Tech terms—from cloud computing to business intelligence—are ever present in association life. They come up during meetings, in emails, and in conversations with members and vendors. That’s why it’s important for all staff, not just an association’s IT team, to have a basic understanding of common tech-related words.

“When definitions are clear, you are more efficient with your time,” says Achurch Consulting CEO Rebecca Achurch, CAE. “There are less reworks. It reduces miscommunications.”

Even when two people think they’re on the same page, they may not be. Some tech terms overlap or require more clarity. For instance, “I think there are frequently misunderstandings about what ‘cloud’ is,” Achurch says. “It’s such a broad spectrum and a lot of detail about understanding what it means. It could be an offsite storage facility, or it could be a cloud-based app system.”

Association staff with purchasing power for systems that will assist their job function need to take special care that they know the related tech terms, according to Achurch. You need “enough knowledge to make sure that your vendors are really meeting your requirements and your needs as an organization, and not just proposing the same canned solution for every association,” she says. “It matters what skills your team has; it matters the strategic direction you’re going.”

And if a staff member is having a discussion with a potential vendor or partner and unfamiliar tech terms come up, Achurch says it’s important to ask questions. “I would suggest some tactics I’ve used: Can you help me understand what you mean by X? Can you give me an example? Can you describe it in a different way?” she says. “Partners and good technologists should be able to speak in simple, plain English without the tech terms.”

While everyone should have some basic knowledge, tech staff at associations can help, especially if they are doing a system overhaul or implementing a new system.

“If we’ve decided we are going to do a big data analytics project, then there needs to be an effort by the organization to make sure the language is now part of the organization,” she says. “It’s great to do brown bags or small informational learning sessions that your tech team can lead.”

Whether you’re in the middle of a systems implementation that requires new knowledge or just want a better understanding of artificial intelligence or data analytics, here’s a glossary of terms that will help you boost your tech prowess.

Data and Security

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)

Allowing employees to bring personally owned devices (e.g., laptops, tablets, and smartphones) to the office and to use those devices to do their work and access company information, data, and applications. Because of the security risks this may pose, many businesses are implementing BYOD policies. (Webopedia, Wikipedia)

Business Intelligence (BI)

An umbrella term that includes the applications, infrastructure, tools, and best practices that enable access to and analysis of information to help organizations improve and optimize decisions and performance. (Gartner)

Data Analytics

The science of examining raw data with the purpose of drawing conclusions about that information. (Simplilearn)

• Descriptive analytics: Using data aggregation and data mining, these analytics provide insight into the past and answer, “What has happened?” Descriptive analytics are useful because they allow organizations to learn from past behaviors and understand how they might influence future outcomes. (Halobi)
• Predictive analytics: Using statistical models and forecasting techniques to understand the future, these analytics answer, “What could happen?” Predictive analytics provide companies with actionable insights based on data and estimates about the likelihood of a future outcome. (Halobi)
• Prescriptive analytics: Using optimization and simulation algorithms, this relatively new field of analytics goes beyond other types of analytics by recommending one or more possible courses of action. It answers, “What should we do?” Prescriptive analytics essentially predict multiple futures and allow organizations to assess a number of possible outcomes based on their actions. (Halobi)

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

In effect since May 2018, GDPR encompasses a set of rules that harmonizes data and privacy protection laws for individuals across 31 countries—all 28 European Union member states plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway—known collectively as the European Economic Area.

GDPR’s 99 articles apply not only to EU businesses but also to any company or organization with personal information about individuals located in the EEA. Under the new regulations, EU residents have the right to access their personal data, the right to rectify incomplete or inaccurate data, the right to be forgotten, and the right to restrict the processing of their data.

Organizations have about 30 days to respond to individual requests about whether personal data is being processed and, if so, to provide access to that data. And if an organization experiences a data breach, it has 72 hours to notify EU data protection agencies. Failure to do so could be costly: Violators are subject to fines up to €20 million or 4 percent of a company’s annual global revenue, whichever is greater. (TechTerms, Wikipedia)

Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS)

A set of security standards that were designed to ensure that all organizations that accept, process, store, or transmit credit card information maintain a secure environment. Failure to comply with PCI requirements can lead to steep fines and penalties, revocation of credit card payment services, or even suspension of accounts. (Investopedia)

Single Sign-On

A service that permits a user to use one set of login credentials (e.g., name and password) to access multiple applications. The service authenticates the end user for all the applications the user has been given rights to and eliminates further prompts when the user switches applications during the same session. (TechTarget)

Spoofing

A type of scam where an intruder attempts to gain unauthorized access to a user’s system or information by pretending to be the user. The main purpose is to trick the user into releasing sensitive information in order to gain access to his or her bank account or computer system or to steal personal information like passwords. (TechTerms, Investopedia)

Tokenization

The process of substituting an important and sensitive piece of data with a non-sensitive equivalent. The new non-sensitive data used is typically a randomly or algorithmically generated alphanumeric code called a “token.”(TechTarget)

Two-Factor Authentication

Also referred to as 2FA, this verification process typically requires a correct login plus another verification check. For example, if 2FA is enabled on an online bank account, users may be required to enter a temporary code sent to their phone or email address to complete the login process. (TechTerms)

Systems and Tools