Digital governance and trust: a peek into the future

1 juli 2023

The strategic value of data and technology is a hot topic within organisations globally. They are thus looking for ways to master data governance in order to achieve the maximum benefit while creating a culture where stakeholders trust how their data is used.

At this Beltug/ISACA event, we focused on the role of digital governance and trust professionals who bring the knowledge and experience needed to align IT with business strategies, to manage IT investments for maximum return on investment, and to support resilience in IT operations while minimising risks.

We heard use cases from NATO and PSA, offering insights, best practices and inspiration on how to implement digital governance practices in the organisation and increase trust in digitisation. Then, we presented the findings from ISACA’s Global State of Digital Trust 2023 survey. Afterwards, a panel discussion took on the future of digital governance and trust: how will it look moving forward, and what are some of the major challenges to overcome? During the break, participants also had the chance to test their knowledge of digital governance and trust practices with an interactive quiz based on ISACA’s Governance of Enterprise IT (CGEIT) certification (questions and results are available for our members).

User story: IT governance at NATO Headquarters

The migration into the new NATO HQ building and the increase in digitisation gives a unique flavour to the question of how IT governance is managed. Claudio shared his experience regarding NATO Headquarters’ IT governance as one of the ways to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of a complex and evolving organisation and to inspire trust. The goal is to provide high-quality, cost-effective and consistent IT, including cyber defence, for the users and communities it serves.

Claudio Solano, NATO HQ Technical Design Authority, Chief Technology Office, NATO Information & Communication Agency

User story: Data governance methodology at PSA – How to make data governance actionable?

PSA operates three container terminals and one breakbulk terminal in Antwerp, and is part of the Singapore-based PSA International. Peter shared how it made data governance actionable:

Why did it develop its data governance standard?
What are the roles & responsibilities?
What are tips & tricks and next steps?

Peter Witsenburg, IT & Data Governance Manager, PSA Belgium

The state of digital trust – an ISACA Global Research Report

With the ever-expanding digital footprint, digital trust becomes critically important for e-commerce and for maintaining an organisation’s good reputation. Koen shared the latest findings from ISACA’s The Global State of Digital Trust 2023 survey (available for our members), which includes feedback from more than 8000 digital trust professionals around the world. This second annual report contains data and insights into global approaches and perceptions about digital trust in areas including familiarity, priority, confidence, maturity, obstacles and responsibility. Five key takeaways help organisations strengthen digital trust as they move forward with digital transformation:

A generally accepted definition of digital trust is the confidence in the integrity of the relationships,
interactions and transactions among providers and consumers within an associated digital ecosystem.
Digital trust can make or break an organisation.
Digital trust does not necessarily require a significant budget allocation or the creation of a new C-suite position.
Today’s 24/7 Internet-connected society means that one person’s bad experience can be broadcast around
the world in real time.
Many organisations can benefit from digital trust-related guidance and frameworks by selecting the knowledge
areas that directly benefit their unique context and business model.

Dr. Koen De Maere, Director, ISACA Belgium Chapter

We focussed on the role of #DigitalGovernance and trust professionals who bring the knowledge and experience needed:

♦ To align IT with business strategies
♦ To manage IT investments for maximum return on investment
♦ Support resilience in IT operations while minimising risks

It was great to see our members sharing knowledge, exchanging their experience and contributing to the panel debate at the end of the session.

A big thank you to our speakers for setting the scene and sharing their best practices: Claudio Solano (NATO), Peter Witsenburg (PSA Belgium), Koen De Maere, PhD, CISM, CGEIT (ISACA), Liviu LUCA, CISA, CISM, CRISC, CISSP, Sergey Butakov (Concordia University of Edmonton, Canada), Isabel Pedrosa(Coimbra Business School, Portugal).