The pandemic makes a lot of people work/study remotely Before the pandemic, we could hear about a word “digitalization” or a phrase “digital transformation” many times in our life. In […]
Before the pandemic, we could hear about a word “digitalization” or a phrase “digital transformation” many times in our life. In 2020, due to the pandemic, most of countries imposed the strict restrictions to reduce social contacts among citizens. Thus, they tried to confine the spread of the virus as much as they could.
As a result, lots of people should work or study remotely whether they liked or not. At the same time, “digitalization” and “digital transformation” became buzzwords for us. In fact, we really experienced it. However, the difference between “digitalization” and “digital transformation” is not so clear sometimes. This is because many people use these words as the same.
There are several articles explain the difference between “digitalization”, “digital transformation” and even “digitization”. In this article, we define the difference among them first, and think of how 5G technology accelerates “digital transformation”.
First of all, we define “digitization”, “digitalization” and “digital transformation” as follows.
Let explain an example of each definition. First, digitization. 20 or 30 years ago, we used some pieces of paper to share information, proposals and agendas in our meetings, but we can share the same information through PDF now. We can convert a physical thing into a digital thing (PDF), and this conversion is defined as digitization in this article.
Second, even 10 years ago, although we can share information through PDF or e-mails, we felt it difficult to talk to each other when attendances in the meeting were in different places. However, we are able to communicate easily and quickly now by making use of digital technologies such as Microsoft Teams and Zoom. Thus, this convenience is defined as digitalization in this article.
Third, 10 years ago, when we bought automobiles, the value of them were decreasing after purchasing. On the contrary, if we buy an electric vehicle like Tesla Model Y, the car itself is updating and the value of it keeps the same or is increasing after the purchase. It means that Model Y adds more value to an existing customer or attracts new customers thanks to its new technologies, and we can define this as digital transformation at the same time.
Basically, in this article, we can say that most of digitalization leads to cost reduction, on one hand. On the other hand, digital transformation leads to innovation or value creation. As we see the example above, Tesla’s products are able to add more value or create new value to existing or new customers through digital technologies.
Tesla’s products can update or upgrade Advanced Driver-Assistance System through new technologies including networks around us. However, the more new features they install, the more safety and liability we need. In this sense, ultra-low latency and more reliability of network are indispensable. Thus, 5G network possibly realizes them. Therefore, when it comes to digital transformation, 5G network is also essential. Even though few people enjoy the benefits of 5G network, the technology will be more indispensable.
