ITC Ltd has announced that it is establishing an internal ‘Young Digital Innovators Lab’ to crowdsource digital strategies and identify emerging technologies. The company, which sells Sunfeast biscuits and Aashirvaad flour, is also creating a digital council of senior managers that will work on “high impact digital interventions", as covid prompts firms to step up digital transformation.

"Substantial investments have been made in the creation of a digital eco-system to drive smart manufacturing, product quality, traceability and supply chain agility, amongst others," the company said in a statement. Artificial Intelligence, big data, IoT, and machine learning are being used across ITC’s supply chain and distribution ecosystem. Changes brought about by the covid-19 pandemic have accelerated the need for greater digital transformation across companies. As a result, ITC is scaling up its digital interventions across businesses and value-chains, the company said in its statement.

Chairman, Sanjiv Puri, had recently announced setting up of a ‘Young Digital Innovators Lab’ comprising digital natives from across ITC’s businesses to crowdsource transformative digital strategies. This team will be free to set their agenda and seek necessary resources, will access ITC’s digital assets, evaluate digital initiatives, identify best-in-class digital technologies, and spot opportunities across value-chains, ITC said in its statement. The team will also benchmark ITC’s initiatives against industry-best digital assets and platforms.

Puri is also leading the formation of a dedicated digital council.

“In order to provide even greater trust to ITC’s digital agenda, Puri has also announced to ITC employees the formation of a dedicated digital council of senior ITC managers—the ‘DigiNext’, which will ideate and sponsor high impact digital interventions and harness the synergies of cross-fertilization of ideas," said the statement.

DigiNext, along with ITC’s businesses will reach out to the Young Digital Innovators Lab for crowdsourcing ideas and provide valuable inputs on contemporary practices in the digital arena.