Accountability in information technology is changing

March 31, 2005     Page 1 of 5

As the global business community has witnessed since 2001, new laws in corporate governance and financial reporting has drastically changed the landscape of accountability and responsibility, and just how CEO's and their CFO's are now held personally accountable for their acts.

Currently, we are seeing the same in information technology and many observers are now expecting some toughening of the rules governing IT managers and directors.

Rising costs to support existing IT systems, coupled with a growing number of high profile software glitches, make IT poised to be the next industry to undergo an overhaul in ethics, professional liability and — in a worst case scenario — cumbersome government regulation.

Such changes are a foregone conclusion for some, but for others it represents an opportunity to take the right steps today to adapt to the changes, fend off regulation, and establish industry standards themselves. According to a number of industry observers, these steps can be summed up as responsible technology governance.

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