Appropriate Due Diligence Is A Must Have In The Digital Events Industry
(Photo : Larissa Steinbäcker)

Digital events and platforms have long been recognized as one of the most effective ways of connecting with people remotely. Further, as the pandemic puts people in digital workplaces, the value of digital events has become more apparent. According to Statista, around 44 percent of Americans worked from home for five or more days per week during the pandemic.

However, companies were forced to move to a digital landscape fairly quickly, which often left them using technologies that came with significant deficiencies in terms of security and privacy. What followed was a re-evaluation of virtual event tools to assess the level of security and privacy they provided, and, naturally, many of these tools started looking like a poor choice.

Further, some companies realized the need for a secure environment for conducting business early on in the pandemic. For example, Proske developed a SaaS platform, called Magnid, that aims to make life easier for event organizers by making digital events secure without being restrictive. The globally operating event agency, headquartered in Munich, established itself as a first mover in the digital pharma events industry internationally right at the onset of the pandemic.

According to Larissa Steinbäcker, the CEO of Proske, "in the last two years, due diligence was often neglected in the virtual space because new virtual products were usually rapidly implemented. Further, meeting planners had little to no contact with their IT teams in the past. However, the potential threats in the virtual world are at least as big as those in the real world and should be assessed as soon as possible."

In a world where interaction between teams and clients is increasingly happening in a digital environment, companies have a responsibility to protect them and the data they exchange. Additionally, with new data protection laws, like the European GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), emerging across the world, they stand to risk landing themselves in hot waters by not being diligent about security when conducting digital events.

Duty of care in digital events

Businesses have a fiduciary duty of providing a certain standard of care that ensures privacy and security. In many cases, there even is a legal obligation for companies to act diligently and in good faith to protect data.

In the context of digital events, this can bring a unique set of challenges for companies as well as their employees and clients. Helping them navigate the digital landscape is key to offering a secure digital work environment. Today, a company's duty of providing a safe workspace isn't limited to its employees since it is also interacting with its clients in a digital environment.

Failing to have sufficient checks and controls in place to ensure security and privacy can result in high costs, a bad reputation, or worse. According to IBM, data breaches in 2021 had the highest average cost in 17 years. Further, the average cost was more than $1 million higher in breaches where remote work was a factor. Consequently, cyber security should be a priority for businesses that are preparing for the digital events that Industry 4.0 is bringing with it.

Companies managing digital events should be mindful of several factors that can jeopardize privacy or compromise the security of confidential client information. For instance, exchanging information in an online environment comes with an inherent risk of the information being stolen by a hacker if it isn't properly secured. For example, recent hacking attacks on Ukraine have shown how important a secure, digital space is.

Further, if information gets stolen, clients might consider it a breach of trust, which will result in a bad reputation and lost earnings. In some sectors, like the pharmaceutical or technology industries, the consequences of lacking cyber security can be disastrous. Consequently, businesses operating in these industries are always looking to improve their security.

Implementing cyber security measures

Due diligence is critical for businesses, especially those operating in a highly regulated environment. However, while protective measures are necessary when loss of information can result in major financial consequences or lawsuits, invasive measures can also become a bottleneck in your digital workflow.

That being said, the events industry is brimming with tools that facilitate online events and information exchange. Further, according to Steinbäcker, there is "a clear trend towards the consolidation of providers and approval processes, which will ensure that virtual and hybrid events can be carried out as creatively as possible while staying in compliance with the framework laid out by security standards."

By using the right set of tools, event organizers can rid themselves of the constant anxiety associated with the possibility of compromising data integrity.