Guiding global leadership in a digital space

The digital world is growing at a rapid pace; transforming how sectors, economies and societies interact with government and business. Governments are becoming more dependent on digital services, products and solutions to achieve their strategies to enable their competitive advantages, connect with the public, and ultimately transform the lives of their constituents. ThinkPlace and Generation Alliance were approached by a Middle Eastern government department to co-design an event that would help catalyse innovative activity and endorse them as a major regional and global IT contender.

ThinkPlace began by reviewing the strategic context and understanding the current state of the nation's ICT system. We also started analysing existing Middle Eastern and global digital trends to identify the competitive advantages of the nation. Opportunities were assessed from the perspective of key stakeholders which ensured we understood the need and desires that might drive a successful and sustainable digital transformation. After a detailed analysis of the business and positive engagement with the stakeholders, we identified that the focus of the event needed to be directed toward building innovative capabilities that would drive digital growth, facilitate innovation and knowledge exchange, and attract foreign investments.

We highlighted the design principles of the event; developing how it needed to visually and atmospherically appear, and idealised the target audience experiences before, during and after the event. We also discussed the power of gamification, an innovative tool that would drive engagement and promote the behaviours and activities needed to bring the vision to reality.

The government has successfully adopted the strategy and is currently applying it on an international scale. The project has also placed the country in a strong position to bring the region together and help build a brighter, more connected future.