DigStratCon: A Digital or Technology Strategy Framework

Digital or Technology strategies are the first step of the Digital Transformation. The main risk is that information and assessments not included in the strategy and left to be confirmed and managed at later stages have the potential to negatively affect the successful implementation of the Digital Transformation, therefore negating sought-after business benefits. To mitigate this risk, this article proposes DigStratCon, a Digital or Technology strategy framework that generalises the Digital Transformation, detaching it from its specific functional application, such as marketing, products, Information Technology (IT), and Operational Technology (OT). Therefore, DigStratCon applies to any area within a government, organisation or infrastructure, including Data and Artificial Intelligence (AI). DigStratCon defines seven components within a Digital or Technology strategy, specifically (1) market research, (2) target state, (3) current state, (4) roadmap, (5) risks, (6) supply chain, and finally (7) enablers. A qualitative analysis of several United Kingdom (UK) government digital strategies assesses their completeness against the DigStratCon model. On average, UK digital strategies score 6/7 with an innovative and ambitious vision; however, they generally lack a common or standardised structure and wider international benchmark and alignment.