Skip to content

22 March, 2023

Subscribe Advertise About Us
  • My Account
  • Register
  • Log In
  • Log Out

Board Agenda

  • Governance
  • Strategy
  • Risk
  • Ethics
  • News
    • Categories

      • View All
      • Board Moves
    • ethical decision-making

      Call for FTSE 100 companies to give guidance on ethics

      Most top firms have a published code of ethics, but many lack the framework to...

    • BlackRock Larry Fink Larry Fink puts focus on finance and inflation

      Although BlackRock’s CEO does not mention the term ‘ESG’ in his annual letter, he highlights...

    • woke silicon valley bank News round-up: this week in governance

      GOP declares SVB ‘woke’; banks slow to sustainability; fund managers accused of dodging voting risks;...

  • Insight
    • Categories

      • View all
      • Governance
      • Strategy
      • Risk
      • Ethics
      • Board Expertise
      • finance
      • Technology
    • data decision

      How to boost decision making

      Innovative digital tools can help boards to deliver against strategic objectives, but it is the...

    • remote working

      Navigating the new world of work

      Firms need to focus on building an inclusive environment and a culture of trust to...

    • digital transformation

      Digital transformation: Get the basics right

      Board involvement at the get-go will boost the chances of a successful digital transformation for...

  • Comment
      • View all
    • uncertainty in 2023

      Being a CEO in 2023: how to navigate uncertainty

      Agility, planning in the shorter term and bravery will all stand chief executives in good...

    • A week of business moving to the centre of human rights

      A week of events signals the initiatives underway to have companies play a central role...

    • audit reform IIA Why we need audit reform right now

      There is an "urgent need" for reform to the audit landscape as well as internal...

  • Interviews
      • View All Interviews
      • Podcasts
      • Webinars
    • life sciences podcast Reform of NHS levy ‘harms UK competitiveness’

      Boards in the pharmaceutical and life sciences sector face increasingly difficult decisions, according to a...

    • Board priorities 2023 Board priorities 2023: tact, trust and transparency

      We asked key figures what would help boards this year. The answers ranged from 'smarter...

    • Group of investors/shareholders in glass building Climate issues likely to figure prominently at next year’s AGMs

      A recent webinar heard that say-on-climate voting is expected to rise, while ESG remains a...

  • Careers
      • View all
      • Selection
      • Board Moves
    • female ceo Less than a third of FTSE 100 executives are women

      In Europe as a whole, only 7.7% of top companies’ chief executives are female, gender...

    • board size Performance declines as boards grow in size

      Researchers found that investment dropped by 2-3 percentage points as companies passed from 12 to...

    • Silicon Valley governance Silicon Valley improves its governance

      Big technology companies are stealing a march over other top corporates when it comes to...

  • Resource Centre
      • White Paper Downloads
      • Book Reviews
      • Corporate & Advisory Services
    • Gender diversity barometer

      Barometer of Gender Diversity in Governing Bodies in Europe

      The 2023 Barometer of Gender Diversity in Governing Bodies in Europe looks at the 16...

    • geopolitical risk airmic

      Navigating geopolitical risk

      Today, the future feels less secure, and optimism is more restrained. Taking decisions in an...

    • Edelman Trust Barometer 2023

      2023 Edelman Trust Barometer

      The report is the result of the Edelman Trust Institute's research, which sampled more than...

  • Events
  • Search by topic
    • Governance
    • Strategy
    • Risk
    • Ethics
    • Regulation
    • ESG
    • Investor Relations
    • Selection
    • Board Expertise
    • finance
    • Technology

Pandemic ‘opened door’ to the use of new boardroom technology

by Gavin Hinks on August 27, 2021

A recent webinar hosted by Board Agenda and Diligent explored the ways boards are using technology to enhance effectiveness.

Man working remotely

Image: Rymden/Shutterstock.com

The pandemic has accelerated the use of technology in boardrooms with companies that had already adopted digital tools making the most seamless transition to managing and supervising their companies using internet platforms.

The observation came in a special webinar hosted by Board Agenda and Diligent exploring the ways boards use technology to become more effective.

Patrice McDonald, a non-executive with TD Bank, Allica, Davy Group and Brown Brothers, told viewers: “Those boards that were already digitally enabled switched over without skipping a beat.”

She added: “There’s no substitute for the inter-personal connections and the informal chats of a meeting but not withstanding that I’ve been astonished at how productive we have managed to be over various technology platforms and how we’ve managed to replicate most of the advantages of meeting together.”

Data and governance tools

Dottie Schindlinger, executive director of the Diligent Institute, described how digital tools for boards now encompass not only secure communications for meetings and sharing board materials but also the provision of key strategic data and governance analysis tools.

“There are so many things for directors to keep their eyes on it’s just become progressively harder to do,” said Schindlinger.

“You really need something much more nimble and more real time.”

For Isabel Aguilera, an independent director, former CEO of Google and GE in Spain and Portugal, and associate professor at ESADE, a move to digital boardroom tools during the pandemic revealed their advantages.

Less time travelling, especially for directors with international responsibilities, meant directors spent more time reading board materials, as well as allowing higher attendance and the inclusion of executives that would not usually attend board gatherings.

Aguilera added that she believed boards would move to a hybrid model with a mix of digital and in-person meetings. Overall the pandemic had “opened a door” to a successful test of available boardroom technology.

“The exchange of knowledge has been much more enriching,” she said.

 

This Board Agenda/Diligent webinar took place on 22 July 2021. A complete recording of the webinar is available here.

 

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Google+
  • LinkedIn
  • Mail

Related Posts

  • Companies must put equality at the heart of the race to zero
    November 10, 2021
    Trees reflected in buildings

    Singular pursuit of net-zero by 2050 could exacerbate inequality and derail our chances of a climate-resilient future.

  • Top stories of 2021: purpose and transformation amid the pandemic
    December 22, 2021
    Coloured lines unite to form red arrow

    Philosophical questions about corporate purpose and transformation joined ESG, diversity and AI as the thought-provoking themes of 2021.

  • Paul Manduca takes the wheel as chair of Eurowag
    September 16, 2021
    Paul Manduca, Eurowag

    The former chair of Prudential and Aon UK has joined the board of the commercial road transport services provider.

  • Ethics in the technology sector remains a headline issue
    January 26, 2022
    Businessman has biometric data scanned

    For a second year running technology is the sector that garnered the most news stories about ethical lapses—with data privacy a key concern.

For thoughtful journalism, expert insights on corporate governance and an extensive library of reports, guides and tools to help boards and directors navigate the complexities of their roles, subscribe to Board Agenda

board effectiveness, board technology, Diligent, Technology

Search


Sign up to our Newsletter

Receive independent news, thoughtful journalism & expert insights about leadership, corporate governance & key boardroom issues straight to your inbox every week.

SIGN UP

Follow Us

 

 

 

 

Most Popular

  • ESG resilience requires leaders to manage without certainty
  • News round-up: this week in governance
  • Being a CEO in 2023: how to navigate uncertainty
  • Sally Johnson joins Rentokil Initial as NED
  • How to boost decision making

Featured Partner Profile

Diligent

Diligent

Diligent Corporation, which was founded in 2001, is headquartered in New York, NY with a European HQ in London. Diligent’s modern governance platform empowers leaders and teams at every level of the organisation to digitally transform and create ...

Featured Partner Resources

2022 AGM Season Forecast: An Eye on The Horizon

To help prepare for AGMs in 2022, Equiniti (EQ) hi...

Stakeholder Engagement: A Roadmap for UK Plc Boards

This guide aims to provide directors and their col...

Digital Boards: How Technology Adoption is Driving Culture Change and Resiliency

Digital tools proved their worth to boards during ...
Leadership in AI report

Leadership in AI

This report from Board Agenda and Mazars, in assoc...
Creativity in a Crisis: a Boardroom Map for Innovation

Creativity in a Crisis: a Boardroom Map for Innovation

In the uncertain times at the height of any crisis...
Board Directors Guide to D&O Liability Insurance - November 2020 - AIG & Board Agenda

Board Directors' Guide to D&O Liability Insurance

Directors face liability over a range of new threa...
Leadership-in-Risk-Management-Board-Report

Leadership in Risk Management: Board Report

Board Agenda, in association with Mazars and INSEA...
Director's Guide to Internal Investigations

A Director's Guide to Conducting Internal Investigations

An internal investigation must be handled meticulo...

 


 

ADVERTISE – FREE CORPORATE LISTING

FREE - Add your company profile to our Corporate & Advisory Directory.
ADD

ADVERTISE – PROMOTE YOUR REPORTS & WHITEPAPERS

FREE - Add your company profile to our Corporate & Advisory Directory.
Add Resource

Register Free

Register to receive free article views, selected resource downloads, and all the latest news alerts straight to your inbox. Register


  • Editors & Contributors
  • Editorial Advisory Board
  • Corporate & Advisory Services
  • Media Marketing Solutions
  • Contact Us
  • Careers
  • Board Director Network
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookies
  • Sitemap
|