The role of the director has been evolving for generations. So too has the way information supports that role.

As companies grew and professional management developed, the distinction between executive management and independent oversight became increasingly important.

By the 1970s, the role of the non-executive director was being actively promoted in the UK. The Cadbury Report of 1992 then placed independent non-executive oversight at the heart of UK corporate governance, and the framework has continued to build on it ever since.

Alongside this, board information was changing too.

Handwritten records and correspondence gave way to typed papers. Typed papers developed into increasingly structured board packs, printed, collated and distributed to directors. Electronic board books followed, and ultimately the modern board portal.

Each stage improved the way information could be prepared, distributed, accessed and considered by the board.

And that progress continues today.

Board portals are becoming increasingly sophisticated, incorporating AI, intelligent search, summarisation and other tools designed to help boards navigate ever greater volumes of information.

But there is an interesting distinction between these two evolutionary paths. The role of the individual director has become increasingly defined, scrutinised and accountable.

Yet the technology supporting that role has largely remained organised around the company and its board.

The organisation selects the system. The board operates within it. The director is given access.

That model makes complete sense from the perspective of the organisation. But increasingly, it may not reflect the world from the perspective of the individual director.

At the same time, the environment directors are expected to understand has widened considerably. Regulatory change, cybersecurity, AI, tokenisation, sanctions, geopolitical and macroeconomic risk, operational resilience, financial crime, data and privacy all increasingly form part of the landscape. And each appointment brings its own share of it.

A director may sit across several boards, spanning different organisations and jurisdictions. Each appointment may have its own board portal, regulatory environment, meetings, documents, actions, conflicts and responsibilities.

Each organisation sees that individual as a director of its board.

The director sees all of them.

Board portals transformed how directors receive information. But as the role of the director continues to change, does the technology supporting that role need to change too?

On Wednesday: Beyond the Board Portal: The Next Generation of Director Technology.