Earning Digital Trust: Decision-Making for Trustworthy Technologies

The World Economic Forum's report defines digital trust as the expectation that technologies and their providers protect stakeholder interests and uphold societal values. It proposes a framework consisting of three primary goals—security and reliability, accountability and oversight, and inclusive, ethical, and responsible use—operationalized through eight dimensions: cybersecurity, safety, transparency, interoperability, auditability, redressability, fairness, and privacy. The report emphasizes that digital trust is a leadership responsibility and provides a four-step roadmap (Commit and lead, Plan and design, Build and integrate, Monitor and sustain) to help organizations move from compliance to a comprehensive trust-based operating model.

• Digital trust is defined as the expectation held by individuals that digital technologies, services, and the organizations providing them will "protect all stakeholders’ interests and uphold societal expectations and values".
• The digital trust framework is structured around three core goals: security and reliability, accountability and oversight, and inclusive, ethical and responsible use.
• To operationalize the framework's goals, the report identifies eight dimensions of digital trust: cybersecurity, safety, transparency, interoperability, auditability, redressability, fairness, and privacy.
• The report distinguishes between two types of trust assurance: mechanical trust, which relies on predefined outputs and systems like blockchain, and relational trust, which is based on social norms and shared agreements on technology use.
• Standardization is presented as a critical requirement for building digital trust, as it prevents ethical decisions from appearing "subjective and ad-hoc" and ensures predictability in outcomes.
• The report argues that cybersecurity must be treated as an organizational imperative, requiring leaders to both implement technical security and signal that it is implemented at levels consistent with international standards.
• Interoperability is described as a strategic decision rather than a purely technical one, as it must be balanced against an organization's commitments to ethical use and the risks of increased attack surfaces.
• The report proposes a four-stage 'digital trust roadmap' for organizations: 'Commit and lead', 'Plan and design', 'Build and integrate', and 'Monitor and sustain'.
• Effective privacy programs require a cross-functional approach including strategy, policy management, data life cycle management, and 'Privacy by design', supported by a coordinated data governance program.

APA

World Economic Forum (2022). Earning Digital Trust: Decision-Making for Trustworthy Technologies. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Earning_Digital_Trust_2022.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. Earning Digital Trust: Decision-Making for Trustworthy Technologies. 2022. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Earning_Digital_Trust_2022.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=Earning Digital Trust: Decision-Making for Trustworthy Technologies |date=November 2022 |url=https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Earning_Digital_Trust_2022.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2022earning, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{Earning Digital Trust: Decision-Making for Trustworthy Technologies}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2022}, month = nov, url = {https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Earning_Digital_Trust_2022.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }