Digital trust underfunded despite its growing importance

Recent research from ISACA reveals that while the majority of organisations recognise the increasing importance of digital trust over the next five years, budget allocations, strategic initiatives, and requisite skills in this area are considerably lagging. The ISACA State of Digital Trust 2024 report highlights these gaps through insights gathered from more than 5,800 global digital trust professionals.

The report notes that 82 percent of respondents believe digital trust will become more crucial in the next five years. However, only 20 percent are planning to increase their budgets for digital trust initiatives. This discrepancy suggests a concerning gap between the perceived importance of digital trust and the actual investment and resources dedicated to it.

Despite 78 percent of respondents acknowledging the significance of digital trust in digital transformation efforts, a mere 27 percent report increased revenue as a current benefit. Jo Stewart-Rattray, Oceania Ambassador at ISACA, stressed that investing in digital trust should be seen not just as a defensive strategy but as a proactive approach to fostering business growth and resilience. She argued that digital trust is becoming foundational and non-negotiable for securing customer loyalty, safeguarding data, and ensuring regulatory compliance.

Organisations must contend with an accelerating pace of data breaches and rising privacy concerns. Businesses with robust digital trust practices are better positioned to mitigate risks and bolster their reputational capital. Yet, achieving this requires a coordinated effort across all organisational levels, beginning with leadership support and extending through comprehensive staff training and effective framework adoption.

When it comes to measuring digital trust maturity, the report finds that only 23 percent of organisations currently engage in such evaluations. However, an overwhelming 94 percent of those who do measure digital trust perceive it as extremely or very important. The report also shows strong support for independent third-party digital trust assessments, with 70 percent advocating for their crucial role in building customer loyalty through transparent evaluations. This figure rises to 83 percent among the organisations that already measure their digital trust maturity.

Confidence in digital trust varies significantly by region and industry. Only 52 percent of respondents express confidence in their organisation's digital trustworthiness. Confidence is notably lower in Oceania, where only 38 percent of respondents feel assured compared to other regions. In contrast, the technology services/consulting and financial/banking sectors report higher confidence levels at 59 percent and 58 percent, respectively, while the government/military sector lags at 46 percent.

Rolf von Roessing, Partner and CEO of FORFA Consulting AG, noted the critical role of digital trust and its impact on consumer decisions to engage with a business, entrust it with personal information, and sustain relationships through adversities like breaches or outages. He emphasised that enhancing digital trust can significantly boost revenue opportunities.

The report underscores several obstacles organisations face in achieving high confidence and strong maturity in digital trust. The primary hurdle, cited by 53 percent of respondents, is the lack of staff skills and training, a challenge uniform across all regions and sectors. Additional barriers include lack of leadership buy-in and budget (both at 44 percent), misalignment of digital trust with enterprise goals (43 percent), and insufficient technological resources (37 percent).

Karen Heslop, VP of Content Development at ISACA, remarked that active advocacy for digital trust from executive leaders is pivotal. Such advocacy enhances priority, alignment, budget allocation, training, and technical resources, addressing many key challenges to achieving robust digital trust levels.

Currently, only 18 percent of organisations use a framework for their digital trust practices, although 55 percent believe it is highly important. To this end, ISACA has introduced its Digital Trust Ecosystem Framework (DTEF), a comprehensive resource with indicators and controls that can be tailored to the needs of various organisations. The DTEF aims to help organisations achieve a level of digital trust appropriate for their business models and goals. The top benefits of using a framework include saving time and effort, enabling cost-efficient benchmarking, and providing added credibility and third-party validation.

The State of Digital Trust 2024 report serves as a crucial reminder of the importance of digital trust and the significant work that still needs to be done for organisations to fully leverage its potential benefits.