ISACA International President: Teamwork is the goal for 2014-2015

Hundreds of millions of people around the world, including me, are cheering on the football games that comprise the 2014 FIFA World Cup, which bills itself as the biggest single-event sporting competition in the world. This is truly a global force of an event, with 204 entries across six continents competing for 31 available spots in the finals.

As I watched a recent close football match, it was clear that no matter what a sports organization (or governmental agency or enterprise) does as its core business, its relevance, value and reach depend on the team members driving strategy and activities forward. This is true for ISACA as well, and it is one more reason I am so honored to be elected international president and work with an excellent board of directors. The time and expertise they volunteer for the benefit of ISACA members is truly amazing. We recently installed our 2014-2015 ISACA Board of Directors and I would like to recognize them individually.

Reelected vice president are:

• Ramsés Gallego, CISM, CGEIT, CCSK, CISSP, SCPM, Six Sigma Black Belt, security strategist and evangelist at Dell Software, Spain
• Theresa Grafenstine, CISA, CGEIT, CRISC, CIA, CGAP, CGMA, CPA, inspector general of the US House of Representatives, USA
• Vittal Raj, CISA, CISM, CGEIT, CRISC, CFE, CIA, CISSP, FCA, partner of M/s. Kumar & Raj and director at Pristine Consulting Private Limited, India

Newly elected vice presidents are:

• Steven Babb, CGEIT, CRISC, ITIL, technology risk management, compliance and assurance leader at Vodafone, UK
• Garry Barnes, CISA, CISM, CGEIT, CRISC, MAICD, managing consultant at BAE Systems, Australia
• Rob Clyde, CISM, CEO of Adaptive Computing, USA

Directors are:

• Debbie Lew, CISA, CRISC, executive director within Ernst & Young LLP Advisory practice, USA
• Frank Yam, CISA, CCP, CFE, CFSA, CIA, FFA, FHKCS, FHKIoD, FHKITJC, CEO of Focus Strategic Group Inc., Hong Kong
• Alexander Zapata Lenis, CISA, CGEIT, CRISC, COBIT Certified Assessor, COBIT 5 Implementation, PMP, ISO 22301 Lead Implementer, ITIL, ISO 27001, IT consultant in Latin America, Mexico

These ISACA leaders represent a diverse cross-section of geographies, industries and expertise, and I am confident that together we will serve our members and other constituents with drive, dedication and direction throughout the year.

As a team, we will accomplish several key activities this year:

• We will continue to focus on cybersecurity. Through the Cybersecurity Nexus, we will do for the cybersecurity profession what we’ve done (and will continue to do) for assurance and governance.
• We will also focus on providing tools and guidance on privacy, full-spectrum career development, expanded COBIT, and emerging business and technology.
• We will serve our assurance base. Audit and assurance professionals founded ISACA 45 years ago and are still central to our mission to create trust and value through information and technology.
• And, above all, we will provide more value to our members than ever before. We exist for you—to help you drive your careers and serve your enterprises. Be assured that you are at the forefront of every decision we make.

This is an era of incredible change and strategic advancement for ISACA, especially as our new CEO, Matthew Loeb, takes the helm of the ever-growing and evolving association in early September. I look forward to Matt’s business acumen and eye for global service and growth. I also want to give a sincere thank you to Ron Hale, who stepped up and has served as ISACA’s acting CEO after the retirement of former CEO Susan Caldwell in 2013. Ron provided guidance and oversight for ISACA’s momentum over the past year and we deeply appreciate his contributions. I also want to thank our prior board members, who have shared so much of their knowledge, other global leaders, and all members, no matter your level of involvement, because you embody the spirit of ISACA.

I want to hear from you. Please follow me on Twitter at @RobertEStroud and share your comments below. This is going to be an exciting year for all of us. Together, just like the World Cup champion, we can achieve great things.

Robert E Stroud, CGEIT, CRISC
International President, ISACA and the IT Governance Institute

[Source: ISACA]