A native combination of touch, video, and other personal multitasking features will extend the might of handy tablet devices. Augmenting the capabilities of smart phones, readers and laptops, tablets will open a new dimension: The psychology of shared touch and audiovisual interactions.

Independent Corporate Directors will play a decisive role in promoting necessary adjustments in the ways and means of public corporations. Global economic recovery cannot wait. Boards of Directors have the power and must call their companies to order.

Firms must heed the holistic dimension of risk proactively and protect critical people, information, technology, and business resources. Resilience will bear fruit in mitigating disruptions. It will also help firms reap the positive side of risk: Opportunity.

Besides improving the regulatory framework, the financial sector should understand the perils of undeterred complexity risk. Moral principles, economic purposes and professional ethics should inspire more pragmatic accountability and transformative actions.

How will financial firms survive upcoming market upheavals? Riding on the short memories of major financial scandals, a risk factor seems to keep running amok: Character. Savvy relationship management has been a core competency, so character must play a distinctive role in the credit process and business reviews by Boards of Directors.

In their testimony to the U.S. Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, various executives from Citigroup described how flawed risk assessments involving over USD 40 billion in complex securities triggered a global crisis. How could such a large pool of complex financial assets bear virtually "no risk"? Why should Boards and regulators bother?

When economies move down unexpectedly, governments are keen to lift up ailing financial institutions that are deemed "too big to nail down." If governments will always come to their rescue, why should companies refrain from taking excessive financial risks?

Strong consumer adoption of selected mobile apps must lead to sustainable business models. As pervasive mobile interactions will measure up to the trillions, every cent will count. Social media and crowdsourcing will reaffirm the role of mobile devices for personal participation and control.

Beyond promoting their brands, firms must generate revenue from social media and curb down billions of US dollars in online fraud. Navigating complex flows will require visual tools that link fuzzy online interactions to financial results.

Will firms act upon the risks of pervasive changes in client transaction preferences? How should banks tap social media and combine client and risk analytics to improve performance? Optimizing risk management, client focus, capital, and cost will be the top priorities.

Watson, a new powerful computer from IBM research has beaten renowned champions in the TV trivia game of “Jeopardy!”. A future challenge will be to glean domain knowledge from unstructured information and find precise answers to complex issues with the confidence of industry experts.

Key actions financial firms can take in the wake of new legislation. While consumers get to understand the limitations and unintended consequences of being “protected”, financial firms must seize the opportunity to improve risk management and price competitively.

Would the audit, financial, operating and risk functions provide comprehensive, relevant and timely data to support top-level decisions? Would the information for executive decision-making become clear, credible and actionable? Find out the answers...