When the global economy buckled under the pressure of the pandemic, businesses sought new ways to stabilize and grow. While organizations large and small struggled to weather its effects, some emerged more successfully than others.
Although their strategies differed, digitization and smartization prevailed as the overarching themes. One new study underpinned them as determining factors in a business’s success amid unprecedented economic turbulence.
According to the white paper, The 60 Smartest Companies Thriving Post-Pandemic, published on October 21 by Tuya Smart and media platforms Global Intelligent Business and IoT Business Vantage (IBV), digitalization and smartization are current top trends for businesses across industries responding to the threats brought by the pandemic.
The white paper, featuring researches from Gartner, the world-renowned research and advisory company, examined 60 companies that have improved their operational efficiency by adopting smarter technologies or have positively transformed their services to benefit the public. The list comprises enterprises of all sizes and covers a breadth of industries from healthcare, to service, to manufacturing.
Different Paths to Digital Transformation
Lockdowns, social distancing, and remote work have shifted the way consumers interact with the world. As the 2021 Gartner CIO Survey found that 76 percent of businesses reported that demand for new digital products and services increased in 2020, and 83 percent expect that trend to increase in 2021. Business leaders have aligned their strategies accordingly. A separate Gartner survey in 2020 revealed that directors plan to increase spending on IT and technology by an average of 6.9 percent.
The path to digitization starts with remote-focused services and experiences, but it requires concerted innovation from both the software and hardware fronts. Smart hardware products need to be balanced by remote collaboration platforms and management systems. A failure on either side could collapse the entire initiative.
Thankfully, with emerging technologies such as AR, VR, IoT, 5G, and blockchain, options are plentiful. Even smaller organizations can benefit from a plethora of low-cost and flexible options.
Some cases highlighted in Tuya Smart white paper are straightforward; they infused their traditional products with smart systems for the extra value-add. For example, Goodyear seized the opportunity to incorporate smart features into its Miralbueno Group’s product portfolio.
The Miralbuen Group, which has been supplying agricultural and industrial equipment to South America and Europe for over 30 years, partnered with Tuya Smart to power its scooters, air purifiers, and air quality monitors under the Goodyear brand. Their collaboration saw Goodyear increase its products’ value, enrich their functions with advanced controls, and in turn provide greater convenience to their customers. Goodyear’s journey is a textbook example of progressive digital transformation.
But the study also uncovered challenges faced by even veteran players in the field. No one was immune to playing catchup with the pace of innovation. Such was the case with AnyOnNet, a leading IoT company in South Korea.
The advent of the pandemic brought healthcare to the forefront. Seniors and hospitalized patients were especially vulnerable and therefore needed more tools to achieve equity. But even before the pandemic, accessibility has always been the top of mind for long-term care homes and hospitals. The pandemic has accelerated the pace of innovation.
When AnyOnNet became a supplier of elderly care solutions for Dongguk University Ilsan Hospital, the company had to surmount numerous challenges despite its 15 years of experience. South Korea has a handful of major players dominating the IoT market, and the cost of IoT equipment is unaffordable for many consumers. Not only did AnyOnNet face a hostile market climate, but its products also must connect to a wide ecosystem for greater choice, all the while remaining reasonably priced for the customer.
As such, the company leveraged Tuya’s app SDK to power its product line, achieving interoperability with more than 410,000 Tuya Smart products without massive spendings on developing its own platform. The partnership enabled AnyOnNet to meet the hospital’s requirements and elevate its brand image in one stroke.
Call for more support from public sectors
Digital transformation is no longer exclusive to the private sector. While businesses continue to adopt smarter tools to provide better service, governments and regulators also need to develop new laws around privacy, data governance, and sustainability to keep pace.
Governments also need to define a clear path to develop smarter cities. With more robust infrastructures in place, smart cities can be more fortified against future disasters. Reaching this goal starts with an ecosystem-driven approach and shared accountability between partners in leadership.
As a veteran in the IoT space, Tuya Smart’s IoT platform can accelerate digital transformation in both the private and public sectors. Its development platform is being used by over 384,000 developers from more than 200 regions and countries around the world. Through its new white paper, Tuya explores these topics in-depth and provides a deeper analysis into how different industries are adapting to the drive for digital transformation.
