I was honoured to be the opening keynote at the very first Intranet Italia Day in Milan, in October 2018. Starting with a bang, this conference drew in attendees from across Italy, with a great line-up of international and local speakers. A personal highlight for me was the simultaneous translation provided by two translators in a booth next to the stage — it felt like a meeting of the UN General Assembly!

The topic of the presentation was the evolution of the enterprise landscape, from intranets to digital workplaces. The messages included:

• In stage 1, modern intranets play a vital role in organisations, one which is only getting more important over time. (Intranets aren’t dead!)
• There are five purposes of modern intranets: content, communication, culture, collaboration and activity.
• The redesign of the 3M intranet is a good example of how well-designed intranets can be directly valuable for all staff.
• There is, however, a bigger picture within organisations, that encompasses the full spectrum of enterprise systems and platforms.
• In stage 2, this is the digital workplace, an every business has had one since the shift from typewriters to PCs.
• The more interesting question is to explore what makes a great digital workplace: it’s one that is seamless, frictionless, usable and productive … for staff.
• The Swisscom digital workplace is a great example of delivering a better UX that cuts across the lines of systems and platforms.
• Stage 3 sees the focus broaden to the digital employee experience (DEX). This considers every digital touchpoint between staff and the enterprise.
• The Liberty Mutual digital assistant shows what this can look like, making it the worthy Platinum award winner of the 2018 Intranet and Digital Workplace Awards.

Thanks again to Giacomo Mason and the rest of his team for the opportunity to play a part in the first of what’s guaranteed to be a long and successful series of conferences.