Page 30 - Risk Management Bulletin Jan- Mar 2022

RMAI BULLETIN JANUARY - MARCH 2022

and customers are equally concerned with how data Ensure data security when it comes
is collected. From employee behaviors on the
to remote work.
manufacturing floor to customer call center
complaints, whenever specific information is gathered, Today’s remote or hybrid work model poses a whole
companies need to make it clear that this is taking new set of security challenges. Many companies can
place and for what intended purposes. minimize risk by leveraging a multicloud strategy, but
the risk associated with malware or ransomware can
compromise crucial corporate and customer data.
Break down the silos, but keep the
departments. Despite this, according to a report from Menlo

Likewise, while it’s important to remove the silos Security, only 27% of organizations have advanced
between corporate functions in order to share data threat protection in place for all endpoint devices with
enterprisewide, it’s important to identify where access to company data. It’s crucial that companies
specific data came from so you can trace its lineage deploy advanced cybersecurity software and also train
and address any questions directly with the owner. It’s employees on acceptable use of public or home-based
also important to include cautions on every dashboard Wi-Fi usage.
that data should be used and shared with discretion—
internally and externally.
Keep bias out of AI.
While enterprise data provides the fuel that drives
Identify the problem first and create
accurate AI, it’s important that data scientists ensure
scalable data solutions. that bias doesn’t creep into the algorithms that are
developed. Data should be analyzed to ensure that it
Once you understand why you need certain types of
is diverse and doesn’t lead to any decisions that could
data, it’s much easier to home in on exactly what you
provide an unfair advantage to certain populations. As
need. If sales for a specific product are declining, you
an example, AI that helps to determine the best
might want to start with your own quality data and
suppliers to work with should be trained with diverse
then review data on external suppliers if needed.
supplier data.
Data risk is better managed when you can harness
Consider supplier data risk.
what you need to get to the root cause. Managing
quality data requires scalable data management Speaking of suppliers, it’s not enough that data has
solutions that can ingest data from many sources such proper governance within the organization. This must
as the shop floor, inventory, customer complaints and be the case externally across suppliers, as well. It’s
sales. important to build visibility into the supply chain and
ensure that suppliers also have a data risk
management plan in place, along with security tools
that can help flag risks and vulnerabilities in the
external environment. On top of this, risk-sharing
agreements with third parties can improve overall
accountability.

Data may be the new oil driving effective decision
making, improved customer experiences and brand
reputation. Yet, as with all business drivers, it requires
continuous oversight to ensure that it is secure,
accessible, relevant and unbiased. It needs to be
treated like the precious resource that it is.

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