Reframing Data Security and Sovereignty as a Hotel Team and Guest Benefit | By Adam Mogelonsky

Rather, what I like about what Shiji has done with its new all-in-one system and its thought leadership around data security and sovereignty is the reintroduction of positive hospitality back into these potentially hazardous areas of operations.

(And for more background explanation on data sovereignty in terms of where data resides, how it moves across geographic territories with different protection standards and first-party rights, see the other recent Shiji article here.)

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Apples

Let’s give this some aspirational musings before bringing the conversation back to the ground level. If a brand represents a trusted product, in the tech world there is perhaps no better example than Apple. With all of its hardware and its entire software ecosystem, Apple has prioritized personal data privacy and security with every iOS update, every advertising campaign and every response to government requests for data sharing. As the word ‘branding’ shares the Old German root for ‘burn’, when we think Apple, the emotions of trust and security from malicious attackers has been seared into our minds.

With this digression, I ask: where is the Apple of hospitality?

What hotel company uses their superior data protection capabilities and first-party data storage standards as an element of their overall messaging in order to gain a competitive edge in brand equity?

It may be precisely because there’s no clear answer to these questions that there’s an opportunity for forward-thinking brands to dominate this vacuum. If one hotel company were to gain an edge here, the lack of opposing messaging within this particular niche would mean they’d no longer be competing apples-to-apples (sorry, had to throw this pun in!) with other brands.

From Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, before a hotel can aim to be self-actualizing and transformational, it must first master the basics of physical and psychological safety. Nowadays, with our lives all-but-wholly dependent on technology, data privacy and security may as well both be considered aspects of this lower tier in the pyramid.

Hence, satisfying this core need may potentially go further in driving emotion-based bookings than messaging that targets higher tiers (belonging, self-esteem, self-actualization and self-transformation). Be forewarned though: brand equity with this specific directionality is built over a very long period of time, through each guest email, each press release, strong website presentation and, above all, a rethink of the entire tech stack to prioritize data security and sovereignty.

Hotels and Their Human Stacks

That’s the full-half-glass angle for how a greatly enhanced focus on data security can work in a hotel’s favor to elicit more revenues. There’s another way where a positive reframing of data security and sovereignty can impact a hotel organization: staff training.

First and foremost, it’s often remarked that the largest vulnerabilities of any cybersecurity protocol is its human players. Some employees don’t use strong passwords; others don’t set up 2FA; others still write out answers to security questions that any bad actor could brute force after a cursory social media scrape.

Then there are the phishing schemes. The dawn of adaptive, LLM-driven malware should scare practically everyone because such attacks may look increasing credible as they come to better imitate the vernacular of friends, family and colleagues. And unlike the more sophisticated hacks of state-sponsored actors, these phishing attempts can target anyone; they simply throw a lure out into the lake and see who bites.

People of all walks go to self defense classes; why don’t they also attend cyber-self defense classes? As everyone in IT knows all too well, cybersecurity is far more than just installing and updating your antivirus software.

I had previously alluded to how much of our lives revolve around technology, so naturally one would think that people would be keen to learn about how all this tech works so that they can take those skills home with them – skills, like knowing a bit about data security and sovereignty, that are now universally applicable to whichever career path chosen.

Maybe I’m the anomaly in wanting to learn about how data works and how to protect myself, but my firm belief is that with the right “Start With Why” context, everyone from executive to line cook would want to devote paid time towards grasping the basics here. Knowing how to protect your data identity and where your data is stored are becoming essential life skills, akin to rapidly typing on a QWERTY keyboard or prompt engineering.

Many hotel organizations already struggle with turnover or labor shortages within certain regions. To help solve this problem, human resources officers have wisely pointed to continuing professional development (CPD) as a way to incentivize employees for the long haul instead of the often-costlier avenue of paying far-above-market wages.

In this sense, offering a well-rounded framework on how data actually functions may act as yet another arrow in your quiver for driving team satisfaction and fostering an enviable corporate culture where associates and managers are warm, long-term team members who know their roles fluently and have the necessary self defense skills to stand resilient against any possible intrusions.

IT Wins Again

While activities like compliance or threat analysis are often relegated to the background of the hotel’s operations in favor of culinary presentation, interior design, wellness or the overall guest experience, these two topics of data security and sovereignty nevertheless highlight the increasingly central role that IT will play in the future of all hotels.

Hopefully this reframing has shown that there is value to all stakeholders beyond simply conducting continuous threat analyses and preventing system shutdowns. By embracing these two specific areas that impact both the tech architecture as well as business processes, there can be a return on investment beyond only safeguarding against malware.

How do you develop the brand equity of being the Apple of hospitality with a great culture that teaches its teams about all things data as a life skill? It starts by looking at your systems so that you can be airtight. It also means bridging a gap between IT and HR. Above all, it’s a ton of planning and work, so best get started now!