Digital Darwinism: Thriving in the face of technology change
Thursday, 28 November 2013 00:00
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Accountancy profession in Sri Lanka must adapt to thrive in the face of technology advancements
The accountancy profession in Sri Lanka and globally will be impacted significantly by 10 technology trends, claims an in-depth report from ACCA’s Accountancy Futures Academy (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountant) and IMA (Institute of Management Accountants) called ‘Digital Darwinism: thriving in the face of technology change’.
The top 10 technologies with the potential to reshape the accountancy profession and business landscape considerably are mobile; big data; artificial intelligence and robotics; cyber security; educational; cloud; payment systems; virtual and augmented reality; digital service delivery and social.
Informed by interviews with global academics and experts in accountancy and technology, the report asked respondents to what extent they expect developments in technology to transform the way accountants and the finance function do business over the next decade. The report also asserts that advances in technology will also demand new skills and competencies from accountants and finance professionals, from change management to knowledge of data extraction tools in the mining of business intelligence.
Big data on business
When asked about the impact of big data on business, 77% of South Asian respondents say this will be influential, compared with 91% of Australians and only 52% of those in the UK. South Asian respondents also said that big data would demand new skills and that the profession will need to use tools to support data modelling and analysis and that skills will be needed to deal with data mining to help with business intelligence. Respondents in South Asia also said that mobile technology will have a large impact on their business in the years ahead. South Asian respondents are also concerned about the risks associated with cybercrime, compared to 74% in Africa where concern is the highest. The least worried are Ireland at 35% and 27% in Central and Eastern Europe.
Deloitte Partner and Head of Research and ACCA’s Accountancy Futures Academy member Chris Gentle says: “Accountants and finance professionals must be open to the changes created by big data, cloud, mobile and social platforms, and face up to the demands of cybercrime, digital service delivery and artificial intelligence. The future will not be like the past and we will all need to adapt.”
Influential agents of change
ACCA Sri Lanka Head Nilusha Ranasinghe says: “Accountants and finance professionals in Sri Lanka and the wider South Asian region are influential agents of change. They’re adept at using technology to advance their careers, their client’s prospects and those of their own organisation too. 75% of accountants said they influence the use of technologies externally with their clients, and 73% said this was the case internally.”
She also commented on the challenges ahead for the profession and said, “The profession needs to shape their technological future rather than be shaped by it and be proactive. The changes ahead are an opportunity to redefine roles and the extent to which the profession is involved in short and long-term technology related decisions. They need to adapt to survive, hence the ‘Digital Darwinism’ title for this report, which offers many actions the profession needs to take to deal with the challenges of the top 10 technological developments. They need to develop and change management styles, assess risks and address security issues, explore further the impact of automation and prepare for changing working patterns and ultimately, to use technology to add value. There lies the real opportunity of technology.”
