Research Agenda: The Shifting Digital Landscape

2020 has been a year of unprecedented challenge for all organizations. As we look forward to 2021, our research agenda will examine the shifting digital landscape. We continue to focus on topics through the lenses of modernization, transformation and disruption, and many of our 2021 projects build on previous work, addressing new disruptions that we are seeing emerge and organizations need to plan for.

Among the key topics and questions we will address are:

1. Large organizations now see the potential of Cloud Business Models, even as they become ever-more dependent upon a handful of cloud providers. How can companies realize the potential of the former, and avoid the risks of the latter?
2. The field of Digital Ethics is moving quickly – with major implications for revenue, regulation and reputation. How can organizations take an increasingly ethical approach in developing and deploying their products and services?
3. As drones, robots, and autonomous physical systems proliferate, and software-based algorithms and Robotic Process Automation spread across the modern firm, what will the intelligent automated enterprise of the future look like? Will traditional firms be able to effectively operationalize and scale these changes?
4. Western relations with India will be in the spotlight in 2021 and beyond. Within the next decade, India will be the world's most populous nation and will become an increasingly important market, supplier, competitor and geopolitical force. What are the key strategic opportunities and operational risks?
5. The way we all work has changed dramatically because of COVID-19. But now that virtual work platforms are widely established, how will they evolve? Will virtual gaming, role-playing, and simulation finally realize their oft-hyped potential and usher in a new era of enterprise collaboration?
6. New strategies, opportunities, and practices continuously emerge as technology industrializes, but which areas will industrialize first, and where should we be investing to maximize competitive advantage?
7. As technology becomes ever more pervasive, how must digital skills evolve at every level of the firm? What are companies doing to grow their people and fill the biggest gaps?