DSMS and ISMS in Municipal Utilities, Energy, and Utility Companies
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Challenges and Solutions for Utility Companies
However, many municipal utilities and local companies face major challenges in establishing a robust level of information security and data privacy. Often, there is a lack of a clear structure or strategy, which leads to an uneven distribution of protection, particularly within corporate groups: While parent companies implement strict data privacy and security policies, subsidiaries often remain unprotected.
Requirements are further increasing due to data subject requests under the GDPR, data breaches, and comprehensive audits affecting the entire group. Additionally, numerous departments, data processing activities, and points of contact must be coordinated.
Challenges for Municipal Utilities in Terms of Transparency and Compliance
Companies often lack an overview of their internal data flows, which leads to a serious lack of transparency in processes and data processing. As a result, the allocation of roles under the GDPR remains unclear, and the likelihood of errors increases when processing requests for access or objections. Municipal utilities, in particular, which process large amounts of personal data and maintain close contact with customers, are heavily affected by these risks.
In addition to these general challenges, municipal utilities face a high density of regulations, including laws such as ELWOG, EAG, NISG, and TKG. These legal requirements place a significant burden on the organization. Unusual data processing activities within the scope of research and development projects—such as in the areas of prosumers, smart cities, smart grids, e-mobility, and virtual power plants—further increase complexity. Added to this are new obligations and data processing procedures related to whistleblowing, which further exacerbate the challenges.
Akarion's GRC Cloud for information security and data privacy
Given the multitude of regulatory requirements and the associated data processing activities, a fully functional information security and data privacy management system is simply indispensable for ensuring compliance. When setting up and operating such management systems, many companies rely on strong partners.
At Akarion, we aim to be exactly that strong partner. The GRC Cloud is a SaaS solution that can be used immediately, with no setup costs or implementation effort. Thanks to its intuitive usability and tutorial videos, users can quickly navigate every module of the GRC Cloud.
Despite its ease of use, the GRC Cloud offers the depth and functionality required for an ISMS or DSMS:
- A logical and modular structure, as well as active support in setting up and operating an ISMS and DSMS,
- Client separation with the ability to replicate content, roles, and permissions via central administration without full data access by the admin,
- Extensive options for creating templates,
- Overview and management of all data recipients, processors, joint controllers, and tasks,
- A graphical overview of data flows based on actual processing activities,
- the ability to actively manage audits, and
- customizable reporting options—these are just a few of the features offered by the Akarion GRC Cloud.
Thanks to the ISO 27001 certification of the Akarion GRC Cloud, our customers can provide transparent and auditor-recognized evidence of the maturity level of their DSMS and ISMS at any time. The ISMS and DSMS can also be easily expanded—for example, with our whistleblowing or business continuity management module.
Akarion is a strong partner when it comes to DSMS and ISMS.
Stadtwerke, die mit der Akarion GRC Cloud ihr ISMS umsetzen.
