The information environment that we are now living in is inevitably changing, upgrading, and creating new applications. It is a complicated task for organisations like the government, libraries, education, and corporations to keep up with the fast-paced, ever-changing digital platforms (Cascio & Montealegre, 2016).

With the continuously changing technology that we live with, which we cannot avoid, security in organisations are required to factor in extra budget for many areas, such as ongoing training and upgrading infrastructure and equipment. For organisations to seek to employ appropriate and qualified professionals to train their staff in the use and etiquette to meet the company’s technological needs, closing the gap between the younger and older generation’s skills and perception of using technologies are part of the cost (Eason, 2001).

There are always constant version updates and requirements to migrate to new systems. The upgrades and application migrations are an endless investment. Seeking new ways to provide and conduct business is also another trend. The current working-from-home model also poses another issue for organisations to manage staff for security issues when they are using their own internet and inadequate infrastructure. The logistical issue is that companies require someone to ensure staff are motivated and working as per company guidelines, arrange measurements and new policies required to be set up, and receive staff consent. On top of these extra challenges, the claims for overwork and monitoring well-being makes it harder to build trust with staff (Al-Shammari et al., 2023).

Due to changes in technologies and platforms in an organisation, setting up new policies and rules on how to access and conduct everyday business on internal and external websites could add another constraint to the organisation. The data that travels and is stored in the cloud poses another security issue and keeping it safe and secure within the organisation becomes another challenging and exigent task. The cost of keeping the firewall secure is rendered useless if the user lacks the knowledge to protect against hackers, who can find new ways to get information from organisations and sell it to other criminals on the dark web (Martínez-Caro et al., 2020).

The future of academic librarian roles will be evolving, not only to incorporate even more digital services and online resources, but also because the general community expects them to be experts in the field. Hence, continuing to upskill by following close to technology trends and keeping up with the digital world is a necessity (Evans & Baker, 2011).

References:

Al-Shammari, M., Aziz, W. A., & Jasimuddin, S. M. (2023). Emerging trends in innovation management and entrepreneurship development in the 21st century: issues, challenges, and opportunities. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1145727. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1145727

Cascio, W. F., & Montealegre, R. (2016). How technology is changing work and organizations. Annual review of organizational psychology and organizational behavior, 3, 349-375. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-041015-062352

Eason, K. (2001). Changing perspectives on the organizational consequences of information technology. Behaviour & information technology, 20(5), 323-328. https://doi.org/10.1080/01449290110083585

Evans, W., & Baker, D. (Eds.). (2011). Libraries and society: role, responsibility and future in an age of change. Elsevier. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/CSUAU/detail.action?docID=1584455

Martínez-Caro, E., Cegarra-Navarro, J. G., & Alfonso-Ruiz, F. J. (2020). Digital technologies and firm performance: The role of digital organisational culture. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 154, 119962. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2020.119962

Shutterstock. (n.d.). Technology Vector royalty-free images [Stock image]. https://www.shutterstock.com/search/technology-vector