Digital transformation: UCL Mons' PaDEL research center recruits 15 motivated SMEs

Background

According to a recent study by McKinsey, 70% of digital transformations end in failure. Digital transformation requires human, financial, material and technological investment. It leads to a rethinking of the roles and relationships between organizational players, while reinventing organizational processes through access to information on behaviors and work habits, and through the engagement of employees, consumers and/or citizens. Digital transformation is more about people than technology, since it implies new roles and relationships within the company, which need to be studied in order to understand them better. UCLouvain Fucam Mons has set up PaDEL (People and Digital Ecosystems Lab), a support and innovation laboratory for the digital transformation of private and public organizations. Focused on people, the lab brings together experts in communication, management, marketing, public administration and entrepreneurship. Its aim is to support organizations in their digital transformation by putting people at the heart of their thinking. PaDEL's ecosystemic approach aims to broaden the analysis of digital transformation issues (all too often techno-centric) to include all stakeholders. The future of the Walloon economy depends on a better understanding of human experience and behavior in relation to technology and sustainable development, which will enable us to support companies in developing and optimizing their value proposition. Our project contributes to stimulating the European policy of "twin transition" (green and digital transition), i.e. the digital and sustainable transformation of SMEs in Wallonia. The PaDEL laboratory has set up a digital transformation support method called "SCALE" (Scan, Choose, Appropriate, Learn, Enable), developed on the basis of the most recent scientific work on the appropriation of technologies in context (Technology Acceptance Model, Affordance, etc.). This methodology requires in-depth, longitudinal monitoring in the field to ensure the successful implementation of digital transformation projects. As part of the Digital Wallonia strategy, PaDEL is in charge of launching a pilot project involving 15 SMEs motivated by individualized support for their digital transformation over a 12-month period.

Project stages

• From 20/01/2023 to 20/02/2023: selection of 15 Walloon SMEs in various growth sectors in Wallonia.

• At the beginning of March 2023, the selected Walloon companies will be guided through the various stages of the SCALE method.

• At the beginning of June 2023, a community of "Digital Pioneers" will be created, among the selected Walloon SMEs and others, to encourage the exchange of best practices.

Research program objectives

• Benefit from structured support, thanks to "action research" conducted by a team of researchers through the 5 phases of the SCALE method.

• Reflect on the human and sustainable issues linked to digitalization, both in the pre-adoption and post-adoption phases of new digital tools.

• Favoring responsible digitalization, with beneficial impacts on both human and organizational levels.

More information 👉 Amaury Paradis, chercheur au PaDEL et/ou compléter le online form.