Data ethics: transparency as sustainable competitive advantage

1. Summary

The topic of data ethics is filled with many complications that often conflict with enterprise goals. Combined with daily job responsibilities it can be difficult to know where to start when it comes to exploring the complexities of the issues involved.

Individuals and organizations alike face immature emerging legislation as well as constantly shifting and evolving cultural and social values about central issues such as identity, privacy, data ownership, and the use of personal data to make judgments about reputation. Maintaining the right focus requires a conscious effort.

However, an overly narrow perspective on any one individual aspect of data ethics — privacy, for example — obscures a broader picture that would otherwise inform data handling practices that provide businesses with a competitive advantage. At the same time, exclusively taking the long view often misses important details about how information systems are designed, the processes that are used to manage those systems, and the influence those individual aspects of data ethics have on one other.

There is, however, a competitive advantage to engaging and intentionally exploring the data ethics landscape. The ease and comfort of adopting those services creates deeper brand loyalty and sets the stage for an ongoing and mutually beneficial relationship. A series of comfortable, safe, and successful brand interactions builds on that foundation of trust. Deeper brand relationships help consumers feel more comfortable adopting new products and services when they do make it to market. Adopting something new from a brand you trust is easier than it is from a brand that you don’t.

Key highlights from this report include:

• Internally, the culture of an organization, the individual and commonly held values of that culture, the processes that culture uses to execute on those values and the policies which guide those processes are key elements of gaining internal alignment to create and sustain competitive advantage.

• Externally, customer experience is the key driver of a data handling practice that develops and builds trust with customers and partners. The brand and market drivers that influence that customer experience create risk and opportunity through interaction with legislation and regulation, cultural trends, market dynamics and competitive pressures.

• Transparency is key when it comes to aligning all of the values, processes, and policies of a culture that creates and sustains competitive advantage. The benefits of alignment include an increase in innovation, faster adoption of new products and services, and deeper brand loyalty.

• Increased innovation reduces barriers and constraints when it comes to getting new ideas to market. Explicitly identifying and understanding commonly held values helps individuals and organizations to focus on solving problems.