Tendai Kamhungira 
AS THE world continues to embrace digital platforms as a way to improving business efficiency, The Financial Gazette News Editor Tendai Kamhungira (TK) sat down with a leading Zimbabwean digital transformation specialist and ICT consultant, Dennis Magaya (DM) to speak on the impact of digitalisation on business productivity, employment and the economy. Magaya is the chief executive and founder of Rubiem Innovations, a regional ICT consultancy, operating across economic sectors such as mining, banking and retail. Below are excerpts from the interview:
TK: What is digital transformation in its simplest terms?
DM: Digital transformation is the process of embedding technology in the production, delivery and consumption of products and services. For instance, when a WhatsApp message is typed, delivered and read, the contents and the technology are coupled and can’t be separated.
In contrast, when you write a letter, even if you use a computer to write and some technology to deliver it, the contents of the letter are on a piece of paper and technology is simply enabling speed without being coupled to the letter. The technology and the letter are separate things.
When a caterpillar becomes a butterfly, that change is equivalent to transformation. However, when a cow develops horns, that is just a change and not transformation. In business, when you add a mobile App without changing the operating model, which includes back-end, skills and culture, you are just doing more of the same, it is not transformation.
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