Intelligent CIO Africa Issue 37 | Page 19

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TRENDING IBM STUDY REVEALS IMPORTANCE OF TRUST IN AN ORGANISATION An IBM study has revealed that 91% of leaders in the Middle East and Africa strongly believe data helps strengthen customer trust and bottom lines. I BM’s 20th edition of its bi-annual C-Suite Study, Build Your Trust Advantage, polled nearly 900 C-level executives across the Middle East and Africa (MEA) to examine how companies in the region are achieving market leadership by emphasising trust in their use and sharing of data. The study, conducted by IBM Institute for Business Value (IBV) in co-operation with Oxford Economics, found that market leadership is most frequently attained when an organisation establishes a high level of trust in the data from its customers, its own business processes and across its partner ecosystem. Through the quantitative and qualitative surveys issued, it became clear there was a set of leaders – dubbed ‘Torchbearers’ – that stood out as understanding that transparency, reciprocity and accountability www.intelligentcio.com are critical ingredients for earning trust among key stakeholders. These leaders have a deep understanding that building trust in customer relationships is a strategic imperative and work hard to earn and maintain it. • 91% of leaders in MEA, compared to 82% of their peers globally, strongly believe data helps create a strategic advantage in strengthening their level of customer trust as well as their bottom lines • Torchbearers in MEA also outpace their peers in the region by 48% in their capacity to respect customers’ data privacy as a core competitive advantage. Globally, Torchbearers outpace their peers by 22%. “Today, data is considered one of the most important assets that any organisation possesses,” said Hossam Seif El-Din, Vice “ LEADERS IN MEA WERE FOUND TO TAKE GREAT PAINS TO ENSURE THAT THE DATA WITHIN ITS OWN WALLS IS ACCURATE AND CLEAN. INTELLIGENTCIO 19