According to the World Bank, Chile’s real gross domestic product (GDP) in 2023 contracted by 1% year-on-year in the first half. The contraction was mainly due to the lagged effects of fiscal and monetary contraction in 2022, following extraordinary spending in 2021. In addition, the unemployment rate in June 2023 increased by 0.7 percentage points year-on-year. These indicators reflect the unfavorable economic situation for the country and is expected to remain the same in 2024, with an estimated growth of just 1%. With this, the country will enter economic stagnation for the third consecutive year.
Faced with this reality, Chilean companies face major challenges and must adapt to the country’s current situation. One of the most important pillars that they need to focus on is the technology that they are going to use to meet their business objectives without making huge expenditures on technology. During the pandemic, technology has become a key part of businesses’ operations, allowing them to continue operating amid restrictions and social distancing. However, many organizations have accelerated this process without the necessary technical foundations to efficiently achieve good performance.
“It is common for some companies to observe how they use new technologies without a clear understanding of why they are using them, which leads to a significant increase in their technology budget. Without getting concrete results, this budget can increase by up to 30%. This lack of strategy and planning can be disastrous, especially in the current situation like In times of crisis,” says Tomás Ecclefield, co-founder and CEO of Digital eXp.
This is why 2024 is expected to be a year of investment and use of technology by Chilean companies. However, this penetration must be accompanied by proper strategic planning. Organizations need to carefully assess what their technology needs are in line with their business objectives and how they can be implemented, to improve their operations and achieve solid performance to meet economic and labor challenges.
According to Tomás Ecclefield, co-founder and CEO of Digital eXp, if companies want to take full advantage of new technologies like generative AI, they must first integrate, simplify and extract value from existing data and systems. In addition, it is necessary to strengthen security and operational continuity, create a resilient and scalable architecture, and standardize system and data integrations. Only in this way can companies use the full potential of new technologies, achieving solid results that are not questioned by senior management.
Before investing in technology, it is important for companies to have a defined plan. This includes identifying real business needs, defining objectives, establishing success indicators, creating a realistic budget, and designing a detailed implementation plan. Many times, we see companies with multiple strategic initiatives, which translates into a diversity of suppliers, developments, and databases. This is not only expensive but also creates more complexity at the technical level and allows us to act quickly without putting business continuity, reputation and senior executives at risk when faced with incidents like Ransomware attacks which are increasing day by day. Directors.
One of the most worrying aspects today is cyber security. In Chile, for example, there are about 1,300 attacks per minute. This number is alarming and is expected to continue to increase in 2024. In this scenario, it is necessary to take steps to protect digital sovereignty and prevent future cyber attacks.
To prevent cyber-attacks and minimize their impact, it is essential to have strong and well-managed technology platforms. It represents a simple and monitored ecosystem that allows detection of any anomaly or intrusion attempt. In addition, it is important to have personnel trained in cyber security and establish protocols of action in case of potential attacks.
“In conclusion, 2024 is expected to be a year of transformation, where companies will look for simple solutions and integrate technology in the context of their structures, technology, performance, which will allow them to invest in new technologies in a planned way. It will use new technologies, digital It will also allow them to remain competitive in the digitized environment. To avoid the proliferation and growth of suppliers, it is important to have a defined plan before investing. Also, cyber security plays a fundamental role in this scenario, which is why it is necessary to have strong technical platforms and establish operational protocols against possible attacks. Only in this way companies able to meet technological challenges and protect their digital sovereignty,” he concludes.
