The chairman and CEO of Dell Technologies made his call to business leaders to think differently and positively about digital transformation in his opening address to the May 2018 Dell Technologies World summit. The summit is taking place in Las Vegas, featuring Ashton Kutcher, Albert “Skip” Rizzo Ph.D, Andra Keay, Ray O’Farrell, among others.
Quoted by IT World, Michael Dell explains: “We want to share our vision of technology as a driver of human progress in every corner of the world.”
Digital transformation success story
He illustrated this by presenting case studies of Dell customers and startups in which Dell has invested and supported. One such innovator is AeroFarms, which is making use of artificial intelligence and big data analytics to enable dense urban areas to grow food.
AeroFarms develops so-called ‘vertical farming’. In urban areas, crops and greens are manufactured using a technology termed aeroponics. This is a technique which allows crops to be grown in vertical stacks of plant beds, without soil, sunlight or water. In different areas, AeroFarms has grown over 250 types of leafy greens and sells more than 20 varieties of greens such as arugula, kale and spinach.
We’re making progress
After detailing several examples of innovation, Dell went on to say: “We talk often about technology solving our greatest challenges, and we’re making more progress more quickly than ever before.”
Dell acknowledges that many business leaders are uncertain about digital transformation. Although many businesses aim to become software-defined businesses in the medium term, a high number seem unsure what this actually looks like. It also stands that many companies attempting to transform, are falling behind with the pace of change.
Dell notes that the best way to address these challenges is to become smart about data and by using data effectively. “If AI is your rocket ship, data is your fuel. Data will become your most valuable asset,” Dell said, adding, “smart cities will produce millions of new data points that will fuel the rocket.”
Realizing 2030
In terms of support, Michael Dell said his company has prepared “Realizing 2030”, which is an overview of digital transformation projects across several industries. The brief contains the company’s DX experiences, including details of how challenges were overcome, providing case studies for other business leaders.
For further topics covered at the Dell summit, see the Digital Journal article “Dell launches Dell Technologies World 2018.”
