APAC Region Stuck With the Disproportionate Growth of Digital Innovation and Growing Skills

Digital innovation is growing worldwide in leaps and bounds by dominating the agenda of technology leaders. Yet there are several companies in the APAC region who are suffering from skills while administering it. This news has been revealed as per the study of global Harvey Nash 2015 CIO Survey in association with KPMG, which is believed to be the largest survey of IT leadership in the world. 4000 IT leaders from 50 different countries were brought under this survey.

Regardless of the efforts to reduce the skills gap, globally this has risen to one-third as compared to 2013; thereby implying to what extent digital innovation has grown. The pressure of skills gap is hovering particularly over the Asia Pacific region. 71% of the CIOs from APAC region believe that the firms are not keeping up and are unable to work with full efficiency due to the lack of expertise.

The survey has revealed that internationally the demand for Big Data analytic skills has gained the paramount importance in terms of demand skill, skyrocketing to almost six times higher than the next most scarce skill - change management. Two thirds (66 per cent) of CIOs report digital disruption is their reason for them to create new business models and bring new products and services to market faster than ever. The survey has also highlighted the fact that CIOs in the APAC region are liable to a higher pay rise, with 58 per cent having seen an increase in salary over the last year, almost double the global average of 31 per cent. Cyber threats and cyber security are the major concerns highlighted in the survey which are faced by 35% of the CIOs, who have suffered at the hands of major IT security attack in the previous year which is 10% higher than the global average.

Nick Marsh, Managing Director of Harvey Nash Executive Search APAC, said, "The most striking thing about the results of the Harvey Nash CIO Survey, is the speed of change. In the seventeen years we have conducted the survey we have never seen a new role have such an impact as we have the Chief Digital Officer role. We have never seen demand for a skill increase as quickly as we have for big data analytics. The power of digital technology is totally transforming the business landscape. For CIOs with the influence, connections and technical ability, it's an exciting time to shine."

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