There is a temptation for management to seek to achieve minimum compliance so that they can go back to ‘running their business.’

What's your name?

Gerard Barry

What position do you hold?

Co-Founder and Group Chairperson, PrivitiTM Group

How long have you held the position?

Five years.

What are your day to day responsibilities?

Ensuring that the team are developing the business in-line with my vision and that of my Co-founder Declan Barry. I attend meetings with new Partners, review and finalise Agreements, speak at conferences. I communicate daily with the CEO and meet twice a week to help drive the business.

What is your professional background?

I studied Maths and Physics at UCD and completed a B.Sc. M Inst D. I worked at several multinationals before deciding to work for myself founding the Fintrax Group which I sold in 2012.

Tell me about yourself away from work?

I love golf and play with friends a few times a week. I enjoy travelling which often coincides with business and seeing cultures and cuisine from around the world. I also enjoy Angel Investment and engaging with the next crop of entrepreneurs by giving talks to groups such as those working at the Portershed in Galway.

Tell us something very few people know about you?

I was involved in the building of the Sir Martin Ryle telescope which was a set of eight enormous satellite dishes which studied radio signals from the outer world to try and figure out if the universe was expanding, contracting or oscillating between the two.

You are speaking at our GDPR Summit in December. What are you speaking about?

I am speaking about what I call the ‘new era of trust’ and how business leaders who thrive in this new era will avoid minimum compliance and lead by establishing greater trust and deeper customer relationships which will generate better quality data leading to more efficient an innovative product and service offerings.

What major challenges do you see for organisations implementing the new regulation?

I see worryingly few organisations committing appropriate resources and creating accountability. There is a temptation for management to seek to achieve minimum compliance to make this problem go away so that they can go back to ‘running their business.’

The trouble with this approach is that there is little or no technological investment which fails to lay a foundation for the future. Organisation who may comply with manual systems on May 25th next year will therefore be inundated with a continuous barrage of data to manage. One could argue that without strategic technological investment it may be more prudent for those organisations to turn off all computers and smart phones and revert to using typewriters, filing cabinets and shredders.

Gerry Barry is appearing at The GDPR Summit. The agenda and further details for this important national event at Croke Park on December 5th, is available atwww.gdpr17.com