Many Australian CIOs believe their bosses are digital illiterates, according to research commissioned by CA Technologies. The software supplier engaged researcher Vanson Bourne to interview 30 local CIOs as part of a global research study, The future role of the CIO: digital literacy amongst senior executives, which was first published in August this year. The majority (83 per cent) of these CIOs believe their top level managers are digital illiterates and their lack of understanding about how technology can improve business could be affecting or hampering growth. Digital literacy is defined as an individual’s ability to understand how technology can be applied to business requirements. Vanson Bourne spoke to 685 CIOs worldwide – 30 in Australia – at companies with more than 500 employees in markets such as telecommunications, retail, financial and manufacturing sectors. Only 37 per cent of the Australian CIOs interviewed are involved in their company’s strategic decision making process, which impedes the thinking of senior managers about how technology can benefit their businesses. This leaves CIOs frustrated because they can’t drive technology conversations and are “on the outside of critical conversations where their understanding of technology could prove invaluable”. “Without the support of the senior management team, and an invitation at the top table, pioneering CIOs can remain powerless to transform the business,” Professor Joe Peppard, director of the IT leadership programme at the Cranfield School of Management said in the report. Bill McMurray, MD, Australia New Zealand at CA Technologies, echoed his sentiments: “CIOs are much more in tune with their businesses than they were 10 or 20 years ago. However, the CIO is fighting the belief that technology can create process efficiencies but it doesn’t deliver value on its own.” Still, McMurray believes that a CIO’s perspective around the lack of digital literacy is perhaps jaded by the fact that they have trouble communicating with other c-level executives. “CIOs truly understand technology but don’t necessarily know how to articulate that to other executive members of the organisation,” he said. “When I talk to CEOs and CFOs, I find they are more digitally literate than CIOs give them credit for. “A lot of CIO’s have a passion for technology but I don’t think it’s a passion for CEOs who are there to make a difference to the business. So when somebody comes to you with something that you don’t have a lot of interest in, it’s not a conversation that tends to get a lot of airplay.” “Most people on the business side are not completely digital literate and they don’t want to be. All they want to know is why [a particular technology] is good for the business.” Follow CIO Australia on Twitter and Like us on Facebook… Twitter: @CIO_Australia, Facebook: CIO Australia, or take part in the CIO conversation on LinkedIn: CIO Australia Related content BrandPost The future of trust—no more playing catch up Broadcom: 2023 Tech Trends That Transform IT By Eric Chien, Director of Security Response, Symantec Enterprise Division, Broadcom Mar 31, 2023 5 mins Security BrandPost TCS gives Blackhawk Network an edge with Microsoft Cloud In this case study, Blackhawk Network’s Cara Renfroe joins Tata Consultancy Services’ Rakesh Kumar and Microsoft’s Nilendu Pattanaik to explain how TCS transformed the gift card company’s customer engagement and global operati By Tata Consultancy Services Mar 31, 2023 1 min Financial Services Industry Cloud Computing IT Leadership BrandPost How TCS pioneered the ‘borderless workspace’ with Microsoft 365 Microsoft’s modern workplace solution proved a perfect fit for improving productivity and collaboration, while maintaining security of systems and data. By Tata Consultancy Services Mar 31, 2023 1 min Financial Services Industry Microsoft Cloud Computing BrandPost Supply chain decarbonization: The missing link to net zero By improving the quality of global supply chain data, enterprises can better measure their true carbon footprint and make progress toward a net-zero business ecosystem. By Tata Consultancy Services Mar 31, 2023 2 mins Retail Industry Supply Chain Green IT Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe