Has “digital governance” a meaning anymore? Part 3 / Digital or not, you need strong governance

Obviously this extremely fast change did not happen without some pains and mistakes. Technologies took some time to stabilise but quality improvements have taken place. Legislation has also supported this continuous change in its laws and rulings, though its decision cycles are by nature slower than those of technology.

National Laws indicating that digital would become legal proof was passed as early as 2004

Digital cannot be synonymous to Wild West. It may have been partially but as this sector grows its role in the economy and in the relationships between citizens, traditional values of freedom, trust and property must apply. Digital is merging into common law and must provide a similar trust level as a physical transaction.

Government has usually started by digitalising tax returns whilst adding some benefits to incentivise people and companies to adopt the system. In France there is today no option anymore and digital is an obligation. A company, whatever its size, must do VAT returns by digital, which says that a company’s accounting system is now digital in almost all companies.

Logically companies looking for process improvements are now digitising and rationalising document systems that link directly to accounting. There is a big market currently for invoice automation, whether incoming or outgoing. Mentalities progress and market follows. The European market place for that kind of back office automation is valued at approximately 20 Bill. € and is one of the most dynamic segments of the Software market.

So the financial part of the company becomes extensively automated and is under control. I cannot imagine that governance is not strong there – ☺.