Athanasios Kakarountas, Syrine Ferjaoui
In a rapidly changing world, digital transformation has become a driving force shaping our modern society. From businesses to individuals, no one can escape the growing influence of technology on every aspect of our lives. Today, we are pleased to introduce our new theme issue dedicated to the topic of digital transformation and the latest innovations that are emerging from it.
Digital transformation is a complex process that involves the integration of digital technologies into every aspect of our society. From business systems to education, health care, entertainment, and even the way we communicate, technological advances are radically changing how we live, work, and interact with each other.
Digital transformation integrates digital technologies into an organization’s operations, business models, processes, and culture to drive fundamental changes and improvements. It involves leveraging technologies, such as cloud computing, big data analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things, mobile applications, and automation to create new value propositions, enhance customer experiences, streamline operations, and improve overall business performance. Successful digital transformation requires a holistic approach, continuous learning, and adaptation to the rapidly evolving digital landscape. By proactively addressing obstacles and challenges, organizations can increase their chances of realizing the full benefits of digital technologies and staying competitive in the digital age.
Digital transformation finds applications across various fields, including but not limited to the following:
Although digital transformation is considered an abstractly defined technological topic, including all aspects of technology and everyday living applications, there is strong evidence that it already benefits people. There are numerous examples of how it affects groups of people and organizations, mainly from user experience. The ease of fulfilling demanding tasks with governmental organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic, which were registered all around the world; the complete transformation of educational systems to include synchronous and asynchronous online courses, which are now quite common; and the continuous monitoring of resources and goods for sustainable management, which is already a tool for new policies at various levels of governance—these are just a few examples to reference.
Overall, digital transformation plays a crucial role in enabling the development and delivery of intelligent services for citizens. It empowers organizations and governments to transform service delivery, enhance citizen experiences, optimize resource allocation, and foster citizen-centric governance. Specifically, by leveraging digital technologies, governments can improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and responsiveness of public services, ultimately leading to better outcomes and improved quality of life for citizens.
While digital transformation offers numerous benefits, there are also potential disadvantages and challenges. Some of these include the cost associated with implementing digital transformation initiatives, security and privacy risks, organizational resistance and culture shift, skill gaps, and workforce disruptions. On the other hand, the obstacles to adopting digital transformation in organizations include, indicatively, resistance to change, lack of digital skills and knowledge, reliance on legacy systems and infrastructure, unclear digital strategy and goals, data management and governance challenges, financial constraints, organizational silos and lack of collaboration, and regulatory and compliance issues.
In the pages of this issue, we explore emerging trends in digital transformation and the latest innovations that are revolutionizing our lives. From extended reality to AI and smart devices, we update you on the latest advances in these exciting areas.
Discover how companies are using new technologies to drive growth and increase operational efficiency. We explore how companies are reshaping their business models to adapt to an ever-changing digital world. Digital transformation is not just about businesses, however. We also showcase the latest trends in digital well-being, new apps that improve productivity and well-being, and innovations in education and health care.
We also feature industry experts, thought leaders, and innovators, who share their visions and experiences with digital transformation. You will learn how these inspiring individuals are shaping the future and opening up new opportunities through their innovative initiatives.
This special theme aims to provide readers with examples of digital transformation, as reported in various fields, and motivate them to be part of this digital revolution. The challenges are numerous, and young scientists may overcome the obstacles only with their creative mindset, exploiting their vision to shape the future.
Digital transformation is the digital revolution that needs your ideas and solutions to benefit society, industry, and organizations for a sustainable future. The obstacles are there only for setting the future targets in your vision.
Whether you are a professional passionate about technological advancement, an entrepreneur looking for growth opportunities, or simply curious about how technology is changing our world, this theme issue will provide key insights, in-depth analysis, and inspiration to help you navigate this ever-evolving landscape.
We look forward to joining you on this exciting journey of digital transformation. Stay tuned for the next issues of IEEE Potentials to discover the latest innovations and compelling stories that will shape our digital future.
Welcome to the era of digital transformation! Let us know on our social media channels if you will be part of this revolution. To learn more, join for free to the Computer Society e-Government STC.
Athanasios (Thanos) Kakarountas (kakarountas@ieee.org) is an associate professor holding a position for “embedded computing systems” with the Department of Computer Science and Biomedical Informatics, University of Thessaly, GR-35131 Lamia, Greece. He is the head of the Intelligent Systems Laboratory, chair of the Research and Innovation Regional Committee for the Region of Central Greece, and deputy chair of the National Infrastructures for Research and Technology. His research interests include reconfigurable computing, embedded systems design for the Internet of Things, health, smart cities, and security applications. He is an IEEE Potentials associate editor, a Senior Member of IEEE, the IEEE Greece Section vice chair, and a cochair of the IEEE Computer Society eGov STC.
Syrine Ferjaoui (syrine.ferjaoui.eng@ieee.org) is a cloud advisor working on cloud technology at Microsoft Ireland, DI8 Dublin, Ireland. She has experience on big data architecture tracks and was involved in research and development projects. She has a computer engineering degree from the National School of Engineering of Sousse (ENISo), Tunisia, where she cofounded the ENISo Student Branch in 2015; she then cofounded the ENISo IEEE Power & Energy Society Student Chapter and held the chair position for a one-year mandate in 2017. She joined IEEE Potentials in 2019 as an associate editor. She is a Member of IEEE.
[A1] P. Wightman, L. Garcia, A. Salazar, and F. Landazury, “Digital transformation, industry 4.0, and extended reality: The case for an innovation cycle,” IEEE Potentials, vol. 42, no. 4, pp. 8–16, Jul./Aug. 2023, doi: 10.1109/MPOT.2023.3283107.
[A2] P. Andrei, “Reshaping engineered clinical decision support systems: Biomedical signal processing and artificial intelligence in health care,” IEEE Potentials, vol. 42, no. 4, pp. 17–23, Jul./Aug. 2023, doi: 10.1109/MPOT.2023.3284207.
[A3] B. Aydin, T. T. Sari, and S. F. Oktug, “Accelerating smart campus development with an extensible framework,” IEEE Potentials, vol. 42, no. 4, pp. 24–48, Jul./Aug. 2023, doi: 10.1109/ MPOT.2023.3250968.
[A4] B. Ntambara, N. Blasius, D. G. Nyambo, D. Kipketer, and M. Ally, “A novel and intelligent GSM-based smart prepaid water meter: A case of rural/urban areas in Arusha, Tanzania,” IEEE Potentials, vol. 42, no. 4, pp. 29–38, Jul./Aug. 2023, doi: 10.1109/MPOT.2023.3262908.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MPOT.2023.3287068