Coronavirus accelerated the digital transformation

The coronavirus crisis has changed the world overnight. The education, working meetings, cultural events, socialization, businesses, the entire life is digital. Digital transformation is no longer a plan for the future but a top priority. The world will never be the same and we should adapt to the new “normal”.

We talked to Nikola Ljushev, the Chief Executive Officer of Makedonski Telekom, about the challenges businesses face, the accelerated transformation of the society, how digitalisation will change the world and what kind of world we will live in after the crisis.

1. Coronavirus changed the way businesses are run overnight. What do you think is the key to dealing with and adapting to the new situation for a company?

When two months ago we were forced to drastically change the way of life and work, the key challenge and the main goal for us in Makedonski Telekom was to ensure seamless operation and high quality communication services while having huge demand for internet capacity. As citizens listened in disbelief to the recommendations for physical distancing, our task became even more difficult and more responsible, because the communication services remained the only alternative to bridging the social gap that had suddenly developed in the society. We did not allow ourselves to be paralyzed by the initial shock, we consistently followed all recommendations for protection of the public health and the health of our employees, guided by the realization that we provide vital services for the society to continue to function seamlessly. In such an emergency situation, it is imperative to make rational rather than hasty and emotional decisions. Decisions based on verified information and relevant data, involving teams of experts from different profiles. The process should work fluidly; the operation must be effective, agile and above all digital, including digital communication and collaboration. If, previously, it took several months to prepare for a market action, now all you have is a few days. Of course, this is much easier for smaller businesses, and large companies must soon change their "mindset" and adapt, they must think and act not as corporations but as start-ups. We are in a very complex situation and it seems that the world will have to live in the new "normal" for a longer period of time. By taking wise steps and decisions, companies not only have to survive the crisis but also think about how to emerge from this crisis as winners.

2. The new situation has changed both the habits and the needs of the customers, the consumption of internet and tools that can be used from home have sharply increased, how did it affect your network?

For years, we have been investing heavily in our network as a top priority. With the first announcement of the crisis, we directed all resources, financial and human, in strengthening the network capacities to respond adequately to the new situation. It is a big responsibility because everything had to work perfectly at a time when everyone was working, learning and getting information online. After the declaration of state of emergency, we instantly noticed a huge increase in the demand of Internet, we worked every day to increase the capacities, we offered higher transmission speeds in the fixed network and larger Internet packages for business and consumers. We have successfully overcome the first wave of the crisis and I am proud of that, but strengthening and investing in network facilities will remain a priority, because the network is the bloodstream and a prerequisite for digitalization of the society.

3. The whole society and the institutions are facing the need for accelerated digitization ... What do you think is crucial to develop in our society in order to facilitate the digital transformation?

In our country, there is a lot of talk on this topic, serious investments are made in the digitization of the traditional (manual) processes, etc., but the acceptance of innovations does not go with the desired pace. Every change is hard to accept, and this crisis has brought about the need for a new way of behaving and quick adaptation, and in many cases we saw that we are not ready to change our deep-rooted habits, even at the expense of our own or other people's health. In this period, we have probably all noticed the crowds in front of the banks when the citizens are waiting to collect their salary or pension in cash. It is therefore not surprising that more than 60% of the transactions for payment of bills for telecommunications services take place in our stores, mainly in cash. We have barely reached 30% of electronic payment transactions via the Internet or the mobile application and that is due to the crisis and the recommendations for social isolation. In the other European countries these percentages are more than double and the bill collection is not a challenge at all in terms of the movement restrictions. And, here we are talking about payment transactions for already delivered services. However, there are also the more complex transactions towards the state institutions, where it is necessary to prove the authenticity of your digital identity without physical presence, as a prerequisite to be provided with the required service digitally (obtaining a certificate from a state authority, property deed, etc.). Currently in the country, Makedonski Telekom and KIBS have issued only about fifty thousand digital certificates, i.e. modest 2-3% of the population. We have to work on the more intensive promotion of the services of trust, digital signature, time stamp, organizational stamp, etc.

The crisis has also shown how much we need to work in the field of digital education, i.e. a strategy for digital learning that will be upgraded with the advancement of the technology and that will be useful to both the teachers and the students. It is ungrateful to predict when and how this situation with the global pandemic will be overcome, which is a strong enough indication that we need to seriously consider how to continue the education process in the next school year. In addition to education, one of the main pillars of society is the digitization of health services, as well as the introduction of remote diagnostics that would contribute to better health services without the need for the patients to leave their homes. In this segment as well, the crisis has shown that we can do much more, i.e. reduce the reaction time and meet the needs of the patients, without putting themselves and other people at risk.

Hence, let me go back to your question about what is crucial in the society in order for the digital transformation to happen. The key factor of transformation is the human factor. Nothing revolutionary in the history of mankind has happened by chance, spontaneously and without conscious intention. Everything that has been achieved so far has been done by people who were not satisfied with their surrounding, who had a vision of what they wanted to achieve and then put all their energy into achieving the set goals. For that reason, it is necessary to have a mass of people who share the same or similar vision and act synergistically - in the case of digitization of all spheres of society, in order to function more efficiently in both normal and emergency situations. I think that before the start of this global crisis we all expected that the things in the field of digital transformation would move gradually and last for decades, but the crisis simply exponentially accelerated the time forward and I think that things will change much faster in the coming period.

4. How will we organize our work in the future, will we keep some of the new habits even after the crisis has passed?

I don't believe that we will go back to the old habits. The companies will need to completely transform their functional models, the customer needs are evolving rapidly, and the ways we travel, sell, communicate with customers, enter the market or employ people will change. Thus, we need to get the most out of what we have learned in this period. Online meetings and video conferences will be a daily occurrence, work from home will be practiced much more often, and large events will be held virtually. The companies will need to work on clear goals with focused teams and quick decisions, and even the large corporations will need to work this way. The progress of the companies will depend on the change of the functional models. And from a product standpoint, tools and applications for remote operation will be increasingly created, as well as digitization of public and business services. The faster and more efficient we are in adapting to the new expectations and using the crisis in order to refocus the resources, priorities and digitization of the processes, the greater our chances are to emerge from this crisis as winners.

5. What will the world be like after this crisis and do you think that we will learn anything from it?

This crisis is the greatest challenge to humanity in the last hundred years. But, for the first time in history, we have the tools to overcome this situation. Imagine what would happen if there were no digital tools and Internet at the moment ... The education and the labour market are changing, there will be tectonic shifts in the job positions, running businesses, some businesses and jobs will disappear completely, we will have to adapt, learn new skills, become digitally literate and constantly transform. What the world will be like after the pandemic depends on all of us, on the leaders who lead the states, on the businessmen, the institutions, the individuals ... We should be aware that the digital divide will increase even more and we will have to work on it - if education is digital, it will have to be equal for all children, also, we need to work on providing health care that will be the foundation of the states, and we need to work on the international solidarity. In one of his latest interviews, Yuval Noah Harari, in my opinion one of the greatest thinkers of our time, when asked about the crisis, said that the positive thing about this crisis is the return of trust in science. Let's hope that from now on, we will value science and take it more seriously, especially when we are warned of global challenges such as climate change, environmental disasters and pandemics.

Interview

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