Building digital trust in 2025: Key considerations for a transformative year

As organizations prepare for 2025, hailed as ‘the year of quantum’, Mark Thirlwell, Global Digital Director at BSI, shares his thoughts on the four key considerations for organizations within the digital landscape for the year ahead. 

Proactively and holistically preparing for regulation
Numerous regulations will be coming to the fore in 2025, and organizations must be prepared for them. Many will be aware of the various AI regulations, including the first phase of the EU AI Act coming into effect on February 2 2025 and developments triggered by the UK’s recently published AI Opportunities Action Plan. Countries such as Australia and India will be introducing AI-specific regulations to address gaps in existing laws and promote responsible AI use. 

There are also a raft of interrelated regulations. Data, on which AI is highly dependent both for its training and operation, will see new regulations coming into law such as the publication of guidance on the interplay between existing legislation, e.g. the GDPR and Digital Markets Act which has not always been easy to navigate.  There will also be a re-focus on the long-debated topics of cyber security and digital resilience, with the EU Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), applying from January 2025.

The nature of the technology market itself will also be impacted by initiatives such as the UK’s Competition and Consumers Act (DMCC Act) and US’s Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) ongoing efforts to regulate tech competition. Finally, much-needed regulation is being introduced to improve online safety and security, including the welcome Online Safety Act in the UK and the European Digital Identity Framework (EDIF) coming into effect.

Understanding and preparing for these regulations is crucial, as they can be complex and interrelated. This is particularly important for start-ups and SMEs who are unlikely to have the same capacity as larger organizations, or perhaps don’t realise they apply to them. Therefore, even the most ‘digital first’ organization needs to prioritise understanding and responding to these upcoming regulations, not only to avoid fines or other sanctions, but also to build trust with clients and potential investors.

Standards such as the AI management systems framework (ISO 42001) can help organizations get a head start on regulations, and certification against these best practice principles can demonstrate leadership and commitment.

Cut through the AI hype
AI has gone through a real journey over recent years. There’s been a lot of hype about it, with the increased exposure of Generative AI, but as we neared the end of 2024, there was growing scrutiny of the value that it brings. My advice to organizations is to treat AI as you would any other investment or tool, ensuring that you take a risk-based balanced approach. What can it do for your business and what opportunities could it unlock? What is the expected impact on your customers and employers and therefore what is the (financial and non-financial) return on investment? What are the environmental / privacy / data considerations? 

The greatest impact AI has made over recent years is arguably in areas that are removed from the Generative AI that was a constant feature on newsfeeds throughout 2024.  Take the medical device sector for example. Manufacturers are really embracing AI - from surgical robotics – where AI can assist surgeons in conducting some of the most delicate operations – to diagnostics including disease detection, identifying heart issues or picking up foetal anomalies in early pregnancy. There are some remarkable outcomes already being achieved. 

Whilst it’s important to consider the risks and what you need to protect against AI, organizations should take a calm and measured approach so that we can ensure we realise its value and make it a force for good across society. Don’t get distracted by the hyperbole, but instead approach as you would any business decision, by looking at the balance of risk and opportunity. 

Think bigger picture
It’s easy for organizations to get caught up with the latest technology or buzzword but what’s important to consider is the bigger picture. Not to treat the latest digital trend in isolation or as a panacea but to consider how it links to everything else. Just as the recent developments in AI were enabled by developments in cloud-based data storage and compute power, the real-world opportunities will come to the fore when it is utilised along with tools such as ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT) devices and Digital Twins.

Rather than focusing on the latest trend, consider what your organization is trying to achieve and how can you deploy technology that supports this. How will this technology help you to build trust within your organization? Whilst topics such as Operational Resilience may have been considered less newsworthy over the last year or so, they are still a fundamental to the sustainability of an organization. 

Wider than this, technology should never be deployed for its own sake. You need to think about the wider business, including your people, services and supply chain, and the outcomes that you are trying to achieve.

Small step or quantum leap
It’s hard not to talk about future trends without mentioning quantum technology. Quantum  aims to harness the unique properties of quantum mechanics (the behaviour of particles at the atomic and subatomic levels) to create game-changing computing, communication, and sensing technologies. Whilst we are still in the very early days for some of these areas, others are more progressed and the time to start thinking about it is now.

In fact, the UN has named 2025 the ‘International Year or Quantum Science and Technology’. It’s important that organizations take the time to understand and prepare for it.  Public awareness and understanding of the hard to conceptualise topic, is understandably low. In fact, only 40% globally say the government and experts in the field are proactively communicating enough about the opportunities and risks of supercomputing.

Whilst you certainly won’t be accessing a Quantum Computer in the immediate future, I expect this year to be important for raising awareness both for businesses and the public. Unlike other recent technical developments, we have an opportunity to prepare for Quantum Technologies potential adoption, including how we appropriately standardise and govern it to help drive safe innovation, in parallel to its development, rather than as an afterthought.

-- Mark Thirlwell, Global Digital Director at BSI.