European companies are not ready for "technology democracy", says the Economist Intelligence Unit

A "quiet revolution" is under way in businesses, as employees are demanding "technology democracy"—the power to use the technology applications and devices of their choice in order to perform their work. In so doing they are challenging the technology status quo in their organisations, whereby the IT (information technology) function dictates which technologies may be used by staff, procures them centrally and sets the rules for their use. But European companies are not entirely ready to embrace technology democracy: 47% of European executives surveyed by the Economist Intelligence Unit say that management of their firms resist extending greater technology freedom to employees. A similar number claim that management is supportive, but the fact that few companies provide training to staff in the workplace use of, for example, personal communications devices and social networking applications suggests that readiness for technology democracy is not high.

This pressure will mount on corporate and IT management as a younger cohort of employees—reliant on social networking, messaging and other personal networking technologies to conduct their work—permeates organisations. "Companies will inevitably lose some control over IT use as a result, but this will be no bad thing provided the risks are managed," believes Denis McCauley, Director of Global Technology Research with the Economist Intelligence Unit. "The best business innovations tend to originate at the grassroots level, and employees should be encouraged to use their technology know-how to generate them."

These findings are highlighted in a new study published today by the Economist Intelligence Unit and sponsored by Trend Micro, entitled Power to the people? Managing technology democracy in the workplace. Other conclusions of the study are highlighted below.

• Innovation and morale stand most to benefit from technology freedom. Forty-two percent of European executives (and fully half of those from the UK) say they are prepared to deal with the risks of technology democracy in order to reap the business benefits. The chief gains, they believe, will come in the form of better grassroots innovation, as well as higher morale on the part of employees who are trusted to make at least some technology decisions for themselves.
• The risks are real but can be managed. The fears of executives who resist according greater technology freedom are not misplaced. Many employees have wasted valuable work time using Web 2.0 applications for personal purposes, and companies have been damaged by sensitive information appearing on blogs, for example. Respondents agree that the biggest risks from technology democracy are lower productivity, the loss of confidential information and an increased vulnerability to viruses.
• Keeping technology chaos in check requires clear rules. Where any degree of democracy exists, technology freedom must be supported by clear rules and regulations to prevent a descent into chaos. The most important means of minimising productivity loss and security risks include conducting regular and mandatory training courses for employees, developing formal guidelines and continuing the work of upgrading network defences.
• Firms must provide better training on using new technologies. Most executives in the survey claim that their firms have drafted IT policies to govern employees’ use of devices, applications and websites in the workplace. But few have begun to instil these guidelines in the minds of employees: no more than 21% of surveyed firms provide training on the use of personal communications devices, and only 17% do this in regard to social networking applications. More worryingly, no more than one-fifth have plans to do so in the future.
• Some IT decentralisation may be needed to manage the security risks. When asked their view on the implications of greater technology freedom for the IT function, survey respondents’ reply that the delegation of responsibility for information security to individual business units is the most likely outcome. This would allow the IT function to focus on other tasks, such as the management of firewalls and other aspects of physical network security and tracking new external threats.

Power to the people? Managing technology democracy in the workplace
is available free of charge at
www.eiu.com/sponsor/TrendMicro/Technology_democracy

For further information please contact:

Economist Intelligence Unit
Joanne McKenna: +44 (0)20 7576 8188 or joannemckenna@eiu.com
Denis McCauley: +44 (0)20 7576 8237 or denismccauley@eiu.com

Notes for editors

Power to the people? Managing technology democracy in the workplace is an Economist Intelligence Unit report, sponsored by Trend Micro. The research is based on an online survey of 390 executives conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit in March and April 2009. The respondents hailed from the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Sweden and Russia. Forty-nine percent of participants were C-level executives. A range of functions was represented in the survey, with general management, strategy and business development, sales and marketing, finance and IT the most prominent. Eighteen industries were represented as well as a range of company sizes, with one-half of respondents coming from large firms—those with over US$500m in annual revenue. The Economist Intelligence Unit also conducted interviews with senior executives and independent experts on technology use in the workplace.

About the Economist Intelligence Unit

The Economist Intelligence Unit is the business information arm of The Economist Group, publisher of The Economist. Through our global network of over 650 analysts, we continuously assess and forecast political, economic and business conditions in 200 countries. As the world's leading provider of country intelligence, we help executives make better business decisions by providing timely, reliable and impartial analysis on worldwide market trends and business strategies. Follow us on www.twitter.com/theeiu.

About Trend Micro

Trend Micro Incorporated, a global leader in Internet content security, focuses on securing the exchange of digital information for businesses and consumers. Trend Micro is advancing integrated threat management technology to protect operational continuity, personal information, and property from malware, spam, data leaks and the newest Web threats. Many of its solutions are powered by the Trend Micro Smart Protection Network, a next generation cloud-client content security infrastructure designed to protect customers from Web threats. A transnational company, with headquarters in Tokyo, Trend Micro¹s security solutions are sold through its business partners worldwide. Please visit www.trendmicro.com.