Digital trust projects a huge margin for improvement in large European organizations as reflected by the low percentage of professional profiles assigned to these tasks. According to a study carried out by ISACA, less than one in ten companies on the Old Continent dedicates a specialized job position to this issue, specifically, barely 8% of the firms surveyed.
This percentage contrasts with the general opinion among large corporations, always in tune with the importance of this concept, where 84% of business and IT managers in Europe recognize the strategic importance of information security, privacy, reputation, quality and good practices in all types of digital interactions, according to ISACA,
The same work highlights “the existence of important gaps between what companies do today and what they should do to become leaders and earn the trust of customers in the digital ecosystem of the future.” Under this vision, and with the aim of helping professionals and organizations achieve their goals in terms of digital trust, ISACA points out that 86% of those surveyed affirm that digital trust will be even more important in five years., but only a quarter (27%) offer digital trust training to their staff.
The organization defines digital trust “as trust in the integrity of relationships, interactions and transactions between providers and users within an associated digital ecosystem.” In his opinion, “it is a factor that influences consumer decisions and the resilience of companies in an environment dominated by digital”.
Chris Dimitriadis, ISACA’s director of global strategy, notes, “Companies see digital trust as critical, and its importance will only grow as digital transformation, customer trust and business security are prioritized. However, many organizations still have not taken the necessary steps to achieve a mature level of digital trust, which could have serious reputational, regulatory and financial consequences.”
The same sources warn that a breakdown in digital trust “can have a devastating impact on a company.” In this way, those surveyed recognize that organizations with low levels of digital trust suffer from a deterioration in their reputation (66%), in addition to an increase in security breaches (56%), more cyberattacks (54%), loss of customers (54%) and unreliable data (47%), among other consequences.
As explained by the experts consulted by ISACA, “companies need metrics and data analysis to know the return on their investments. However, less than one in five companies (19%) say that their organization measures its practices of digital trust.
Digital trust is defined “as the reliability of the integrity of relationships between providers and users within a digital ecosystem”
According to the survey data, companies recognize the importance of digital trust, but its development is held back by a lack of training and education (53%), a lack of alignment with business objectives (42%), a lack commitment of the leaders (37%), the lack of budget (37%) and the lack of technological resources (30%).
Rolf Von Roessing, ISACA evangelist, goes in the same direction by ensuring that “digital trust must be supported throughout the company. All departments must incorporate policies into their activity and determine how they can promote digital trust both among customers and among employees. Organizations that put digital trust at the forefront are much more likely to see their business thrive and see faster returns on their investments.”
Regarding the impact of digital trust on transformation, more than three quarters (76%) of those surveyed recognize the implication of both concepts. As a result, “companies are making changes to their organizational structures, with 29% saying that their organization is likely to have a leadership position dedicated to digital trust in five years .”
“Many organizations are still in the early stages of digital transformation”
The managers surveyed list the top three components of digital trust as security, data integrity and privacy, but less than half consider that there is sufficient collaboration between professionals related to digital trust.
Based on the results of the survey of 2,755 global business and IT professionals, the top three digital trust functions to strengthen: IT strategy/management (85%), security (82%) and Information Technologies themselves (69%). Given this scenario, “many organizations are still in the early stages of digital transformation, so the need for appropriate digital trust offers them an unparalleled opportunity for their professionals to be proactive, acquire knowledge and lead a team. multidisciplinary”.