Startup Talk: Global Study Shows Most Companies Behind On Digital Transformation

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GLOBAL STUDY SHOWS MOST COMPANIES BEHIND ON DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
New research released Tuesday (July 14) by MIT Sloan Management Review and Deloitte Digital finds that many employees across all generations are dissatisfied with their organization’s digital progress to date and are voicing a desire to work for digitally mature leaders, suggesting upcoming retention challenges for many companies.

The report further found that the ability to digitally transform and re-imagine a business is determined in large part by a clear digital strategy supported by leaders who foster a culture able to change and reinvent their organizations. The report, “Strategy, Not Technology Drives Digital Transformation,” is based on findings from the fourth annual global survey of more than 4,800 business executives across 27 industries and 129 countries.

To view highlights or read the full report, visit here.

OPM NOTIFYING NEARLY 22 MILLION PEOPLE AFFECTED BY SOCIAL SECURITY INFORMATION BREACH
The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has created a portal with on updated FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) section on the two separate cyber-security incidents that included Social Security information for 21.5 million individuals stolen from background investigation records.

“This includes 19.7 million individuals that applied for a background investigation, and 1.8 million non-applicants, primarily spouses or co-habitants of applicants,” the OPM website said. “Some records also include findings from interviews conducted by background investigators and approximately 1.1 million include fingerprints.”

OPM Director Katherine Archuleta resigned Friday after the agency revealed that the massive breach was larger than first believed. Although U.S. security officials have not publicly identified who is behind the hacking incident, several media outlets are reporting that the major security breach is the work of China.

SPRINT, APPLE JOIN TECH SECTOR’S CALL FOR MORE DIVERSITY IN WORKPLACE
Technology giants Sprint and Apple both made headlines on Tuesday by speaking publicly about the need to diversify their workforces, joining a growing number of tech companies that are pushing initiatives to hire more African-Americans, Hispanics and other minorities.

Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure said he wants diversity at his company. At a Hispanic national convention in Kansas City, he set a goal for his company to have one-third of its workforce made up of Hispanic and African-American employees, according to a report by the Kansas City Star. Claure, who is from Bolivia, said one-third of the wireless giant’s customers are from the two top minority groups.

At the the Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference in Aspen, Colo., online technology publication CNET reported that Apple’s Vice President of Worldwide Human Resources, Denise Young Smith, said the technology giant knows it needs to do more to encourage diversity, but it will take time to show real results in the numbers.

In the past several months, Intel, Facebook, Google and LinkedIn have been in the news discussing the need to add more minority and women to create more diversity in the workplace, from the executive level on down. Intel has made the biggest splash with a $125 million venture fund to invest in companies founded or run by women or underrepresented minorities over the next five years.

WALT DISNEY ANNOUNCES WINNERS OF 2015 STARTUP FOR PRESTIGIOUS ‘ACCELERATOR’ CLASS
The Walt Disney Co. announced its 2015 class of 10 startup companies that will participate in a three-month mentorship and investment program that will last through October 6, 2015.

Participants will receive up to $120,000 in investment capital to develop their ideas, along with mentor support from top Disney executives, including Chairman and CEO Robert Iger, and leaders from Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilms, ESPN and Walt Disney Imagineering, among others. Mentors will also include other entertainment industry leaders, venture capitalists, and Techstars’ extensive network of entrepreneurs, investors and executives.

The startups from the 2014 Disney Accelerator have reached many milestones since completing the program. All of the startups have either raised capital, been acquired or become profitable since the end of the accelerator program and many of the participating companies have launched products and programs in conjunction with Walt Disney.