As the global economy recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, firms have increased investments in technology to boost risk management, which is expected to mitigate the severe impact of the pandemic and possible disruptions going forward, a 2022 global risk survey has shown.
The survey which was conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) titled ‘embracing risk in the face of disruption’ noted that the pandemic caused some disruptions in the business environment which heightened possible risks, hence many executives had to revise their strategies and operating models at a rapid pace.
“While managing disruptions, organisations are simultaneously dealing with internal digital transformation challenges, and how to bring along internal stakeholders as they automate business processes and drive digital into everything they do,” it said.
The survey had 3,584 business and risk, audit, and compliance executives as respondents, 74 percent (2625) of them revealed that they increased investments in technology and digital capabilities for the risk function workforce.
“Driving consistency in risk management capabilities across the organisation can be difficult; Investment in risk processes, frameworks, and enabling systems is needed to help an organisation deploy a standardised and consistent approach to risk management,” the survey report said.
Similarly, 65 percent (2329) of respondents revealed that they are increasing overall spending on risk management technology with the belief that further integrating technology and risk data could help to efficiently drive a panoramic view of risk across the enterprise.
“In an environment where change is constant, strong risk and resilience capabilities can provide an edge, hence business leaders can make confident decisions in pursuit of their strategy that is informed by a panoramic view of risk,” it stated.
Read also: De-risking investments enables increased capital inflows into Nigeria – Bryan Howett
The report revealed that the increased investment in technology became necessary seeing that less than 40 percent of business executives are reaping the benefits of consulting with risk professionals early in their programme, especially because not all risk exposures can be completely mitigated or avoided.
PwC stated that when organisations embrace risk management capabilities where a community of solvers have a panoramic view of risks enabled by internal and external data, together with smart technology, the confidence of the Board and executive in achieving sustainable outcomes is high.
“They are five times more likely to be very confident in delivering stakeholder confidence, a growth-minded risk culture, increased resilience, and business outcomes and, they are almost twice as likely to project revenue growth of 11 percent or more over the next twelve months,” it stated.
