A new version of ISO 31000:2009—“Risk management” is due to be unveiled early next year. As the threat of risks grows for governments, organizations, and the public alike, how can the new, streamlined standard help to make our future more secure?

Ten years ago, the boardrooms of banks and financial institutions around the world were rattled to hear the news of the collapse of prestigious and highly respected names, such as Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, and Northern Rock. Alan Greenspan, the former chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, described the shock waves that swept the world as a “credit tsunami.”

In family businesses, governments, and industry, the aftermath of the global financial crisis is still being felt. Since then, the spotlight has been turned on risk and exposure to risk—how to manage it, prepare for it, benefit from it, and learn from it. In our complex and interconnected world, one of political uncertainty and economic unease and austerity, these questions are more pertinent than ever and the need for best practice even more compelling.

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