Why Making Everything Digital Is Important

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— And Why You Should Care About How It’s Stored and Shared

Yesterday, I caught up with an old friend over coffee — someone I deeply admire for her work in the field of marketing and communication consultancy. She’s currently handling a crisis case involving a public figure whose academic credentials are being questioned. But the twist is: her client isn’t the public figure — it’s the institution that's now under scrutiny. People are asking: “Is it true this person graduated from your university?” -


What makes it tough, she told me, is the absence of a reliable digital trail. “Back then,” she said, “the graduation records were still paper-based. There were no standardised digital archives, no traces and solid online proof of verified diplomas, no university portal like the ones we see today.” In short, the institution can’t provide a verifiable digital proof, even though the person may well have graduated legitimately. And now, they’re paying the price in credibility.


That conversation lingered in my head long after we parted ways. It made me think: in today's world, everything can — and should — be digitised. Not just because it's more convenient, but because it fundamentally transforms how we establish truth, credibility, and permanence in our society.

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Digital Traceability: A New Standard of Trust

We live in a time where digital traceability isn’t a luxury — it’s an expectation. From academic records and vaccination certificates to tax reports and employment history, everything is shifting to cloud-based systems. The World Economic Forum predicted in 2020 that by 2025, 463 exabytes of data will be created each day globally — and much of this data will shape decision-making in public and private sectors alike.

Digital records provide clear advantages:

  • Durability: Properly stored data doesn’t fade like paper or get lost in a flood.
  • Traceability: Metadata, timestamps, and digital signatures make it easier to verify when and how a document was issued.
  • Credibility: Platforms like LinkedIn Learning and Coursera now issue blockchain-secured certificates that cannot be altered, making credentials more verifiable than ever.

But with these perks come some important caveats.


Dual Realities: The Positives and the Pitfalls

While the digital shift enhances transparency and efficiency, it also opens the door to significant risks:

  1. Privacy Breach: Sensitive data stored online is vulnerable to cyberattacks. The IBM Cost of a Data Breach Report 2023 notes that the global average cost of a data breach has reached $4.45 million, an all-time high.

  2. Information Credibility Crisis: In an era where anyone can publish content online, verifying facts has become harder. According to Pew Research, 64% of adults in the U.S. say fake news causes a great deal of confusion about basic facts of current events.

  3. Low Digital Literacy: In regions where digital literacy remains limited, people may unknowingly expose their data or fall victim to misinformation. UNESCO has been pushing digital literacy programs precisely because access alone doesn’t guarantee understanding.


The Takeaway: Digitize, but Be Smart About It

The lesson here is simple but powerful: yes, we must digitize our data — personal records, institutional archives, professional portfolios — but we must also be intentional about how we store and share that information.

A few practical tips:
  • Use reliable cloud services with robust security protocols (like Google Drive with two-factor authentication).
  • Regularly review access permissions: who has access to what, and what can they do with it?
  • Understand terms of service of digital platforms and data rights (GDPR in Europe, or PDPA in Southeast Asia, for instance). - we are so lazy in this, let's admit it!
  • When possible, use encrypted formats or services that offer data integrity features (e.g., timestamped PDFs, digitally signed documents).
  • Always keep offline backups for the most critical data.

Because at the end of the day, no institution, platform, or app is as responsible for your data security as you are. It’s you who decides where your records live and who can knock on that digital door.

In a world where memory can now be stored in the cloud and verified in seconds, digitalisation is no longer optional — it’s essential. Just make sure your digital house is well-built, well-locked, and owned by you.

Stay safe, stay smart, and keep it digital, baby.


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References:

  • IBM Security. (2023). Cost of a Data Breach Report. Retrieved from ibm.com

  • Pew Research Center. (2023). Fake news and misinformation. Retrieved from pewresearch.org

  • World Economic Forum. (2020). The Future of Data and Digital Identity. Retrieved from weforum.org

  • UNESCO. (2022). Digital Literacy Initiatives. Retrieved from unesco.org

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