The role of the chief information officer (CIO) in an enterprise has evolved from being a bit part player in the 1950s to becoming pivotal to business operations and continuity. This change followed the incorporation of computing and later the introduction of the internet into business operations. Over the past decade, however, the CIO or IT leader role has been reprised as businesses become fully digitised to take advantage of the vast online market.
The CIO is today expected to, among other duties, assist a business understand the digital world, highlight the opportunities for brand building and revenue generation, and potential risks as well as how to take advantage of inherent opportunities. The CIO is expected to function as a strategic partner to C-suite executives and in that role help to develop a strategic vision for the business as well as articulate how to deploy existing and emerging technologies to achieve set objectives. In line with this new role, IT leaders closely monitor the internet, social media, and digital trends that may likely impact their business.
Thus, in the digital world, the CIO not only seeks to harness the opportunities in technological innovation he must also enunciate strategies to mitigate inherent risks. Tech innovation, role of CIOs and business sustainability However, with the dizzying pace of technology innovation, the role of today’s CIO has further evolved to include what an IT expert called the ability of “forecasting probable fut.