Own the Future: 50 Ways to Win from The Boston Consulting Group

Chapter 11

The Digital Manifesto

David Dean, Sebastian DiGrande, Dominic Field, and Paul Zwillenberg

Every business needs to “go digital.” Data about customers, competitors, suppliers, and employees are exploding. Ninety percent of all data were created in the past two years. By 2016, there will be 3 billion Internet users globally, and the Internet economy will reach $4.2 trillion in the G20 nations.

No company or country can afford to ignore this phenomenon. We have entered the “second half of the chessboard,” where the scale and speed of change are indelibly altering industry structures and the way that companies do business.¹ Farsighted companies have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reinvent everything about the way they do business.

A Shifting Center of Gravity

Twenty years ago, at its commercial birth, the Internet was a novelty. Today, residents of many villages around the world are more familiar with Internet content than with indoor plumbing or air-conditioning. By 2016, almost 3.5 billion consumers, or 45 percent of the world's population, will use the Internet.

This shift is one of just several changes under way as the Internet matures and becomes fully embedded in everyday life.

• From fixed to ubiquitous access. Increasingly, the Internet is everywhere—not just on mobile phones but also in cars, refrigerators, and watches. By 2016, mobile devices will account for over 80 percent of all broadband connections in the G20 nations.
• From developed to emerging nations. ...