By Thorsten Ulbricht (ERNI Switzerland)
The availability of data from a wide variety of sources along with their evaluation and further processing without bureaucratic or technical hurdles sounds like paradise. What seems almost utopian at a time when, due to the pandemic, we are still frequently entering contact data with pens on paper, will be the status quo in many areas of our lives in the not-too-distant future. More and more data will be captured and stored digitally. With the corresponding spread of this digitalisation potential, a Data Paradise will be created.
But there is no paradise without temptation. It is necessary to prevent the fall from grace and thus ensure the general sustainability of the desired ecosystem. In the case of many different data collections, this fall from grace is equivalent to any violation of personal rights and the misuse of data in any form.
In addition to the data protection aspects, other factors play a role when it comes to why we are still allowed to populate few completely digital ecosystems. The unconditional will to banish, with maximum consistency, every last piece of paper from a process is missing in many places. Even the consistent implementation of digital projects with open standards and interfaces lags behind the need in some projects. The reasons for this are often as diverse as they are banal, be it the evaluation of a suitable medium or technology for the information or simply the lack of willingness to change something.
It took a long time for the individual product labels to disappear. Looking back today, it was simply crazy to label items individually
One example from the manufacturing and retail sector is item labels. It took a long time for the individual product labels to disappear. Looking back today, it was simply crazy to label items individually with adhesive labels. When this step towards digitalisation has been taken in a warehouse or shop, the fruits of this ecosystem can be harvested in many ways. In addition to the extremely flexible labelling, further information can be displayed. Through the use of other machine-readable codes such as QR or barcodes, connections to other digital systems such as merchandise management, PoS, product information, etc. can be established.
In addition to new processes, digital ecosystems offer one thing above all: they can interact with other systems and thus merge into completely new systems. If, for example, the added value of information is defined by the size of the ecosystem in which you operate, then consistent digitalisation offers an interesting approach to multiplying the value of data.
The healthcare ecosystem is a particularly clear illustration of this. While connected systems such as Patient Management, Point of Care, Psychotherapy, etc. are often still light years away from paperless digital, more and more information is leaving its systems of origin and generating added value in a larger context.
Further summarised information results in a huge new system that may be able to shift the therapy before the diagnosis. From today’s point of view, this is a bold thesis. But in the near future, we will have a similar situation as with individually labelled articles. People will wonder why it was ever done differently.
And what does ERNI have to do with it?
We are the pioneers of digitalisation. We support our clients from the very first thoughts about digitising their business field. We help pave the way for decisions through robust business cases. We implement the required technological developments and support them later in the lifecycle. Our solutions protect information and promote progress.