Launch of the SDI and IMD Corporate Digital Responsibility Starter Kit
Nicolas Zahn • September 2022
Geneva, September 26, 2022 – With the pace of technological development and the rapid adoption of various digital technologies at scale, the discourse on responsibilities has been slow to catch up. This is also reflected in a dominant paradigm of innovation that promotes rapid development cycles. However, the shortcomings of such ways of working are becoming more and more apparent as increasing awareness among customers and regulators, fuelled by various scandals, are increasingly losing trust in digital services. Corporate Digital Responsibility might as well transform from niche to competitive advantage.
Corporate Digital Responsibility: from challenge to opportunity
«The Starter Kit was created as a guide to lower the barrier for organisations to raise important questions around digital responsibility. In the sense of translating principles into practice, the platform serves as an easy entry point for the implementation of tangible solutions.», says Niniane Paeffgen, Managing Director of the Swiss Digital Initiative.
With the Corporate Digital Responsibility Starter Kit, the Swiss Digital Initiative and The Institute for Management Development equip organisations with the knowledge and tools needed to initiate the conversation about responsible digital practices and create guidelines that make sense in the context of their specific organisational structures. The free resource is designed to work for all organisational structures, sizes and requires minimal financial and human resources. Our condensed research and in-depth report allows organisations to recognise the value of responsible digital practices, find solutions to common challenges and ultimately, start where they are, with the resources they already have.
«If managed effectively, digital responsibility can protect organisations from threats, and enable them to differentiate themselves in the minds of consumers. The key is to just get started», explains Professor Michael Wade of The Institute for Management Development.
The Starter Kit shows that while the subject of Corporate Digital Responsibility might seem overwhelming at first, any organisation can get started engaging with it. Common challenges can be addressed by learning from other organisations’ experience and first steps can be taken at any time, benefitting from a growing number of additional resources at the disposal of organisations. Given the importance of embracing digital responsibility for sustained innovation, the Starter Kit lowers the barriers for the adoption of Corporate Digital Responsibility.
About the Swiss Digital Initiative
The Swiss Digital Initiative (SDI) is an independent, non-profit Foundation based in Geneva, founded in 2020 by digitalswitzerland and under the patronage of Federal Councillor Ueli Maurer. The SDI pursues concrete projects with the aim of securing ethical standards and promoting responsible conduct in the digital world. It brings together academia, government, civil society and business to find solutions to strengthen trust in digital technologies and in the actors involved in ongoing digital transformation.
About IMD and the DBT Center
IMD is an independent business school with Swiss roots and global reach. Focused on developing leaders and transforming organisations, IMD designs and delivers interventions that challenge what is and inspire what could be. For the last 9 consecutive years, IMD has been ranked #1 in the world for Open Executive Programs and in the top three overall for Executive Education(Financial Times 2012-2020). IMD is based in Lausanne, Switzerland and Singapore. www.imd.org
The Global Center for Digital Business Transformation (DBT Center) brings together innovation and learning for the digital era. The DBT Center is a global research hub at the forefront of digital business transformation. The Center seeks out diverse viewpoints from a wide range of organisations-startups and incumbents-to bring forward new ideas, best practices and disruptive thinking. The DBT Center is located on IMD’s campus in Lausanne, Switzerland. www.imd.org/dbtcenter
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