According to the upcoming State of Digital Trust report from ISACA, the IT governance professional association, more than half of organisations (55%) believe it’s extremely or very important to have a digital trust framework.

Digital trust is defined as confidence in the integrity of the relationships, interactions, and transactions within an associated digital ecosystem.

An early look at ISACA’s research, which explores attitudes of digital trust, also uncovers the benefits of digital trust. These include: an enhanced positive reputation (71%), more reliable data for decision-making (60%), fewer privacy breaches (60%) and fewer cybersecurity incidents (59%), and stronger customer loyalty (56%).

To help meet these needs, ISACA has announced it’s launching a Digital Trust Ecosystem Framework (DTEF) and accompanying resources to help businesses focus on trust by securely using technology, reducing reaction times to unforeseen events, and improving financial performance through enhanced trust.

This also follows the association’s prior research which found that while 94% believe that digital trust is relevant to their organisation, and a further 83% think it will be more important over the next five years, only 44% feel there’s sufficient collaboration in their organisation to improve digital trust.

“High levels of digital trust ultimately improve financial performance by lowering the risk of impact of data and cyber breaches and associated regulatory fines,” said Shannon Donahue, ISACA chief content and publishing officer. “Organisations can also see greater gains from responsible digital investments, and the Digital Trust Ecosystem Framework helps with both of these.”

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The professional association said that its Digital Trust Ecosystem Framework (DTEF) and portfolio of resources helps organisations by addressing the key components of digital trust: integrity, security, privacy, resilience, quality, reliability and confidence. The new framework is also compatible with many existing frameworks and best practices, including COBIT, ITIL, GDPR, and numerous ISO and NIST standards.

“Strengthening digital trust is not just a one-time exercise, but a continuous practice of proactive relationship building between enterprises and stakeholders that is both responsible and profitable while also addressing underlying ethical questions,” commented Rolf von Roessing, member of the ISACA Digital Trust Working Group and lead developer of the framework, and partner and CEO at FORFA Consulting AG.

“Having a framework to guide organisations as they integrate trustworthiness into their technology and business operations ensures that they are covering all ground, minimising risk and maximising impact.”

ISACA said it will also be releasing the Digital Trust Ecosystem Framework Foundation Course and Digital Trust Ecosystem Framework Foundation Certificate later this year.