In the last days of September of this year, we were very proud to organize our first Europe Show. In cooperation with a number of partners and clients and our parent company IPRO, we hosted a three-day virtual conference full of insights, learnings, and expertise.
Each of the three days had its own theme, featuring a selection of speakers from a range of organizations presenting their expertise. We also took time every day to discuss our own future. 2021 has been a year of changes for ZyLAB, although our commitment to our clients’ needs remains the same.
You’ll find a brief summary of the activities held each day below. Paired with the text, a link to (re)watch the presentations should you feel so inclined. Overall, the ZyLAB Europe Show was a smashing success, and we look forward to organizing it again next year.
Day One - The Future of Information Governance
The day opened with a keynote speech by Dean Brown, the CEO of ZyLAB’s parent company IPRO. He is joined by Johannes Scholtes, our current Chief Data Scientist who served as Chief Strategy Officer prior to the acquisition. Together, they tell us about the past, present, and future of ZyLAB.
Following the keynote, the first client took the virtual stage in the form of René Kronenberg from AbbVie. In a conversation with ZyLAB’s Matthijs Luisman, René shared his experiences in remaining compliant in challenging circumstances. AbbVie is active in the highly regulated pharmaceutical industry and deals with complex and wide-ranging supply lines that are under scrutiny wherever they go.
The Key Takeaway is that for centralized multinational companies, having a SaaS-based solution in place is key to effectively organizing information and remaining compliant.
The third and final major presentation of Day One was by Frederic Bourget, VP of Product at IPRO. Frederic focuses on Information Governance, specifically In-Place Early Data Assessment (EDA). His presentation outlines how data collection used to occur, and how it will have to happen in the future. As datastores grow, Frederic argues, the old ways of collecting data when it is needed are going to become too involved and expensive to keep up. With In-Place EDA, legal professionals are able to find, search and weigh information prior to collection.
The key takeaway is that for compliance-minded organizations, Information Governance may not be optional in the near future. As data growth continues, any other means of data collection may become prohibitively expensive and dangerously time-consuming.
To view the recording of Day One - Click Here
Day Two - The Impact of GDPR & Privacy on your daily operations (main track)
On the second day of the Europe Show, the spotlight was on privacy. Though it may seem ages ago, GDPR became active only three years ago in 2018. With it came many changes to the way organizations deal with personal data and privacy. Many of the GDPRs disclosure requirements are on very tight schedules, which requires organizations to act quickly and effectively to remain compliant.
The day’s first speaker is Tom Gilsenan of Informa. His presentation focuses on the Data Subject Access Request (DSAR). For many organizations, the sore spot in terms of GDPR compliance is meeting DSAR requirements. Tom explains how essential technology has become in the struggle for companies to meet the rising standards of disclosure.
The Key Takeaway is not to think too lightly of disclosure requests when they come in. For example, it may seem obvious to immediately send an automated acknowledgment of a request when one comes in, but such blind acknowledgment commits the organization to a disclosure deadline without knowing the precise content of the request. Beyond that, furthering digitization and using the right tools for the job is essential for effective disclosure.
From this point onward, Day Two split off in two separate tracks, with a number of attendees leaving the main session to attend presentations specifically geared towards Dutch Freedom of Information requests and activities.
On the main track, KPMG’s Ian Dashorst took the stage. Ian’s presentation was about Data Breaches. An oft-forgotten but very serious aspect of GDPR is the law’s provisions regarding Data Breaches. With phishing, brute force attacks, ransomware, and other cyber attacks on the rise, no company is immune to these issues. Aside from setting up defenses to the best of one’s ability, Ian argues, it is wise to prepare for the inevitable. GDPR requires quick and decisive action from the organization whose data has been compromised, he explains, and compliance is complicated when the data lost is largely unstructured and scattered.
The Key Takeaway: During his presentation, Ian shows how organizations can use technology to avoid compliance issues following a data breach. In addition to his presentation, ZyLAB wrote a more detailed blog article about Data Breaches recently.
The main track of Day Two ended with ZyLAB’s eDiscovery Product Director Jan-Willem van den Berg. Jan Willem told the audience about ZyLAB Insights, an optional module in our ZyLAB ONE platform that leverages Artificial Intelligence to find, collect and redact personal information from datasets. With any GDPR-related disclosure, the risk of disclosing too much is present, exposing more personal data than was requested or lost in the first place.
The Key Takeaway: by making clever use of AI, such issues (and the associated embarrassment) can be avoided.
To view the recording of Day Two - Click Here
Day Two - The Impact of GDPR & Privacy on your daily operations (Dutch track)
Following Tom Gilsenan’s presentation to start the day, a few dozen Dutch attendees of the ZyLAB Europe Show broke off the main group. They attended two presentations that dealt with the Dutch Open Government initiatives.
The Dutch-langauge track opened with an interview by ZyLAB’s Daniël Schuuring of Marije van Berk from Servicepunt 71. Servicepunt 71 is a shared service organization providing legal services to the Dutch city of Leiden and surrounding municipalities. Her job focuses on resolving complex Freedom of Information requests as they come in. Throughout the interview, Marije shares her experiences and observations regarding the requests she has handled with the audience.
The key takeaway is that when it comes to such requests, communication, and cooperation both internally and with the requester are key to achieving desired results. Marije also explains how essential technology has become to disclosing information without concern for missing or improperly redacting information. After this session, Daniël Schuuring explored the point further, showing the attendees how ZyLAB Insights can assist in locating, reviewing, and redacting sensitive information from datasets safely and quickly.
To view the recording of Day Two - Click Here
Day Three - Using Artificial Intelligence for Investigations and Regulatory Requests
The last day of the ZyLAB Europe Show was all about AI. ZyLAB’s Chief Data Scientist Johannes Scholtes opened the day with a session highlighting the growing usefulness of artificial intelligence in a legal context. His presentation focused on defensibility and the importance of understanding the foundational processes of AI training.
The Key Takeaway, in order to make optimal use of technology, legal professionals must be willing to gain an understanding of their data and how the AI tools they use interact with that data.
Following Scholtes’ general introduction on the subject, the next presentation focused on applying modern techniques to investigations. ZyLAB’s Jelle Oorebeek was joined by Marlie Kraesgenberg, a forensic investigator for Integis. During a presentation that was voted the Europe Show’s best by attendees, Jelle and Marlie use real-world examples to show how investigative principles can be applied in combination with software like ZyLAB One.
The Key Takeaway - by using sound investigative principles and proper tools, investigators are able to discover, produce and deliver results quickly and effectively.
The final presentation of the Europe Show saw ZyLAB’s Jelle Oorebeek and Matthijs Luisman join forces for a deep dive into investigative methods. Focusing on the ZyLAB Insights’ ability to analyze and understand the data gathered by investigators.
The Key Takeaway, which fit nicely within the theme of the day, was that using AI to gain more of an understanding of complex datasets offers investigators a critical tool to uncover potential risks or wrongdoing.
To view the recording of Day Three - Click Here
To Wrap Up
The ZyLAB Europe Show was the first of its kind, allowing 150+ attendees to hear a wide range of experts share their experiences and knowledge. The survey that was distributed after the event revealed a very positive experience across the board. In addition to the recordings, you can download the presentations used over the course of the three days here.
In case you are interested in attending the next Europe Show, or if you would like a demonstration of ZyLAB ONE sooner than that, please don’t hesitate to let us know.
