Information Governance challenges through 2020 and beyond

Sound information governance is the mark of a well-run organization. But it is a greater challenge than ever before – and the stakes are high.

The continuing fallout from data breaches, at Marriott and Gunnebo Group for example, and the lasting reputational damage caused by the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica data misuse scandal demonstrate just how important it is for business executives to take information governance seriously.

Information governance is about much more than simply managing information, or handling regulatory compliance. Crucially, it requires organizations to develop a strategy to protect information, leverage it responsibly and build customer trust. Information governance is a discipline which involves employees at all levels following consistent policies and processes to maintain best practice in the face of different – sometimes conflicting – demands from customers, regulators, legislators and internal stakeholders.

Cyber security is the foundation on which all other information governance measures are built and it remains a top challenge for 2020. Enterprises around the globe must respond to unprecedented threats from criminals intent on infiltrating IT systems and stealing or tampering with enterprise information.

New data protection laws are also continuing to bite. The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has caused a seismic change in data privacy practices since its introduction in May 2018. The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) came into force in January 2020 and now sits alongside the GDPR as part of a tough new global compliance landscape, with new data protection regulations in Brazil, Thailand, India and South Korea following close behind.

Enforcement authorities are stepping up their operations and fines are set to increase. As sector-specific regulation also intensifies, many organizations face compliance challenges on multiple fronts – and improving the processes and systems used for compliance management, monitoring and reporting continues to be a priority.

Information Governance Solutions

Columbus from Macro 4 is a highly scalable enterprise information management suite comprising content services, workflow, compliant data storage and multi-channel delivery.

Businesses across the globe use Columbus to organize their unstructured data, automate information management tasks and reduce the costs, risks and effort involved in information governance. Workflow ensures that the right information is available to the right person, in the right place, at the right time. Encryption, tamper proofing, identity management and data segregation keep information secure at every stage.

Please visit the Macro 4 home page for more information and the possibility to download our Columbus for Information Governance White Paper, click here.