Tag: data privacy

Read our exclusive cover story titled TECH 2021 | IF THE UNIVERSE HAS THE ANSWERS - WHAT ARE THE QUESTIONS? by Steven Ambrose, Managing Director, Atvance Intellect, as well a host of other topical management articles written by professionals, consultants and academics in the February/March 2021 edition of BusinessBrief.

The paper details competition and regulatory issues in the South African digital economy and sets out the Commission's intended strategic actions in relation to competition law issues, and proposed strategic actions for other regulators to consider concerning their respective regulatory areas, namely telecommunication and broadcasting, data protection and financial services regulators.

While the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) has been in effect for a while, most employers are still not grasping the far-reaching consequences the Act poses on how they collect, store and dispose of information. POPIA affects so many aspects of the business such as the information technology systems, customer processes and information handling practices. Therefore, POPIA cannot be ignored.

Up until a few years ago, digital transformation was not high on the agenda for most finance chiefs. Though they recognised that IT was important, most CFOs thought of digital as a technology play, a channel strategy or a customer experience concern.

The idea of a digital state where different areas of government digitise data and collaborate to provide services for its citizens has been a long stated ambition for the South African government, as part of its push to embrace the 4th industrial revolution - but now it’s more important than ever.

After much anticipation and a period of almost seven years it has been officially announced that the core sections of the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) commenced on 1 July 2020 and on 30 June 2021. These core sections took effect on 1 July 2020 and organisations will be allowed twelve months to 30 June 2021 to become compliant with the Act.

The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a huge toll worldwide for both individuals and economies. As a precaution, many countries have implemented strict lockdown measures such as closing schools, restaurants and borders, while mask-wearing in public and social distancing have become a must.

Changes in the way customers expect to engage with the financial services sector and increasing pressure from regulators is compelling financial services companies to come up with innovative ways to manage their data. Financial services businesses view information/data as a significant corporate asset.

The concept of open banking is forcing banks to reconsider the way they think about financial services and is poised to reshape banking as it’s understood today. Realising that this is the new frontier of banking, we are far advanced in our research into open banking, including its challenges and the opportunities it presents.

Business is looking anything but usual for many organisations, large and small. The national lockdown, a decisive strategy to flatten the spread of the COVID-19 virus, is causing leadership and employees to rapidly consider virtual communication strategies for employees who are able to continue with business while working from home.