Digital for social good

Globally, businesses are steering away from traditional business models that solely look into financial gains, and gearing towards a model that inculcates the development of community needs as well. With an increasingly connected ecosystem resulting in changing expectations and stronger influences from stakeholders and society in a business’ decision making process, doing social good and helping the community is no longer an afterthought but is fast becoming a priority for businesses.

As such, we believe that leading businesses of the future will be those who can harness the potential of digitisation, operate with a strong sense of purpose, and who make a genuine commitment to sustainable development.

With 47% of Southeast Asia population still living outside the cities, this potentially spells a multi-trillion dollar economic opportunity for businesses to expand into. In Deloitte’s “Digital for social good” study, we present multiple case examples globally where #DigitalforSocialGood is already in play in key sectors such as agro-business and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

Through this study, we hope to inspire business to think about two key questions:

1. How can businesses in Southeast Asia leverage exponential technologies to build viable business models that are also socially relevant?
2. Should it be an imperative for business in Southeast Asia, to explore the multiplier effect offered by ‘collaborative technology’, and increase its reach in new untapped markets?