Digital Fitness - Goal for the Chief Digital Officer

Abstract

Digital Transformation (DT) causes a technology-driven change in organizations and society. But a precise state, an organization should strive for by this change, is not discussed adequately. Anyway, organizations implement a Chief Digital Officer (CDO) as a strategic management role, to control the journey of DT. This new role should be supported by assessment and control guidance. In this contribution we aim to understand and conceptualize the target state of DT. Based on a discussion of literature and expert interviews, we found out, practitioners themselves are not aware of the target state, although they must decide what is to reach on the DT journey. As a starting point for the development of guidance for the CDO, we secondly propose a model of digital fitness that conceptualizes the target state of DT comprising of three determinants: Digital Adoption, Digital Expertise and the Adoption Rate of Digital Innovations.