7000 data protection officers needed by May 2018

In order to comply with new EU data protection rules, the UK will need 7000 data protection officers by May 2018 – regardless of this week’s referendum outcome.

Research conducted by recruitment specialists GO DPO^®, the strategic partner for the Henley Data Protection Officer (DPO) Programme, estimates that around 7000 large companies (employing in excess of 250 employees) will need to recruit and train at least one DPO each over the next 24 months. Between now and when the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into force on 25 May 2018, that equates to having to train around 14 DPOs every single working day.

Darren Verrian, CEO at GO DPO^®, explained: “This headline figure of 7000 DPOs isn’t a wild exaggeration and if anything is an under-estimate of the actual requirement as many banks and insurance companies employ more than one senior manager to fulfil the requirements of a DPO whose role can involve handling millions of customer and client accounts.

“Our conservative calculations are based on figures published by the BIS at the end of last year and exclude 33,000 medium-sized companies that employ 50–249 employees, many of which will also need to appoint a DPO. Not all companies will want to employ an in-house DPO but will opt for a third party provided DPO managed service. However, these independent contractors will also need to be trained.”

In response to demand, particularly from the financial services sector, for senior manager training for those to be appointed as a DPO, Henley Business School has just launched its own Executive Education DPO Programme and expects to have a significant number of enrolments over the next six months.

“What the underlying figures for the recruitment and training of a DPO conceal is the vast amount of changes to data processing policies, processes and procedures that must be undertaken as a matter of urgency in order to protect business continuity in the face of one of the biggest shake-ups in data protection for over two decades,” added Mike Davis, Head of Open Programmes at Henley Business School.