Tesla Selling Its Own Insurance, Sanofi Ventures into Digital New Business... "The Era of Big Blur Breaking Boundaries"

KCCI SGI, Global Companies Digital Transformation Analysis Report

An employee of the U.S. Highway Safety Insurance Institute is conducting a collision avoidance experiment on a Tesla Model 3 at a vehicle research institute.

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dae-yeol] An analysis has emerged that major global companies have achieved innovative transformations across products, services, business processes, and marketing by utilizing digital technologies. As the big blur phenomenon, where boundaries between industries and sectors are dissolving due to technological advancements and the COVID-19 pandemic, accelerates, there are calls for proactive efforts in South Korea to seize leadership.

The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry's Sustainable Growth Initiative (SGI) published a report on the 24th titled "Characteristics and Implications of Digital Transformation in Global Companies," examining cases of 27 major global companies across various industries. This study was conducted in collaboration with the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade. It covered manufacturing sectors such as automotive, machinery, home appliances, and biopharmaceuticals, as well as non-manufacturing sectors like insurance and finance.

In the report, SGI analyzed, "The use of artificial intelligence and data has expanded across industries, carbon neutrality has been realized, and contactless businesses have become widespread," adding, "In recent years, crossing industry boundaries, global industrial digital transformation has become the mainstream." It further argued, "For domestic industries to accelerate responses to the Fourth Industrial Revolution and a low-carbon economy, it is essential to establish legal and institutional foundations that strongly support companies' digital transformation activities."

Tesla is a representative example of digital transformation through product and service innovation. Beyond having an autonomous driving service platform based on driving and sensor data, it even provides its own insurance services to customers. This connects products and services using digital technology. John Deere, which manufactures tractors and other equipment, offers new functions as services by utilizing Internet of Things and artificial intelligence technologies, while Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha derives optimal navigation routes using ship operation and maritime information to reduce carbon emissions. Finding new revenue models, improving efficiency and quality, and inventory management have all become possible through digital technologies.

Types of Digital Transformation in 27 Global Companies

Micron Semiconductor and Johnson & Johnson reduced greenhouse gas emissions through intelligent energy management. Global pharmaceutical company Sanofi established joint venture companies with Italy's largest insurer Generali and France's top telecommunications company Orange to build an open innovation ecosystem. It is expanding its business areas by forming alliances with healthcare startups. Additionally, IKEA and Microsoft were cited as successful cases of marketing innovation through personalized marketing based on customer purchase data analysis, real-time commerce, and experiential services using virtual and augmented reality technologies.

The report stated, "Global companies are leading responses to rapidly changing industrial environments such as the Fourth Industrial Revolution and climate change in their home countries by actively promoting digital transformation efforts to secure future growth engines, while simultaneously seeking to enhance their competitiveness." It added, "With digital transformation-related support policies and legal and institutional arrangements rapidly advancing mainly in the United States, China, and Japan, it is urgent for domestic industries to establish policy support and institutional foundations for digital transformation."

The report pointed out the need to establish industry-academia-research cooperation networks like those in Silicon Valley and Stanford University in the U.S., and emphasized that even companies with capabilities should pursue cooperation and mergers and acquisitions with specialized firms. It also added the necessity of creating legal and institutional bases for collecting and utilizing industrial data.

Im Jin, Director of SGI, said, "The trend of digital transformation across industries will continue even in the post-COVID era," and emphasized, "Domestic industries must build a system for successful digital transformation and improve institutions to lead the new normal of the post-COVID era."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.