Many companies are not GDPR-compliant: report

Despite undertaking measures to improve data security and privacy, 38 per cent of global organisations responding to a survey say they are still not compliant with the new general data protection regulation (GDPR) requirements.

Harvey Nash and KPMG spoke to 3,958 tech execs for their latest annual CIO survey with the worrying number of respondents saying in April that they expected not to meet the just lapsed May 25 deadline. These execs are working at organisations with a combined security spend of up to US$46 billion.

The report found that company boards are prioritising improvements in cyber security as cybercrime threats reach an all-time high, while managing operational risk and compliance is a significant priority – up 12 per cent on 2017.

The majority (77 per cent) of the execs indicated they were ‘most concerned’ about the threat of organised cybercrime – slightly up from 71 per cent last year. Only 22 per cent of respondents said they were well-prepared for a cyberattack.

CIOs have a significant balancing act in 2018, according to Bridget Gray, Asia-Pacific managing director at Harvey Nash.

“On one hand, the board is asking them to drive innovation, promote agility, and following recent high profile data breaches, ensure the responsible use of customer data. On the other hand, the board is increasing scrutiny and demanding improved reporting on cyber security, data integrity and resilience, as regulators and consumers become more demanding on personal data,” said Gray.

“The organisation that can get this balance right, between innovation and governance, are in the strongest position to compete in an increasingly complex technology environment.”

The driver towards protecting data has also caused a huge demand for ‘security and resilience’ skills, which experienced the biggest jump in skills shortages, increasing by 25 per cent year-on-year. Two-thirds (65 per cent) of respondents said skills shortages are preventing them from keep up with the pace of change, and for the fourth year in a row, big data and analytics is the number one skill in short supply (46 per cent of respondents).

Digital a big challenge

The move towards digital platforms and solutions is proving challenging for tech chiefs, the report found. A whopping 78 per cent of respondents said their digital strategy was only moderately effective, or worse. More than one-third of companies reported that they can’t hire and develop the people they need with digital skills. In fact, nine per cent of respondents think that their organisations have no clear digital vision or strategy at all.

Women leaders on the rise

Finally, women leading tech teams continues on a slow upward trend, this year reaching 12 per cent globally – up from 10 per cent last year. Women represent 21 per cent of all technology teams.

But the tech sector seems to be divided on the extent to which diversity matters to an oragnisation’s success. Almost one-quarter (24 per cent of respondents) said inclusion and diversity has no bearing on achieving business and technology objectives.

A further 47 per cent thought it had some influence and 30 per cent say inclusion and diversity impacts business and technology objectives to a great extent.

Follow CIO Australia on Twitter and Like us on Facebook… Twitter: @CIO_Australia, Facebook: CIO Australia, or take part in the CIO conversation on LinkedIn: CIO Australia

Follow Byron Connolly on Twitter: @ByronConnolly