Digital transformation is advancing in the region. More and more companies install sensors, connect their processes, and accumulate information. And at the same time, most of that data still fails to become a decision.
An adoption that is still a minority
An EY study puts a figure to the lag. Only 21% of companies in Latin America use data analytics as an enabler of their transformation. The majority, therefore, still has analytics as unfinished business.
The same research, which surveyed 670 business leaders, provides the most revealing figure. It is estimated that companies analyze less than 5% of the data they hold. The information is captured, is stored, and stops right there.
The cause is not the technology
The study identifies where the brake is. Many companies see data analytics as a fad rather than the heart of digital transformation, and one of the market's challenges is investment in technology and, above all, in human talent. Having people with experience in data analysis is indispensable to developing this practice.
Colombia, more data and the same gap
Colombia illustrates the situation well. The adoption of digital transformation plans grew sharply, from 25% of companies in 2016 to 60% after the pandemic, according to the National Association of Business Owners of Colombia. The manufacturing industry is adopting the Internet of Things to monitor processes in real time.
The result is a clear sequence. There is more and more data available for strategic use, and the challenge is developing the human resources to make use of it. The capture layer is advancing. The analysis layer remains the outstanding task.
Data available and unused
The conclusion is the same across the region. Companies made the investment in instrumentation and digitalization, they capture information in growing volumes, and most of that data stays unanalyzed. The gap is not in how much is measured, but in how much is turned into knowledge.