns related to fast paced DX. Responsibility entails that organizations own the decisions they make or fail to make, the actions they take or fail to take, and the resulting consequences. In exhibiting Respect, an organization must show high regard for themselves, others, and the resources entrusted to their management. Resources may include people, money, reputation, the safety of others, and natural or environmental resources. Fairness requires that humans and machines trained by them take decisions and act impartially and objectively. Algorithms running the technologies must be free from competing self-interest, prejudice, and favoritism. Honesty requires that facts are interpreted in a manner which is truthful and not misleading.

I strongly believe that DX is a great trend, and it may not be an option. To leverage it properly, decision makers must keep ethical values as the base of their decisions to guarantee sustainable success. Please share your perspective and experience with the rest of us so we can also learn from your insights.