India to establish ratings system

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) is planning to set up a rating system for corporate governance for listed and unlisted entities, states The Economic Times.

The institute intends to take an aggressive stand after the Satyam Computer Services promoters and auditors were accused of misconduct. The new code of conduct would primarily be for its members who will implement it in their respective organisations and among clients.

ICAI president Uttam Agarwal says the institute will conduct awareness programmes for its members, industry and even regulators.

Archer Technologies, a provider of enterprise governance, risk and compliance (GRC) solutions, has partnered with the Health Information Trust (Hitrust) Alliance, says msnbc.

Archer will deliver tools and services to aid in the adoption of the Hitrust Common Security Framework (CSF), the first IT security control framework developed for healthcare information.

The Hitrust CSF offers a means for healthcare organisations to implement security programs for the protection of patient information. It also enables these organisations to respond to such regulations as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, HIPAA, ISO and others.

International analyst firm Ovum says organisations need to protect their most valuable information assets during the current recession in order to be prepared for recovery, reports IT Pro.

Ovum warns that the economic downturn could disrupt organisations' operations and lead to the wastage of information assets in the inevitable downsizing process.

Mike Davis, Ovum senior analyst and one of the report's authors, says the costs associated with data governance are often under pressure as part of recessionary cost-cutting initiatives. He advised firms to work now to review governance policies and, if necessary, strengthen them to avoid leaving valuable assets at risk.