The Importance of Trust

Recently, Accenture released their much anticipated Technology Vision 2016. Identifying what Accenture considers to be the critical trends shaping the market for the next three to five years, the report is a great resource for any organization with a digital strategy that's looking to maintain their competitive edge in the digital era.

Out of the five tech trends identified by Accenture, we thought that their focus on “Digital Trust” was particularly interesting. Accenture believes digital trust is a foundational element of successful digital organizations and 83% of respondents to their Technology Vision survey agreed that trust is “the cornerstone of the digital economy.” Businesses are becoming more aware of the important role that trust plays in enabling secure data sharing because customers are much more likely to share data with organizations that they trust.

Accenture’s emphasis on digital trust was timely because just two days after the Technology Vision went live, we announced the latest release of the ForgeRock Identity Platform. Key to this new release is the addition of a new privacy and consent standard called User-Managed Access (UMA) that’s meant to help companies build trust with their customers by giving them greater control over who can access their personal data. Is it a coincidence that both ForgeRock and Accenture are emphasizing the importance of digital trust? We think not. The alignment of Accenture’s strategic vision and our new features and functionality is proof that thought leaders understand the importance of trust in today’s digital ecosystems. Other leading firms like McKinsey are also discussing the importance of trust in the digital age.

Before customers consent to sharing their personal data, they have to trust the organization they're interacting with. With the first full implementation of the UMA standard, the ForgeRock Identity Platform gives organizations a way to provide their customers with the ability to control, share, and revoke access to sensitive data. Now, businesses have a new way to build trusted relationships with their customers with advanced data privacy controls that enable innovative new products and services. For example, a patient collecting cardio data through a health wearable could stream data to a clinician to monitor heart rate, or collect and share that data with another doctor for a short time window in order to get a second opinion. Organizations no longer need to rely on proprietary tools to securely share data with employees, partners, and third parties.

It’s just as important that data is kept secure after it’s shared. Any breach or hack that exposes personal data instantly destroys trust and results in an exodus of customers. The Target hack, which resulted in the resignation of their CEO and CIO and cost them over $100 million in expenses, remains a salient example of the importance of protecting customer data.  The latest release of the ForgeRock Identity Platform enables organizations to now provide continuous security not just at login, but throughout a digital session. The platform can respond to threats in context, asking for additional identity verification when something unusual takes place, like a resource request from an unfamiliar location or device. This can help companies to keep personal information private, the way it’s meant to be.

Emerging legislation like the General Data Protection Regulation in Europe is creating global implications for how organizations address customer data privacy. Accenture’s report confirms that digital trust will need to be a priority for savvy organizations in 2016 and beyond. We can help. At ForgeRock, we give organizations the tools to build trusted digital relationships not only with their customers, but with devices, and connected things as well.

To learn more about User-Managed Access visit https://www.forgerock.com/platform/user-managed-access/

To read what Accenture has to say about Digital Trust in their Technology Vision 2016 check out https://www.accenture.com/us-en/insight-digital-data-security

For more on the ForgeRock Identity Platform visit https://www.forgerock.com/platform/