The CIO

IT departments require good senior management. A Key role is that of the Chief Information Officer (CIO). The CIO should be able to address strategic and technical issues, should be part of the company board and helping determine the direction of the organisation. The CIO role was once about keeping the IT running. But how is that changing? Do companies need a CIO? Or is the CIO role really the same as the chief operating officer role now that information systems are so core to most businesses?

Tasks
Define the role of the CIO. Explore some recruitment advertisements for CIOs. How strategic is the role? To what extent does it go beyond the technology? Examine several CIO interviews in Computer weekly. Extract themes. What are the common foci of these CIOs? How are they relating IT to the business? Critically review whether organisations need a CIO. How is the role of the CIO changing?