TechSense Magazine #03

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TECHSENSE Magazine #03
rity, green tech and the quest for
IT agenda
in 2023
| By Laurent Pulinckx,
CIO of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange & THECIO23 |
At the end of last year, the Luxembourg
Stock Exchange became the first financial
institution in Luxembourg to migrate its
entire IT infrastructure to the cloud.
exposed worldwide through data breaches – a 37 percent increase
compared to the previous quarter. Financial institutions tend to be
the most popular targets for obvious reasons, but all companies
and institutions should consider themselves as potential targets.
Cybercriminals are building increasingly sophisticated systems to
deceive and take advantage of humans, so the most efficient way to
reduce the risk of cyberattacks is to ensure that all employees are
well trained and able to identify, flag and stop phishing attempts and
other similar cyberthreats. Concretely, this means that businesses
and institutions need to put in place new and more bulletproof
authentication rules to protect their systems and data, ultimately
preventing cybercriminals from gaining access to the company’s
servers by hacking the password of an employee.
Another trend that is set to make headlines in 2023 is none other
than green tech. More than a trend, green tech is a necessity –
and potentially a solution – on two different fronts. On the one
hand, green tech is about leveraging technology to reduce high
emitting activities and drive positive change. This angle gained
prominence at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, when we came
to the realisation that we could significantly reduce our carbon
emissions by replacing brief face-to-face encounters with online
meetings. Another example is the progress made in terms of traffic
reduction thanks to intelligent parking systems that help drivers
find a spot without having to search for long periods of time.
In the European Union (EU), we recently took a small yet significant
step in the right direction with the EU’s approval of a directive that
will require the vast majority of electronic devices to be equipped
with a one-size-fits-all USB-C type charger from 2024 onwards.
While this initiative is mainly aimed at consumers, it will undoubtedly
have a spill over effect across businesses, and push IT leaders to
consider new ways to reduce waste within their organisations.
Last but not least, the search for new talent is set to feature
high on the IT agenda throughout 2023. If we are to implement
more sustainable ways of working and build up new defence
mechanisms against the growing and increasingly diverse range
of cyberthreats, we need to ensure that we have the right people
in the right positions to kickstart these initiatives. The search for
talent is undoubtedly a global phenomenon and one that is crucial
across all industries, particularly on the back of the pandemic,
but given how reliant we all are on technology, sourcing the right
talent that can implement solid and timeproof IT infrastructures
is pivotal not only to the IT community, but also the wider society.
There are undoubtedly other trends that will surface in 2023, while
some existing areas of focus, such as the migration to the cloud,
will continue to develop. At the end of last year, the Luxembourg
Stock Exchange became the first financial institution in Luxembourg
to migrate its entire IT infrastructure to the cloud, and we expect
other institutions to follow suit in 2023 and beyond.
Recent developments in artificial intelligence (AI) as a free service,
such as open AI and ChatGPT are also likely to drastically change
the way humans interact in the medium term. It will of course
depend on the specific ways in which these technologies are
implemented and used and may come with a number of benefits
and drawbacks.
One potential and clear positive impact of AI technologies is that
they may be used to develop systems that can assist humans in
various tasks, such as analysing data, identifying patterns, or
understanding complex matters more easily. This could potentially
lead to increased efficiency and productivity in various industries.
On the other hand, the development and deployment of AI
technologies also raises ethical and societal concerns, such as
the potential for job displacement and the need to ensure that
AI systems are developed and used responsibly. It is important
for researchers and developers to consider these issues as
they continue to work with AI over the coming year. One thing is
certain, however – as far as driving positive change, sustainable
habits, building up our cyber defence and sourcing the right talent
is concerned, we, humans are very much in the driving seat.
On the other hand, green tech is also about making IT itself more
sustainable by optimising the emissions and activities related to IT
operations. Amongst other things, this also means reconsidering the
ways in which we manufacture, use and recycle our IT equipment.
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