systems, but there will be many smaller, more experimental and innovative initiatives. Governing bodies should evaluate proposed strategies, policies and plans in the context of the external pressures exerted on, and the needs of, the business. The delivery of some plans and policies will be subject to continuous risk and uncertainty as boundaries of technology and organisational capability are tested and at the same time other players in (or sometimes outside) the market make their own plays to gain new capability and performance through their own innovative uses of technology. Governance oversight of the organisation and its management through the transitionary stages and on into the digital era will continue to pay close attention to performance and conformance. However, with new approaches to planning and investment that come with lower cost technologies and increasing business ownership of the agenda for use of technology, there will be new performance metrics and measures, and probably different people reporting on key items. As technology becomes more fundamentally a business utility, more reporting should come from the business that is exploiting the technology for advantage. At the same time, conformance is likely to become a significant arena for risk awareness and control, as digital era technologies, techniques and initiatives open the door to areas where prior conformance arrangements are either onerous and needlessly restrictive, or completely irrelevant to the new way of doing things. The challenges of prior-era conformance will be compounded by emergence of fields in which the lack of rules leads to inappropriate behaviour and unacceptable risks, such that there is a need to develop new conformance arrangements.
to focus on the use of technology, rather than its supply. The clarity that comes from such rethinking will help many organisations put in place arrangements for driving future business change enabled by technology with much lower levels of risk than previously imagined. Conclusion Organisations can use ISO 38500 to help develop top level policies and practices that enable them to move confidently forward in their essential digital transformation programs, in which we are likely to see continuous change over an extended period. They are likely to have a variable mix of small projects focused on quick wins, innovation and experimental learning as well as a few major projects that are re-engineering the business and the technology that underpins its day by day activities. All this will take place within a framework of strategy that sets longer-term goals while anticipating that the path to those goals is dynamic and requires continuous, well-developed capability to deal with uncertainty and risk. Responsibility and accountability for the achievement of digital strategy, digital transformation and digital business operational goals will be properly distributed among business and technology executives, while achievement of goals and performance targets will be measured and reported in business language that is highly relevant to the digital era. Mark Toomey Infonomics Mark is presenting a workshop at 2:10pm on Saturday
The six principles expressed in ISO/IEC 38500, dealing with Responsibility, Strategy, Acquisition, Performance, Conformance and Human Behaviour are eminently adaptable to the digital era and provide a framework for rethinking the models for management and governance Better Boards Conference 2014
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