4 skills necessary for DX｜Introducing DX recruitment methods and books!

Isn’t there a lot of people who think?

Therefore, this time, I will explain the “skills necessary for DX” in an easy-to-understand manner for beginners!

In addition to the skills necessary for DX, we will also explain more practical information such as how to improve DX skills and how to secure DX human resources !

Definition of DX human resources

If you define DX human resources in one word, it can be expressed as “a person who can independently promote DX” .

In the 2018 DX Promotion Guidelines, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan defines DX as “a company that responds to drastic changes in the business environment, utilizes data and digital technology, and develops products and services based on the needs of customers and society. In addition to transforming our services and business models, we also transform our operations, organizations, processes, and corporate culture/climate to establish a competitive edge.”

In this way, DX human resources refer to people who can proactively promote DX, “ using the power of technology such as data and digital technology to transform the company .”

3 reasons why we need DX human resources

There are three reasons why DX human resources are necessary.

1. Increased recognition of DX
2. Impact of COVID-19
3. Public recruitment of DX human resources has started at government offices

I will explain each.

1. Improved awareness of DX

The awareness of DX has improved as the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry defined the problem of “2025 cliff” in the ” DX Report “.

Incidentally, the “2025 cliff” is a problem that states that “unless management reforms are implemented through data utilization and system innovation, economic losses of up to 12 trillion yen per year may occur after 2025.”

Since this issue was reported in September 2018, the term DX has become widely recognized, and companies with a sense of crisis centered on management have started to work on DX.

2. Impact of COVID-19

Due to the spread of the new coronavirus, an increasing number of companies are shifting to remote work.
Therefore, the need for DX is increasing more than before.

*According to Dentsu Digital’s “Digital Transformation Survey of Companies in Japan (FY2020)”, 50% of companies responded that “the new coronavirus has accelerated DX initiatives,” of which 46% It turns out that “improvement of efficiency and productivity”

In addition, in order to maintain competitiveness with other companies, human resources who promote DX are indispensable for companies .

3. Recruitment of DX human resources started at government offices

The government plans to newly establish the Digital Agency in September 2021 in order to swiftly and intensively promote measures related to the formation of a digital society.

In addition, it has been announced that the Digital Agency plans to hire about 100 of its 500 employees from the private sector.

The recognition of DX is improving because such reforms are underway in government offices where analog culture such as seals still remains deeply rooted.

Six occupations and skills responsible for promoting DX

There are the following six occupations to promote DX.

1. producer
2. business designer
3. Architect
4. Data Scientist / AI Engineer
5. UX/UI designer
6. engineer programmer

Below is a brief overview of these positions and the skills required for each.

1. Producer

Producers are leaders (including CDOs) who promote DX.

required skills

2. Business designer

Business designers are people who make concrete plans for the realization of DX.

required skills

3. Architect

An architect is a person who designs the system required for DX.

required skills

4. Data Scientist / AI Engineer

Data scientists and AI engineers are people who are familiar with digital technologies (AI, IoT, etc.) and data analysis that are closely related to DX.

required skills

5.UX/UI designer

UX/UI designers are people in charge of designing DX-related systems for users.

required skills

6.Engineer Programmer

Engineers and programmers are human resources responsible for system implementation and infrastructure construction.

required skills

4 skills required for DX human resources

DX human resources need the following four skills.

1. Basic knowledge of the IT field
2. Knowledge of state-of-the-art technology
3. How to handle and use data
4. Project Management

I will explain each in detail.

1. Basic knowledge in the IT field

In DX, basic knowledge of IT and digital technology is essential for all occupations.

This is because, as introduced in the definition of DX human resources, DX is “using digital technology to transform business models.”

Specific examples of basic knowledge in the IT field are as follows.

If you want to become a DX human resource, start by acquiring the basic knowledge of IT.

2. Knowledge of state-of-the-art technology

In order to promote DX, we need not only basic knowledge of IT, but also knowledge of advanced technologies such as AI, IoT, and blockchain .

This is because it is essential to actively incorporate digital technologies such as AI in order to realize the purpose of DX, which is to create new businesses using data.

In this way, it can be said that knowledge of cutting-edge technologies such as AI is necessary to create new businesses.

3.How to handle and utilize data

When promoting DX, it is as important as IT knowledge to understand the importance of data and learn how to handle and utilize it.

This is because digital technology is generating enormous amounts of data, and if you can understand and handle the importance of data yourself, it will be a powerful skill to promote DX.

However, it does not require the advanced data analysis skills that a data scientist is responsible for, and the ability to extract and analyze data in a simple manner will be useful in various business situations .

4. Project management

In order to realize DX, it is necessary to consider how to solve it while constantly grasping the current business issues.

Also, DX cannot be promoted by a specific department or person in charge, but must be tackled by the entire company.

Therefore, project management skills are required.

Especially for producers and business designers, high project management skills are required.

3 ways to improve your DX skills

There are three ways to improve your DX skills.

1. Acquisition of qualification
2. creative thinking training
3. Change jobs with “experience in the type of job/industry x IT”

I will introduce each in detail.

1.Qualification

As introduced in “5 Skills Required for DX Human Resources”, basic knowledge of IT is essential for DX, so we recommend acquiring qualifications.

Here are five recommended qualifications.

① Various AWS (Amazon Web Services) certifications : Extremely popular certifications that certify that you have the skills to develop and operate applications on Amazon’s cloud service “AWS”
2. IT Strategist Examination : A qualification that certifies that you have the skills of a specialist “IT strategist” who thinks of management strategies that utilize digital technology and puts them into practice.IT
③ Project manager exam : A qualification that certifies that you have the skills of a “project manager” who manages the progress of the entire project

④ Python3 Engineer Certification Exam : A popular qualification that proves that you are an engineer familiar with Python
⑤ Certified Scrum Master : The official website of the Certified Scrum Master , which is particularly popular among those related to Scrum development.

2. Imagination training

In order to improve DX skills, it is essential to “train your imagination on a daily basis”.

This is because advanced digital technology itself does not change anything, and new services with high needs are born only when there is an idea of ​​“Can we realize the value of XX using digital technology?”

As in the example, it is important to focus on a certain issue and have the ability to come up with ideas on how to solve it with DX.

Therefore, we recommend that you train your “creativity” in your daily life.

Let’s be conscious of the output of knowledge on a daily basis, not just input knowledge by qualification.

3. Change jobs with “experience in the job/industry x IT”

It is recommended to change jobs by multiplying IT with the industry / occupation you currently belong to.

There are two reasons.

The first reason is that it is easier to acquire DX knowledge by actually entering the DX site and learning rather than reading books or acquiring qualifications.

The second reason is that if you change jobs to DX talent in a completely inexperienced field, it will be difficult without lowering your annual income.

If you want to improve your DX skills, the shortcut is to actually enter the DX scene.

Three mindsets necessary for DX human resources

DX talent has three necessary mindsets.

1. challenge
2. problem finding ability
3. entrainment force

I will explain each.

1. Challenge

The most important mindset in promoting DX is “challenge”.

This is because DX takes a long time (about 3 to 5 years) to succeed, and it is necessary to overcome many failures until it succeeds .

Therefore, even when facing difficult challenges, having a strong desire to “change the status quo” and continuing to take on challenges is the most important mindset for human resources who promote DX.

2.Problem finding ability

In order to promote DX, it is important to first identify the issues to be solved, formulate a hypothesis, and solve it with digital technology .

This is because if the current issues cannot be discovered, the purpose of DX, which is to “transform products, services, and business models,” will not be realized, and nothing will change.

Therefore, it can be said that DX human resources need to think through “what is best for customers” and discover current issues, regardless of past knowledge and experience .

3. Entrainment force

It is important for DX human resources to have the “involvement power” to listen to the opinions of the other party and involve the surroundings.

This is because the purpose of DX is to transform products, services, and business models, and this can only be achieved through the cooperation of the entire company, not just one department.

Especially when launching a new business, it is necessary to gather new human resources from other departments, so “involvement” is important .

Two ways to secure DX human resources

From here, we will introduce two ways to secure DX human resources: “ recruitment of external human resources ” and “ development of internal human resources ”.

1. Recruitment of external human resources

If your company does not have personnel familiar with IT, or if you have a problem that you want to solve with DX immediately, it is best to hire external personnel.

However, it should be noted that many companies lack DX human resources, so even if they are recruited, they will not be able to hire excellent human resources with advanced skills.

According to the 2019 IPA report, “Survey on Functions and Roles of Digital Transformation Promotion Human Resources,” the shortage of human resources is particularly noticeable in “producers” and ” data scientists /AI engineers.” more than 50% of companies answered that they lack

In this way, it can be said that the recruitment of external human resources is in a difficult situation.

2. Development of in-house human resources

The second way to secure DX human resources is to “develop internal human resources”.

The advantage of this method is that employees working in the field can recognize their own DX issues as a party.

For example, instead of entrusting all system development to an external vendor, employees who are aware of their company’s issues can be involved in requirements definition and design, enabling the construction of a system that is easy for on-site personnel to use.

By the way, there are two patterns for training internal human resources.

4 points in hiring DX human resources

There are four points to recruiting DX human resources.

1. Secure full-time personnel for DX promotion
2. Building a system that tolerates failure
3. Start small
4. Agile development

I will explain each.

1. Securing full-time personnel for DX promotion

When appointing DX human resources, it is best to make them dedicated to DX rather than concurrently with regular work .

This is because by appointing them as full-time employees, they can be made aware of what the company recognizes as an important management issue.

2. Building a system that tolerates failure

When appointing DX human resources, it is also essential to build a system that allows failure.

This is because if a culture that does not tolerate failure permeates the organization, the person in charge will atrophy and will not be able to come up with bold ideas and measures.

* In order to realize DX, it is essential to have ideas that are not bound by existing knowledge and experience, rather than conventional ideas.

Therefore, it is important to build a system in which the idea of ​​“accepting failure and how to
make use .

3. Start small

In DX, it is important to start by solving small problems and issues, rather than trying to produce big results from the beginning.

This is because accumulating small successful experiences will lead to the confidence of DX human resources (persons in charge) and lead to the in-house development of excellent DX human resources .

4. Agile development

Agile development, which is one of the current mainstream system development methods, is the best way to tackle development from a small scale without fear of failure.

There are two reasons.

First, when developing an effective system for DX, adopting agile development makes it possible to respond to sudden changes in specifications and make it easier to correct the course .

The second reason is that agile development is effective in cultivating DX human resources by accumulating small successful experiences from a small start, as introduced in the third part of “Four Points for Recruiting DX Human Resources” . .

3 steps to promote the DX strategy in-house

From here, I will explain how to promote the DX strategy within the company in three stages.

1. Clarify your goals
2. Analyzing the Current Situation and Finding Our Strengths
3. Develop a strategy to fill the gap between the desired state and the current state

Step 1: Clarify your vision

In step 1, clarify what your ideal company looks like.

This is because by clarifying the direction that the company should aim for and sharing it within the company, employees can aim in the same direction toward DX.

As a result, you can prevent the common failure of DX getting stuck in the middle.

Step 2: Analyze the current situation and find your company’s strengths

The important thing in step 2 is to analyze the current situation of your company and find your strengths.

This is because DX refers to establishing a competitive advantage by utilizing digital technology and data, but in other words, it is important to expand the company’s strengths with digital technology and data.

Specifically, analyze your company’s current situation in terms of items such as business model, products and services, operations, organization, processes, and corporate culture.

Step 3: Develop a strategy to close the gap between what you want to be and where you are now

The important thing in step 3 is to classify DX into digitization and digitalization.

The axis of the DX strategy is to clarify the target and the current situation, and consider what kind of flow will be used to digitize analog data and what kind of technology will be combined with it.

Books/courses related to DX human resources

Finally, I will introduce three recommended books/courses related to DX human resources.

1. [Lecture] “AI For Everyone” by DLA
2. [Books] The most easy DX textbook The aggressive IT strategy to transform the business taught by a popular lecturer
3. [Books] Textbook for DX human resources who create new value with digital technology

I will give a brief overview of each.

[Lecture] “AI For Everyone” by DLA

Aiming to have all business people acquire data and AI literacy, this is a course for beginners to learn “what is AI” and “what can be done with deep learning”.
It is an online video class format, and the content is about 6 hours in total.

[Books] The most easy DX textbook The aggressive IT strategy to transform the business taught by a popular lecturer

The knowledge and execution steps required for DX are carefully explained from the perspective of the site.

Another point is that it explains using a wealth of diagrams so that you can promote DX on a small scale and aim to gradually transform your business processes and business models.

This is an introductory book for DX human resources, targeting everyone from DX promoters to those who are interested in cutting-edge technology.

[Books] Textbook for DX human resources who create new value with digital technology

This is a book on the theme of DX human resources by two people from Standard Co., Ltd., which provides DX human resource development services to nearly 500 companies after interviewing over 3,000 major Japanese companies.

45 DX cases by industry are also posted, so you can learn more specifically about DX human resources.

summary

This time, I explained the skills necessary for DX.

After learning the skills necessary for DX, it is most important to actually acquire skills and take action such as searching for recruitment standards for acquiring DX human resources.