Intelligent CIO Middle East Issue 51 | Page 27

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// 2. Build confidence in data and AI models enterprise wide. Stimulate a culture of true data believers and data-based decision makers, and in turn, elevate experiences for customers and partners along their value chains. 3. Learn how to share data on business platforms without giving away competitive edge. Turn the corner from amassing data to determining how best to monetise it, including how to build ecosystems to create new exponential value. How do Torchbearers establish and maintain trust? Our study found they share three basic business practices: “ THE STUDY FOCUSES ON THE NEED FOR TRANSPARENCY ON HOW COMPANIES HANDLE CUSTOMER DATA. TRENDING products are manufactured and under what conditions. The advantages of a reciprocal approach to data sharing become even more apparent as newer technologies like AI enable enterprises to take a more personal approach to the business-customer relationship. Blockchain, meanwhile, is helping make trust verifiable. Trust your own data and be ready to share Building a foundation of data trust involves more than a reciprocal relationship between a business and its customers. It begins within the organisation. An enterprise must strive to ensure that its data is accurate, up-to-date and appropriately contextualised. In other words, enterprises need to be sure they can trust their own data. Torchbearers also develop a culture that is comfortable distributing data widely within the enterprise, even to the lower reaches of the organisation, as a way to empower employees to make decisions. It’s an approach that might understandably make many executives uncomfortable. But Torchbearers demonstrate that democratising data can drive innovation. Enterprise must also ensure that data trust extends into their wider business ecosystems. It may seem counterintuitive. But being a reliable steward of data doesn’t necessarily mean keeping a keeping it locked away within the enterprise. They know data that stays in the organisation is likely to become stale, while circulating it outside the company improves its value. And so, Torchbearers are liberating their data, allowing it to circulate within the ecosystem. But they also scrupulously safeguard it by enforcing strict rules about who receives access to which sets of data. • Emphasise accountability. Torchbearers identify how their customers expect them to use their data. They then doggedly ensure that those expectations are met or exceeded. • Offer reciprocity. Customers must be able to see significant value in sharing www.intelligentcio.com their data. Torchbearers make that value proposition clear. • Ensure transparency. Torchbearers make a policy of communicating problems promptly and fully. And they make it easy for customers to view detailed product information, including data about how Trusted data is the new gold in the emerging global economy. By building a culture of trust in your organisation and with your partners and customers, you will have access to more of this precious resource and learn how to use data to create greater business value. Access the full study findings here: https:// ibm.co/c-suite-study. n INTELLIGENTCIO 27