NEWS
Businesses warned siloed cybergovernance structures are creating hidden enterprise risk
Businesses are being warned that fragmented cybergovernance and risk management structures are increasing compliance, operational and cybersecurity exposure across the enterprise.
South African businesses warned CSI strategies are failing to prepare future digital workforce
South African businesses are being warned that traditional
Corporate Social Investment( CSI) strategies are failing to prepare young people for an economy increasingly shaped by Artificial Intelligence, automation and digital technologies.
According to Semone Peacock, Director, Logiscool Ruimsig, many organisations continue to prioritise short-term relief initiatives such as feeding schemes, uniforms and infrastructure projects while overlooking long-term digital skills development.
Peacock argued that while these programmes remain important, they do little to address the growing gap between current education systems and the future workforce requirements of digitally driven industries.
“ South Africa is spending billions on doing good and still missing the one investment that could actually change the country’ s trajectory,” said Peacock.
The warning comes as organisations globally accelerate investment in AI-driven business models and automation technologies. Research cited in the article noted that nearly half of employees will require reskilling as technology adoption reshapes industries and job roles.
According to Ryan Boyes, Senior Security Administrator, Galix, many organisations still treat cyber-governance as a separate IT discipline rather than integrating it into broader enterprise risk management frameworks.
Boyes argued that this siloed approach limits visibility into how risks intersect across departments and makes it more difficult for executives to assess overall business exposure consistently.
“ Across many organisations, cyber-governance is still treated as a parallel discipline to enterprise risk management rather than a core component of it,” said Boyes.
The warning comes as businesses face increasing pressure from regulators, customers and third parties to demonstrate stronger governance, consistent risk measurement and effective information management practices.
Boyes said organisations often manage risks independently across departments such as finance, HR, safety and information security, creating inconsistencies in how threats are measured and addressed.
He added that information governance should be embedded before data is distributed across business systems to reduce compliance and operational vulnerabilities.
According to Boyes, organisations that implement centralised governance, risk and compliance frameworks can improve accountability, strengthen oversight and provide executives with clearer enterprise-wide visibility into cybersecurity and operational risks. •
Peacock said many South African learners still have limited exposure to coding, Artificial Intelligence and digital problem solving despite these skills becoming increasingly critical to economic participation.
The article argues that CSI strategies should evolve toward measurable capability development programmes focused on coding, AI literacy and structured digital thinking to help build a future-ready workforce aligned with long-term Digital Transformation goals.
Ryan Boyes, Senior Security Administrator, Galix
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