The Executive Committee and the other Board members of BIIA believed it would be appropriate for me, as one of the founders and the leader of the Association for a large part of 20 years, to create a BIIA 20th Anniversary publication containing a chronology of the key events and milestones.

I am pleased to say this publication is now available and can be viewed through the following link: BIIA 20th Anniversary publication.pdf.

Drawing on insights from publications about our industry’s history, an unknown author once coined the phrase:

“Information Services Grow in the Age of Uncertainty.”

Looking back over 20 years of business information, this phrase certainly holds true today—and will continue to do so going forward. It highlights both potential opportunities to be seized and risks to be avoided. BIIA was born at a time of great uncertainty. It was period following the Asian Financial Crisis (a Black Swan event), which began in July 1997 lasting several years. It turned out to be a great opportunity for the business information industry as the World Bank forced the adaption of the concept of data sharing i.e. the concept of credit bureaus in Asia.

There have been two further Black Swan events during the past 20 years and it is prudent to assume similar events could recur. The Sub-prime financial crisis 2007 to 2009 had a serious negative impact on the credit information industry in terms of declining revenues and shareholder value. The Yellow Pages debacle reminds us that ignorance can lead to rapid bankruptcy, with the speed of change being a critical factor. In reality, the warning signals were plentiful. The pandemic, being fresh on our mind saw a seesaw effect of sharp short term rises and declines in revenue growth.

As we move forward, no long-term predictable patterns have emerged that can reliably forecast the future. There has been no tranquility, and none should be expected. Change remains the only constant.

Not all was bleak, there were many success stories. At BIIA we witnessed how companies fostered growth through acquisitions, partnerships, internal development and international expansion. BIIA made great progress in its relationship with regulators in the region.

This brings us to Artificial Intelligence (AI), which many perceive as having suddenly emerged creating plenty of hype. In truth, efforts to develop AI span decades, evolving from operational research to predictive analytics, culminating in today’s Generative AI.

AI presents a great opportunity to deepen our industry’s expertise within the risk management community. There is a broad consensus that the quality of underlying data—reliable, accurate, and timely—is key to effective AI. Our industry is, or should be, the primary source of such data or assist clients in improving their data quality. Using AI to enhance efficiency in data sourcing and quality assessment should be actively pursued. If ignored one will see customers becoming competitors. The uncertainty caused by the current ‘tariff’ discussions and potential supply chain reconfiguration should be seen as a great opportunity for cross border information. Therefore, make hay while the sun shines.

Sincerely,
Joachim C Bartels
Cofounder and Director of BIIA
bartelsjc@biia.com