Digitization Inside and Out of the Boardroom

As global businesses and markets are caught in a seemingly perpetual cycle of disruption and adjustment, company leadership and directors are tasked with finding new, innovative ways of communicating and working with shareholders in an increasingly complex and fragmented landscape. This is even more important given the massive technological advancements within the last decade, which have not only shifted the ways in which companies operate, but the means in which businesses and investors convey and share information.

Recent advancements in technology have transformed everyday business processes through digitization, which, in turn, has made cybersecurity a top priority. Moreover, they have made the world a much more connected place, facilitating business at a faster pace than ever before. To help company leadership adjust, new technologies have been developed to help directors and leadership teams improve collaboration and workflow.

Digitization
Today’s boards are going paperless, and the reality has become indisputable: directors are turning away from printed documents in favor of digital information that is easy to share and accessible on mobile platforms, like board portals.

Through digitization, directors are now accustomed to heightened levels of speed and efficiency across all business processes. With board portals, corporate secretaries and meeting managers are able to streamline board book creation and tighten information security. The benefits to this technology are clear: easy access to digital meeting information with user-friendly tools for assigning tasks, approvals, consent votes and secure messaging.

We have also observed a growing trend driving increased global demand for board portal solutions: the need to collaborate and share confidential information and documents across internal and external teams in a highly secured environment. The C-suite executives who already use our board portal tools for director-level collaboration are now expanding that capability across their organizations, all through a single sign-on service.

Cybersecurity
As businesses shift to digital platforms, data security plays a much bigger role. Companies must closely scrutinize how sensitive information is handled due to the risk of breaches. Cyberattacks are common and can result in significant financial and reputational damage; cybercrime damage costs are expected to total $6 trillion annually by 2021, according to CSO. This makes it especially important for boards and company leadership to take a strategic approach to data protection. Information is being shared in more rapid and innovative formats, and the methods in which boards communicate with shareholders will need to prioritize safety along with accessibility.

Protecting sensitive information should be at the top of a company’s concerns. This is why solutions should comply with strict encryption standards, multi-factor authentication and a completely cloud-less data storage system. Companies can also leverage machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) to navigate and secure large volumes of data. These technologies can monitor and detect network anomalies that signal potential attacks and prevent further access before data is compromised.

Globalization
Due to the digitization of communication channels, we are now able to connect and do business in seconds with people halfway across the world. As technology brings us closer together, it breaks barriers to information accessibility. This ease of information exchange has impacted investing by virtually removing any impediments that once stood in the way of certain markets.

Increased ease of access to information around the world means companies, and particularly company leadership, should ensure key information is digestible for all stakeholders. That’s why being equipped with full translation services for common languages can be advantageous.

Moreover, as globalization continues to facilitate business and investing opportunities, shareholder bases are broader and more diverse than ever before. With the rise of passive investing, companies lack a level of transparency that allows them to know who their stakeholders are. For this reason, it is necessary to take advantage of tools and technologies that provide actionable insights into passive investment data and provide a more comprehensive picture of shareholders.

Looking Ahead
As technology continues to augment the ways in which companies operate, boards need to keep pace, ensuring they are communicating with their shareholders in the most efficient and preferred methods possible.