2021 was an exciting year for our research on securing and managing the risks of emerging technologies. We defined core tenets of what it means to embrace and sustain new IT technologies from a combined security and risk management perspective. For 2022, our latest Forrester data shows that cloud computing middleware platforms, cloud computing business applications as a service, cloud computing infrastructure, intelligence automation, and AI infrastructure are the top five technology categories that are causing security decision-makers the most concern because of the solutions that are emerging within them.

Be Methodical About How You Manage Risk From Emerging Technology

We started by defining the Forrester risk taxonomy for emerging technology. Since we introduced it, firms use this model to help define risks of any technology that is new to them, including cloud adoption. We also produced research on such varied topics as:

In 2022, we plan to continue and extend our thought leadership in managing risk of emerging technologies by covering:

  • Anti-money laundering for cryptocurrencies. As cryptocurrency payments are proliferating, so are money laundering and fraud. Consequently, financial institutions must tackle cryptocurrency-related regulatory requirements. Our research will look at enterprise customers’ drivers, trends, and nascent solutions in this space.
  • The future of decentralized digital identities, including trusted asset identities. To support online customer acquisition, retention, and digital transactions, decentralized human, machine, and asset identities are all the rage. Our research will cover why and how customers and service providers should create a formalized and digital collection of tools and processes that allows them to trust each other as well as physical products and services.
  • Privacy in space. Privacy on Earth is hard, let alone in space. This research will give enterprises answers to the following questions: What governs intellectual property rights and privacy in space? How should companies redesign their data protection processes and procedures to meet potentially new regulatory requirements and customer expectations? What does third-party risk management look like when suppliers have data stored in or transmitted through space? Our research will help organizations map out current and future rules that apply to data storage and/or processing in space, assess emerging risks, and determine their next best move.

Stay tuned for some exciting new topics and content!