Digital Disruption - "overcome the expert clay layer".

Artist Gabrielle Heinzel summarized the evening's findings in a graphic.After the arena was sold out just a few hours after the announcement of the event, the question of the relevance and topicality of the topic of digitization of companies is superfluous.Definition of "Digital DisruptionThe 200 participants were welcomed by the Rector of the HWZ, Dr. Jacques Bischoff, with a reference to the newly founded Center for Digital Business. Then the accomplished moderator Dr. Pascal Ihle from the Handelszeitung took over. The attempt to explain Digital Disruption succeeded quite well with the mentioned examples like UBER or the flashlight in the smartphone. What was missing, however, was a Academic definition of digital disruption which is described very succinctly by the "inventor" of the theory, Harvard Professor Clayton Christensen. When a complex and expensive product is replaced by an inexpensive one with broad access, this is called disruptive innovation.Large companies vs. innovationThe well-staffed panel then also readily provided information in response to Ihle's questions, although not everything said was convincing. In any case, it was refreshing to hear the very pragmatic manner of venture capitalist Daniel Gutenberg, who pointed out that in large companies in particular, top management surrounds itself with experts, which means that innovative ideas from inside and outside often no longer reach management. As a rule of thumb, he said: "Do exactly what the experts consider unsuitable!"Andreas Kubli from UBS had a much more difficult time with his answer to the question of whether a bank like UBS is at risk from disruption. When he said that the banking business was too complex to be endangered by disruption, some of the participants audibly disagreed.New jobs thanks to "disruptive innovationsThere was no conclusive answer to the question of whether digitization would lead to job losses. Here, too, a reference to the research findings of Professor Christensen would have been helpful. He comes to the conclusion that disruptive innovations create growth and thus also new jobs. This is in contrast to efficiency innovations, which destroy jobs.University also affected"And what about digital disruption in the university world?" Ihle wanted to know from Jacques Bischoff. The rector replied that the HWZ is a face-to-face school, because for many students the analog teaching of the material is important and the exams have to be taken in analog anyway. Gutenberg contradicted this statement in a refreshing manner. He outed himself as a pilot and told the audience that he had taken his flight certification in the USA 100 percent online. The launch of Switzerland's first Center for Digital Business, however, is due to the foresight and openness of HWZ Director Bischoff, and this deserves great recognition.For future events on this topic, the participants - if they can get a ticket - would also like to see SMEs and young entrepreneurs among the panelists.More about the HWZ Arena with a video summary can be found here. here.