ITC plans digital switch by crowd-sourcing systems, setting up core group

The core council, called DigiNext, will be led by chairman Sanjiv Puri to ideate and sponsor high impact digital interventions and harness synergies

Diversified conglomerate ITC, which has adopted digital technologies for driving growth across its businesses, is moving to the next phase of switching to this mode.

At the heart of the exercise is two initiatives: Young Digital Innovators Lab, which will crowdsource digital strategies from across ITC’s businesses, and a dedicated Digital Council of senior ITC managers, the “DigiNext”, set up by chairman Sanjiv Puri. DigiNext will ideate and sponsor high impact digital interventions and harness synergies.

Today, accelerated digital transformation is integral to ITC’s future-ready strategy, the company said. 

“Digital innovations are increasingly being harnessed to enhance competitive advantage in business efficiencies, consumer engagements and logistics. New technologies such as industry 4.0, smart robotics, artificial intelligence, big data, industrial internet of things (IoT) and machine learning are being deployed by all businesses, including ITC’s supply chain and distribution ecosystem to enhance operational effectiveness,” it added.

The next phase of transformation will now be achieved through a two-step process. 

The empowered team of innovators - "digital natives" from across ITC's businesses - under the Young Digital Innovators Lab will access ITC’s digital assets, evaluate the digital initiatives, identify best-in-class digital technologies and spot opportunities across value-chains. It will also evaluate how ITC can leverage emerging opportunities and enhance operational effectiveness across businesses through digitization.

DigiNext, along with ITC’s businesses, will in turn, reach out to the Young Digital Innovators Lab for crowdsourcing ideas and provide valuable inputs.

Both these forms in combination are expected to serve as a melting pot for ideation, exploration and impactful outcomes leading to the next level of digital excellence, ITC said.

Substantial investments have already been made by the company in the creation of a digital ecosystem, and ITC said that its several digital initiatives had contributed significantly to business outcomes.

The initiatives include leveraging cloud-technology, social-media engagement tools and a digital marketing and analytics platform for driving contextual communication and rapid product development with key marketing insights.

E-commerce, as a distribution channel is also being leveraged with the segment growing more than 100 per cent since the beginning of the pandemic. The company is also leveraging its in-house ITCstore.in and Classmateshop.com.

There are other digital initiatives that are being rolled out. 

As part of digital intervention in agriculture, the latest version of e-Choupal is now focusing on leveraging a digital ecosystem for farmers by strengthening agricultural entrepreneurship and agri-tech start- ups through agri services aggregator models. The aim is to empower the farmers in multi-dimensional ways with modern technology and knowhow, crop advisory, assessment of crop stress, weather forecasts and so on, which is being translated into higher incomes for farmers.