LEF Research Agenda: The Shifting Digital Landscape

Our 2021 research agenda will examine the shifting digital landscape through the lenses of modernization, transformation & disruption.

LEF Research Agenda: The Shifting Digital Landscape, 2020-21

Introduction

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.

David Reid,
Research Programme Director

Among the key topics and questions we will address this year:

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?
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?
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
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?
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?
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?

2020 Q4

Research Agenda: The Shifting Digital Landscape

2020 Q4

2020: Published highlights

The Science of
Digital Platforms

Constructing Cloud-Native Business Capabilities

Shock Treatment: Developing Resilience & Antfigragility

What to do About China? Short-term Tensions
& Long-term Strategies

Industrialization
of Technology

Digital Twins:
A Guide to the Labyrinth

Next-Generation
Operating Models

Industrialization of Technology

When will the critical transformation enablers of 2020s – a wave of tech including IoT, AI, blockchain, voice interfaces, 5G etc – become widespread, industrialized & ready for prime time?

Bill Murray,
Senior Researcher and Advisor

Simon Wardley,
Researcher

Chris Surdak,
Senior Researcher & Advisor

Digital Twins: A Guide to the Labyrinth

Intangible assets are becoming more important; what possibilities are enabled in the age of the Digital Twin?

Next-Generation Operating Models

Where and What, Who, When, How and Why to embrace a Next-Generation Operating Model?

Research Agenda: The Shifting Digital Landscape

Looking through the different lenses of Modernization, Transformation and Disruption

2021 Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Leveraging the
Hyperscalers

The Realities of
Enterprise Automation

Braving New Worlds: Virtual Spaces for Enterprise Collaboration

Living with The Matrix: The Intelligent Automated Organization of 2030

Growing Digital Ethics:
In Practice

New Competitive
Landscapes

Skills for Leaders in the Workplace of the Future

2021 Q1

Q2

Leveraging the Hyperscalers

Almost every large organization has a dependency on the cloud. In a series of articles and webinars, we will address the confusion around what business impact can be delivered and the approach that should be adopted by different parts of the organization.

David Rimmer,
Research Associate

Growing Digital Ethics: In Practice

Digital ethics is a fast-moving field impacting reputation, regulation, and revenue. In a podcast and event series, we will empower leaders to make higher quality decisions by putting into practice the core digital ethics principles previously outlined by LEF.

Caitlin McDonald,
Digital Anthropologist

The Realities of Enterprise Automation

As process automation gains momentum, how can traditional organizations operationalize and scale AI driven RPA beyond the back office in transformation programmes in the coming years?

Chris Surdak,
Senior Researcher & Advisor

Q3

Braving New Worlds: Virtual Spaces for Enterprise Collaboration

Whilst virtual worlds and simulations are nothing new, they way we work has changed irrevocably for the foreseeable future. To keep organizational cohesion sustainable, where will we see more widespread adoption of more immersive technology to provide a richer experience?

Caitlin McDonald,
Digital Anthropologist

New Competitive Landscapes

New practices are continuously identified as technology industrializes. Who will be the winners and losers in this evolution and where should we be investing to maintain an advantage?

Q4

Living with The Matrix: The Intelligent Automated Organization of 2030

As cyber physical assets (drones, robots, autonomous vehicles) realize their transformative potential, how does the enterprise need to change to realise their full autonomous potential?

Chris Surdak,
Senior Researcher & Advisor

Simon Wardley,
Researcher

Skills for Leaders in the Workplace of the Future

As technology becomes more strategic and pervasive across the modern enterprise, how must digital skills evolve for C-Level leaders – across the Enterprise?

David Reid,
Research Programme Director