What is “digitization”?

Strictly speaking, digitization simply means the translation from analogue to digital. Music on an analogue cassette is digitized on a compact disc (CD). A digital image is created from a physical object using the camera of a smartphone. The object is converted into zeros and ones thanks to the use of a different“recording system“.

Once you have digitized something, you can do a lot with it. The music on a music CD, for example, can be enjoyed over its entire lifetime in the same and better quality than on a music cassette. We can copy and send a digital photo more easily. However, the object itself does not change through mere digitization. The music remains the music.

In everyday life and in business, we also talk about digitization when some things have already been digitized. For example, if you want to digitize a process that is already partially digitized.

Digitization does not necessarily mean automation. For example, you can actively request a PDF document or you can send it automatically. A high degree of automation is associated with costs that should pay off. As a rule, automation pays off when processes are highly standardized and stable over time.

Source: based on: “Sluggish transformation. Which errors in thinking are blocking digital change” by Sascha Friese and Johanna Sprondel (highly recommended)