According to ISACA, most IT and security leaders firmly believe that establishing digital confidence should be a foremost strategic objective for organizations.
What is digital confidence?
In the cybersecurity association’s most recent publication, the State of Digital Trust 2023, released on May 9, 2023, 84% of respondents expressed the view that digital confidence is of utmost importance to organizations today, and 82% stated that it would become even more critical in the next five years.
Digital confidence, introduced by ISACA in 2022, aims to develop a fresh framework by amalgamating knowledge from various fields and professions in IT management, governance, and security.
ISACA defines digital confidence as the reliance on the integrity of relationships, interactions, and transactions within a connected digital ecosystem involving providers, partners, and consumers. This encompasses the capacity of individuals, organizations, processes, information, and technology to establish and sustain a dependable digital environment.
As Rolf von Roessing, ISACA evangelist, states, “Digital confidence can be perceived as an overarching framework that offers tangible evidence which can be utilized to instill trust in customers, business partners, and other stakeholders in the supply chain.” He made these remarks during a digital launch event on May 3, 2023.
Business Advantage
On the one hand, ISACA’s 2023 survey revealed that security leaders acknowledge the crucial role of digital confidence in driving innovation (as stated by 79% of respondents). It is the potential to “make or break organizations.”
The survey participants highlighted that establishing high levels of digital confidence could yield concrete business advantages, such as a
- favorable reputation (67%),
- more dependable data for decision-making (57%),
- reduced privacy breaches and
- cybersecurity incidents (both 56%), and
- enhanced customer loyalty (55%).
“Cyber-attacks are increasing in sophistication, and customers are becoming increasingly aware of this. Consequently, they expect businesses to take necessary measures to safeguard and protect their personal information. Organizations that adopt a comprehensive approach to cultivating digital trust will position themselves as credible authorities among their customer base and enjoy sustainable long-term benefits,” stated von Roessing in a public declaration.
On the other hand, the report also highlights disparities between recognising digital trust’s importance in theory and its implementation in practice.
“While businesses acknowledge the significance of digital trust, many are encountering challenges in attaining it,” remarked Chris Dimitriadis, the Chief Global Strategy Officer at ISACA, during the launch event.
What are three things business leaders should do to ensure they address digital trust internally and externally?
Asking right questions
Business leaders must ensure they are posing the appropriate inquiries. For instance:
- Is my organization comprehending all the elements of reliance that contribute to meeting the expectations of our customers and stakeholders?
- Are we equally prioritizing process, culture, and human elements alongside our products or services?
- Do we thoroughly understand all the expectations and have a clear plan for measuring our performance in these areas?
- Are all employees receiving training on the subject of digital confidence?
- Are our customers equipped to recognise potentially deceitful communications from us, and do they know whom to contact if they have uncertainties or concerns?
According to Edelman data: “Earned media is the battleground where trust is won or lost. Personal experience and earned media were the most important factors in respondents’ gain or loss of trust. Influence is built through authority and empathy, with industry experts and people like themselves rated as most credible (60 per cent and 59 per cent, respectively).”
Digital trust guidelines
Ensure that the organization has implemented a comprehensive enterprise-wide strategy for cultivating digital trust. Every aspect of the organization’s operations should contribute to and promote digital trust. This approach should encompass all the elements that instill confidence in our customers, potential and necessary trustors.
It should encompass all the factors that enable customers and other stakeholders to place their trust in us. While having trustworthiness policies in place is vital, we must take it a step further and integrate trust-building into the very core of the organization.
Everyone’s participation
Apart from nurturing trust, we need to comprehend the expectations of the organization as a whole and every individual associated with or working for the enterprise. Each person plays a role, and we must grasp the implications of trusting others. Who do we place our trust in? How do we establish and maintain that trust?
“While everyone has a role, the C-suite and senior executives hold the core responsibility. They need to ensure that the policies and procedures in place are being followed in alignment with the organization’s governance objectives, and in some cases, regulatory requirements.”
In an era marked by escalated reliance on outsourced data and mounting concerns within the supply chain, knowing what we should anticipate and how to gauge, evaluate, and oversee matters about digital trust becomes increasingly vital.
Hindsight
Fostering digital trust is not solely about building confidence in our organization but also about understanding the expectations of everyone associated with our enterprise. It requires a collective effort and a clear understanding of who we trust, how we trust them, and the steps we take to ensure the foundation and maintenance of trust.
With the increasing reliance on outsourced data and growing complexities within the supply chain, it is crucial to set appropriate expectations, establish effective measurement and assessment mechanisms, and proactively monitor issues related to digital trust.
By prioritizing these aspects and learning from hindsight, we can create a trustworthy digital ecosystem that benefits all stakeholders and sustains our long-term success.
Marrium Akhtar
May 11, 2023
1 year ago
