PwC Middle East launches platform for digital risk management

PwC Middle East has launched a new self-service online platform for companies to assess their exposure to digital risks.

Described as an innovative tool to empower organisations in improving their approach to risk, professional services firm PwC Middle East has launched Digital Trust Manager – a cost-effective, self-service online platform whereby businesses can assess their maturity profile against a range of primary and evolving risk areas, including data privacy, business continuity management, cloud, and corporate governance.

Initially offered free of charge – and frequently updated with new modules to reflect shifting risk environments and aid in the active management of risk – the platform according to the firm will continue to evolve to offer a fully-fledged array of tools and modules, leveraging technologies such as AI and automation to support compliance, AI bias detection, data anonymisation, and business continuity management among others.

“The launch of Digital Trust Manager means that we can meet our clients’ demands for more digitally enabled experiences, whilst helping them address their approach to digital risk,” said PwC partner and Middle East Digital Trust Leader Matthew White. “The platform will also enable a broader profile of organisations to benefit from the cumulative expertise and experience of our teams, without the need for on-site consultants.”

Built on PwC’s proprietary methodologies and frameworks, and featuring interactive dashboards and customised automated recommendations, the first available module of the platform offers a range of self-assessments to gauge maturity and identify gaps in a number of key risk areas – specifically, at present, business continuity management, cloud readiness, corporate governance, data privacy, information security, and technology risk.

“The development and launch of Digital Trust Manager is our response to the changing way in which our clients want to do business,” said Mohamed Elborno, PwC Middle East partner and Head of Assurance, one of the firm’s four major service lines alongside tax, deals and consulting. “This new platform truly represents the future of digital assurance, and I am very proud that we will be able to support clients in this new, innovative way.”

PwC has been on a roll with its new tech offerings of late, recently taking home the 2019 International Accounting Bulletin’s ‘Audit Innovation of the Year’ Award for Cash.ai, an innovative new tool that uses AI to automatically read, understand and test client documents around cash balances, banking reconciliations, foreign exchange etc. – with plans in place to pilot the technology with Middle East clients later in the year.

“Cash.ai represents a quantum leap in the use of technology in the audit, intelligently automating not just elements of the audit of cash, but the whole end-to-end process,” said Elborno following the announcement of the award. “I am delighted that we will be able to pilot the technology with key Middle East clients in the coming months and enable our teams to do what they do best – understand the business, think critically, drive quality and deliver insight.”