Sustainability · 3 of 4
Governance
Governance refers to the organisational framework, processes and policies that underlie institutional accountability, strength and resilience.
Environment · Social · Governance · Finance
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Data
With organisations increasingly digitised, data governance has been rising in importance. Being a responsible steward of private data is central to good governance in the digital age, not only to meet expanding data regulations but also to remain aligned with growing social sentiment around the issue.
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A.I.
Following in the wake of big data, A.I. algorithms are being relied upon for analysis, to make predictions and to inform critical decisions. Governance of algorithms and the machine-learning process is important to understand and mitigate inherent bias and to ensure transparency, accountability and security. Transparency of deep-learning models can be especially challenging with their many hidden layers, which is why they are often referred to as “black boxes”. The whitebox is the answer to that.
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Diversity
Diversity seen in boards of directors and other leadership roles reflects a diversity of thought and mind to manage effectively in a milieu of diverse communities and environments.
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Fraud, corruption, waste
Good governance, from frameworks imbued with monitoring, controls and policies, acts to prevent fraud, corruption and waste from both internal operations and external supply chains, vendors and suppliers.
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Environmental and social
Sound governance interlinks with the management of social and environmental risks and is poised to take advantage of opportunities. A well-structured governance framework includes active monitoring, controls and policies to adapt to fluid social and environmental dynamics.
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Regulations, recommendations and reporting
Laws, regulations and recommendations from governing bodies are ever-changing and have a significant impact on operations and the business environment. Adhering to current rules and anticipating policy shifts demands careful attention, active compliance frameworks and predictive capability. Reducing uncertainty about the past, present and future reduces risk and allows for the proper planning of company roadmaps and strategy. Reporting is central to good governance and a requirement of many regulations; it fosters accountability and transparency, and reporting of environmental, social and governance factors is moving from recommendation to regulation in many large jurisdictions of the world.
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WhiteBox A.I.
Deep learning can be leveraged for many governance functions. Anomaly detection to defend against fraud and waste is a mature area of machine learning used by a growing number of organisations. Optimisation of resource allocation can also be part of governance frameworks and contribute to the resilience and sustainability of an organisation. Predicting future outcomes to anticipate material change in global and regional governance postures is a promising area that requires a holistic look at social, environmental, governance and private-sector factors.