Five Takeaways from the 2018 Governance, Risk and Control Conference

Governance, risk and compliance professionals shared ideas and gathered insights on how their roles are evolving in light of enterprises’ digital transformation efforts, evolving trends in innovation, and growing regulatory and security risks recently at the sold-out 2018 GRC Conference in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.

The conference, organized by The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) and ISACA, took place 13-15 August. Key takeaways from the conference include:

It’s time to challenge conventions
Keynote speaker Luke Williams, author, professor of marketing at the NYU Stern School of Business and founder of the W.R. Berkley Innovation Labs, told a packed opening session audience that organizations seldom take the time to question the underlying reasons why existing practices and procedures were put in place, stifling opportunities for innovation.

Williams said enterprises are often “paralyzed by possibility” with an abundance of incremental ideas for improvement, but tend to lack the unconventional, bold strategy options capable of delivering a major impact. Eventually, he said, organizations that lack a forward-looking openness to change will be overtaken by competitors.

Artificial intelligence brings great potential – and risks
While artificial intelligence and machine learning are gaining traction – and generating plenty of buzz along the way – organizations face difficult decisions in knowing where and when to introduce AI. In a session on the ethical considerations related to AI, co-presenters Kirsten Lloyd and Josh Elliot highlighted an extensive list of powerfully compelling uses for AI, such as advancing new medical treatments, preventing cyberattacks, improving energy efficiency and increasing crop yields. They also encouraged organizations to create an ethical review board and the position of chief ethics officer to deal with the related risks.

ISACA board Chair and closing day keynote presenter Rob Clyde implored the audience to focus on safeguards to prevent unintentional harm from AI projects and services.

Audit and governance professionals must actively address cyber risk
The volume and complexity of today’s cyber threats demand that GRC professionals, along with internal auditors, support their colleagues who are in cybersecurity roles and work to provide assurance to ensure organizations are prepared to navigate cyber threats.

In a session on advancing IT audit capabilities in cybersecurity, co-presenters David Dunn and Jon Coughlin noted that the traditional belief that a good internal auditor can audit anything is being challenged by the growing cyber threat landscape, and that standard controls might be insufficient. Internal audit functions must deepen their skills across a range of cybersecurity frameworks.

In the conference’s final keynote, Deloitte Managing Director Theresa Grafenstine called cyber risk a top priority for GRC professionals. When organizations fail to adequately address the risk, said the former Inspector General for the US House of Representatives, it is generally due to a lack of knowledge and resources, rather than not recognizing its importance.

Compliance must become more adaptive 
A combination of new regulatory requirements, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and a flurry of emerging technologies being deployed to enable digital transformation call for the recalibration of compliance policies and procedures.

Session presenter Ralph Villanueva encouraged compliance professionals to understand – rather than memorize – the intent of frameworks they are implementing to have a more strategic understanding of how those frameworks best align with enterprise goals. He said compliance professionals also must anticipate how emerging technologies might impact the organization’s compliance protocols going forward.

Security measurement must be improved
While more organizations are recognizing the importance of areas such as risk management and information and cyber security, it can be difficult to quantify the effectiveness of the related investments – a major concern for the C-Suite. Session presenter Brian Contos said organizations need to develop more sophisticated security metrics beyond performing vulnerability scans and patching. Contos addressed several platforms capable of removing guesswork and assumptions from the security equation, while potentially freeing up resources by phasing out outdated tools that no longer serve their intended purpose.

The next GRC Conference will take place 12-14 August 2019 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

[ISACA Now Blog]

Source: https://www.isaca.org/Knowledge-Center/Blog/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=1068