Ethics & trust in technology

About Deloitte’s Ethics & Trust in Technology Survey

Deloitte’s Ethics & Trust in Technology: Executive intentions and attitudes survey gauged perspectives of 200 enterprise executives about responsible decision-making related to the design, operation, and governance of the development and use of emerging technology.

The survey was conducted online by an independent research firm from March 16-20, 2023. Respondents were either final decision-makers or have influence over decisions about the development and use of technology within their organizations.

The findings show:

Nearly all surveyed executives believe that tech ethics are highly important to their organization, but are split on who should be responsible

When we asked executives about responsible decision-making related to the design, operation, and governance of the development and use of emerging technology, nearly all agreed tech ethics are top of mind. This may not be surprising given the increasing use of emerging technology. Despite emerging technology looming over most companies in some form or another, organizations struggle with issues like financial resource limitations and alignment on who should be responsible for developing standards.

A lack of ethical standards for technology can have a widespread negative impact, particularly on employees

Executives seem to be aware of the risks of operating without standards for developing and using emerging tech – and the #1 concern of respondents is the potential impact on their people, ahead of other organizational risks like reputational and financial losses.