Business View Magazine | March 2020

34 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE MARCH 2020 of Homeland Security’s Supply Chain Risk Management Task Force are also bringing forward recommendations. An Impact to Our Economy While threats to national security and public health or safety are at the pinnacle of concerns among both Democrats and Republicans, the economic impact of ICT supply chain security is more far-reaching. • Business continuity – Disruption within any element of the supply chain can cause downtime that can halt or limit business continuity and operations for any type of organization across all vertical markets, causing lost revenue, reduced profits, and an inability to meet consumer demand. • Corporate reputation –Whether it’s a delay in getting new products to market, or something more serious like a hacking event that results in the theft of customer’s personal data, financial business information, or intellectual property, any supply chain risk that goes unmanaged can impact public perception and the willingness to purchase products from, or recommend, a company. • Consumer confidence –Whether it originates from a single company falling victim to a security breach, or a wide-spread infrastructure failure, lack of consumer confidence has the biggest impact on technology adoption. According to an October 2019 J.D. Power Mobility Confidence Index Study, 71 percent of consumers already cite system failures or errors as the primary concern when it comes to self-driving vehicles. As the technology advances, any demonstrated risk to the underlying infrastructure – from 5G network communication and curbside traffic detection systems, to the vehicular sensors and autonomous control software – can destroy consumer confidence and prevent adoption altogether.