The digital economy is quickly advancing, and the recent pandemic disruption, along with complex economic and technology trends have only served to further increase the urgency of navigating digital transformation requirements across all businesses and industries. Soon, most Canadian executive leaders will be running companies that look more digital than physical. Digital is a permanent, yet dynamic fixture in this world. Digital-first applies to any entity (company, government, consumer, patient, constituent) that is always looking for some digital-based enhancements that could improve our lives and desired outcomes. Entities and people are more connected, with greater interdependencies in a digital-first world. Entire ecosystems can intelligently leverage data to their advantage because access to digital technologies extends from individuals to organizations, and from governments to societies.

A digital-first world requires a digital-first economy. Such an economy expands the impact of digital technologies in the production and consumption of digital products, services, and experiences to at least 65% of GDP. In this economy, all industries will be driven and shaped by Future Enterprises. The Future Enterprise is IDC’s vision for how organizations must operate and invest to participate in increasingly digital-first markets. It is a framework for fostering a digital-first culture, one that leverages trusted industry ecosystems, generates profitable revenue growth from empathetic customer experiences, and demonstrates an ability to adapt operating models to complex customer requirements. All of this is built on digital infrastructure and enabled by an intelligent, empowered, and well-connected workforce.

Although we can envision a digital-first economy, the economic and business outlook for the next 3 years remains highly fluid due to the pandemic and a growing range of global challenges. IDC believes that as the world slowly moves from a pandemic to a digital-first state, we will see permanent shifts in the way we live, work, play and learn. Join IDC Canada and its sponsors for our IDC Connections 2021 Canada virtual event on the afternoon of November 4th, 2021 to learn how to accelerate your organization along its path to becoming a digital-first enterprise. Key topics of discussion include:

• creating digital innovation at your organization
• embracing digital infrastructure and
• leveraging new industry ecosystems.

We'll also explore how some Canadian organizations are transforming themselves into digital-first enterprises during our popular CIO Best Practices panel discussion. You won't want to miss our closing keynote from Humza Teherany from Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment as he explores the Future of Sports in a Digital-First world.