Businesses in Ireland have made considerable progress on the path to digital maturity, according to the results of the 2022 Digital Leaders in Ireland study from management and technology consultancy BearingPoint.

Ireland moved to third place in the ranking of 11 countries, which measures the top 30 companies in each country against four digitalisation criteria: digital product experience, e-commerce, e-customer relationship management (CRM), and digital marketing.

Countries and companies from various industry sectors were scored on a scale ranging from 'failed' (0.0) to 'outstanding' (5.0), and Ireland achieved an overall average digital maturity score of 3.43.

Overall, 679 companies across five sectors (banking, telco, insurance, energy, and media) were assessed for the study, including 35 from Ireland, 644 from the UK and Europe, and 50 from the US.

The telco sector emerged as Ireland’s most digitally mature industry in the 2022 study, scoring 3.5 overall. This was followed by the insurance sector (3.1) and the energy sector (3.1). 

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Banking achieved an overall score of 3.0 having been rated the most digitally mature industry for the previous two years.

Overall, Virgin Media achieved the highest rating as a digital leader in Ireland with an average score of 3.67, demonstrating its continued investment in digital experiences. It was followed by AXA (3.51) and Three (3.5).

Within each of the five sectors that were assessed in Ireland, Revolut scored the highest in the banking sector with a score of 3.42. SSE Airtricity topped the ranking in the energy sector scoring 3.43.

RTÉ ranked number one in the media sector with a score of 3.04, while Virgin Media and SSE Airtricity topped the telco and energy sectors, respectively.

Gillian O’Sullivan, country leader for BearingPoint in Ireland, commented: “"What makes a digital leader changes over time but our study has highlighted the key themes which are prevalent today; customer centricity, personalisation, data centricity, innovation and sustainability. These actions – in combination – are what contributes to organisational success.

“It is very encouraging to see Irish companies performing so well this year when compared to their counterparts in other countries. It is a real sign that Irish business leaders are committed and more fully invested in the digital transformation of their businesses to better equip them for the challenges they are facing.”   

Significant year-on-year improvements were seen across all four metrics of digitalisation in Ireland. The digital marketing assessment, which is based on a company’s ability to reach potential customers with the help of affiliate marketing, search engine marketing and use of owned media, scored an average 2.99 in Ireland.

Telco was the most advanced industry sector in digital marketing in Ireland, with a score of 3.82, followed by energy (3.07) and banking (2.85). Sky was the top rated company for digital marketing maturity at 4.6. 

Digital product experience maintained its position as the strongest performing of the dimensions scoring the highest at 3.5. Telco was the most advanced sector for digital product experience scoring 3.57.

Insurance and energy were also rated among the top three, both scoring 3.52. Aviva was the top-rated company for digital product experience at 4.2.

E-commerce, however, scored the lowest in Ireland with an average score of 2.56, rising to 3.11 for telco, insurance (3.0) and banking (2.7). AXA was the top-rated company for e-commerce maturity at 4.1.

The e-CRM assessment, which evaluates a company’s ability to maintain and deepen its customer relationships in digital channels, including customer service, recorded a score of 2.79.

After telco (3.03), the industry sectors of energy (2.99) and banking (2.83) were the top three most digitally mature sectors on the e-CRM dimension. Bank of Ireland was the top-rated company for e-CRM maturity at 3.7.

Photo: Gillian O’Sullivan.