TRENDING
CIOs often fail to speak the board’ s language, making it difficult to secure investment in security initiatives.
Instead of focusing solely on cyber risks, security leaders must frame discussions around how data security drives business value, efficiency and competitive advantage. Participants dived into the aspect of positioning and being able to align technical solutions to business gains. better business outcomes, as CFOs are now more involved in understanding the value of data and the need for innovative solutions to address gaps and fine-tune strategies. This also has a direct impact on the quality of the questions being raised about data, its security and the business’ s investments in this space. Ultimately this raises the bar in terms of the questions the business can ask about data, its security and how we value that data in the first place.
The discussion also touched on the loss of South African professional skills. Participants shared insights from different countries, like Nigeria, where repatriation of skills is prevalent and these professionals, having gained experience in more complex developed-world environments, bring back this thinking and innovation. There could be a“ brain-gain approach” to entice skilled professionals back to share their valuable knowledge and skills in South Africa.
The discussion was rich with insights, covering critical areas such as data value, security, compliance, Artificial Intelligence, and the future of data-driven decision-making. Participants shared their experiences and challenges, offering a comprehensive view of how organisations are adapting to the ever-changing data landscape.
They began by acknowledging that data is not just an operational asset but the lifeblood of modern businesses. It informs strategy, customer experience, investment decisions, and return on investment. However, the question arose: are businesses truly maximising their data’ s potential?
A key discussion point was data quality – ensuring that organisations collect and maintain high-integrity data. Without clean and accurate data, insights become unreliable, garbage in, garbage out. They explored how businesses could enrich and refine data to increase its utility and overall business value. The conversation naturally led to the question of how to assign value to data.
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Participants also discussed the challenges of adopting new data-related technologies, particularly in regions like South Africa where some global innovations are not yet viable.
Participants also critiqued some regulations, particularly in regions like the EU, where fines for non-compliance could sometimes be seen as a cheaper alternative to investing in expensive security measures. This raised a broader question: do existing regulations genuinely improve security, or do they create unnecessary barriers to business innovation?
One of the most engaging discussions centred on the changing perception of security – specifically, positioning security as a business enabler and using robust data security measures as a differentiator in the market, appealing to customers who value data ethics and trust.
Many organisations struggle to communicate data security needs to executives and board members effectively. One attendee pointed out that CISOs and
They discussed the importance of aligning security measures with the value of the data being protected. For example, investing in a US $ 10-million security solution for data worth only $ 50 000 is not justifiable. This led to an exploration of the broader concept of the data economy, where data is monetised and its value is directly tied to its utility and relevance.
Assigning value to data remains a challenge and the conversation naturally evolved into data monetisation and how businesses can assign tangible value to data? This led to a broader discussion on the data economy – how organisations leverage data as a revenue stream while maintaining privacy and compliance. They also discussed how businesses can break down silos and enhance data collaboration through cryptographic solutions, enabling secure data sharing while preserving privacy.
A significant hurdle discussed was the concept of collaboration, both internally between departments and externally with partners. A key takeaway was the importance of anonymising and encrypting data to maintain security while still deriving value. p
20 INTELLIGENTCIO AFRICA www. intelligentcio. com