IT executives also say that top leaders see their work as central to innovation, in a survey by Harvard and Sloan business schools. As the role of technology becomes undeniably more important within business, senior management has begun recognizing technology as central to innovation and competitive advantage. More on CIO.com More coverage of CIOs’ relationships with other executives That is the main result of an online survey of 175 CIOs from around the world by The Center for CIO Leadership, in collaboration with Harvard Business School and MIT Sloan Center for Information Systems Research (CISR). Harvard hosted the survey online and IBM’ Center for CIO Leadership provided support for the research. Eighty four percent of respondents believed that technology was significantly or profoundly transforming their industries, but that their companies were only fairly effective at taking advantage of the potential this transformation presents. With this change, more CIOs are sitting at the executive table and maintaining an active role in strategic business decisions. Eighty percent of CIOs responded that they are a valued member of the senior leadership team, and 69 percent indicated they have significant involvement in strategic decision-making.The survey’s findings show how CIOs have gained significant influence over their organizations’ strategic decisions. These CIOs also contribute to strategic planning and growth initiatives, gain the commitment of senior management, and earn the trust of senior management. Companies with a strategic CIO tend to use IT more extensively to innovate new products and services and share technology more effectively across the enterprise. According to the CIOs surveyed, their priorities include improving external partnerships, developing IT talent, and extending the collaboration across their business. Also, organizations whose CIOs are involved in the decision making process demonstrate higher levels of IT-enabled business model innovation, IT-enabled product/service innovation and shared infrastructure and services. (See more stories on CIO.com exploring working relationships among executives.)The survey’s findings show that CIOs involved in the strategic process also have a list of skills that set them apart. These skills include political savvy, leadership, relationship management and resourcefulness. The survey concluded by stating, “In a competitive environment where IT infrastructure and process automation are CIO “table stakes,” it is incumbent upon IT executives to have an impact on their organizations’ capacity to innovate and grow.” Related content brandpost Sponsored by Rimini Street How to evolve IT systems into innovation engines Today’s IT leaders are more than eager to modernize with best-fit cloud solutions that drive innovation and rapid business impact, but they need to do so with ROI-based solutions. By Tanya O'Hara Nov 28, 2023 4 mins IT Leadership brandpost Sponsored by Palo Alto Networks x Accenture Making sense of zero trust - why a managed SASE solution is the ideal option for enterprises Security leaders are turning to SASE as their preferred network security solution amid a new era of cloud-powered businesses working from anywhere. By CIO Contributor Nov 28, 2023 4 mins Network Security feature 8 tips for unleashing the power of unstructured data For most organizations, data in the form of text, video, audio, and other formats is plentiful but remains untapped. Here’s how to unlock business value from this overlooked data trove. By Bob Violino Nov 28, 2023 10 mins Data Mining Data Science Data Management opinion What you don’t know about data management could kill your business Organizations without a solid data management strategy are on a collision course with catastrophe. Unfortunately, that’s most businesses, judging by the fundamental disconnect on the importance of strong data foundations. By Thornton May Nov 28, 2023 6 mins Data Architecture Data Governance Master Data Management 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