CIO Strategy Meeting, May 11-12, 2016
Panel Discussion-Wrap-Up & Video
Prepared by Raida Hicks, Program Director, NCS Madison
Kim Stevenson, Chief Information Officer & Vice President at Intel Corporation moderated the Future of the CIO in a Dynamically Changing World panel at the CIO Strategy Meeting on May 11-12, 2016, in New York.
Other contributors to the panel discussion, included; Cesar Baldeon, Chief Enterprise Architect at The World Bank Group, Warren Kudman, Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Turner Construction, Greg Fittinghoff, Acting Chief Information Officer, at The Fashion Institute of Technology, and Robin Bienfait, Chief Enterprise Innovation Officer, at Samsung Electronics.
Kim Stevenson opens the panel by saying, “Business is moving at an ever fast pace and primarily driven by technology, which makes it ever the best time to be a Technology Professional. However, It presents challenges, and there is a lot of debate in the industry about the role of the CIO. IT spending keeps on increasing, companies are appointing Chief Data Officers, Chief Digital Officers, and this creates a dynamic challenge for the CIO and their responsibilities.”
The panelists presented their perspectives on how they saw technology impacting their organizations and their role in IT.
Greg Fittinghoff, Acting CIO from The Fashion Institute of Technology, views the role of the CIO as a facilitator who brings technology to students, by engaging technology partners to integrate 3D Technologies and Wearable Technologies into student’s learning, and preparing them for the workforce.
“The key is to equip students with the skills they need to help companies they join, to drive businesses to the next level. Otherwise, they are coming out with general skills, but do not have the skills to do what they are requested to do” -Greg Fittinghoff
Warren Kudman, VP & CIO for Turner Construction, highlighted the importance of virtual design, digitizing all documentation, and the workflow that goes into keeping the communication with all the stakeholders flowing smoothly. It is a significant advancement for the construction industry.
Kudman also indicated that the construction sector was waiting for the Mobile and Cloud because all the construction happens out in the field.
“When we have all of our stakeholders our of their offices, but together on the site, the ability to get all that data out, allows effective communication to solve challenges in a much more rapid fashion.”
“The role of the CIO and IT is to become the cheerleaders for young talent, to bring the innovation into their work,” -Warren Kudman
Innovation was also discussed. Robin Bienfait, Chief Enterprise Innovation Officer at Samsung Electronics, shared her perspective on how to keep innovation going in the organization, by telling us that Samsung looks not only for inside innovation, but also for outside innovation.
“Limit your innovation so you can be responsive to the marketplace”
In addition, Robin highlighted that constant moving, rethinking, and disruption has to come from the top of the organization, and it has to become part of the culture.
Cesar Baldeon, Chief Enterprise Architect at The World Bank Group, concluded the program by pointing out the importance of Enterprise Architecture as a foundation to help the business move quickly. At the World Bank Group,
“The Enterprise Architecture sits at the top of the business process and the data flows through the system” -Cesar Baldeon
The question at hand now is: Will the role of the CIO still exist in the future?