What are the implications of the GDPR from a practical point of view both from the legal side and the technical side? Aside from the obvious duty to be compliant, my view is that an appropriate data protection structure and responsibility line is not just an IT issue or a legal issue but a it is a corporate governance issue, as it entails serious risk management considerations both from a financial perspective as well as a reputational perspective and therefore each company needs to deploy sufficient investments to ensure adequate compliance.
Boards need to make an essential philosophical switch in accepting that this is a key enterprise risk which needs to be addressed at a board level with adequate resources.
Lack of a proper action can entail heavy sanctions for the company in accordance with the GDPR, with ensuing board responsibilities towards the company (for example in Italy under Art. 2392 of the Italian Civil Code for lack of appropriate action to protect the company).