The Importance of the Chief Information Officer

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The Chief Information Officer is also known by the title Information Technology Director. According to the US Department of Labor, “Chief Information Officers are responsible for the overall technological direction of their organizations.” (bls.gov). Contained within their various functions the Chief Information Officer has the ability to conduct the hiring of Information Technology professionals and other support personnel that can ably assist in accomplishing information technology related projects.

Being the highest senior executive accountable for Information Technology (IT) and computer systems, they also have administrative functions such as creation and implementation of policies and procedures. Likewise, the CIO directly handles the IT employees and provides an adequate performance review based on Key Performance Indicators of the department.

As for their specialization in IT, they spearhead the planning for maximizing IT as a leverage point against competitors. In the case of government agencies, the Chief Information Officer is “highly responsible for strategic planning for all information and technology management functions—thus, the term information resources management (IRM) strategic planning” (44 U.S.C. 3506(b) (2)).

It can be said then that a Chief Information Officer is a crucial senior administrative post in an organization since information technology plays a great role in giving leverage to business. Typically, a Chief Information Officer has a strong background in some fields of IT such as information systems, computer engineering or computer science. Being a senior post, it is a must for a Chief Information Officer to possess a post-graduate degree in the field of management such as a Master’s in Busines...

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44 U.S.C.3506 (b) (2). Quoted from FEDERAL CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICERS Responsibilities, Reporting Relationships, Tenure, and Challenges.).July 2004. United States Government Accountability Office. Retrieved Feb 2 2011 from http://www.gao.gov/ new.items/ d04823.pdf.

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