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Are you a CIO 2.0?
They're evolving…

By Tim Ferguson

Published: Wednesday 07 November 2007

The role of the government CIO is evolving, becoming less about merely supporting organisations and more about driving business change - at least for some.

Speaking at Gartner's ITxpo in Cannes, Gartner analyst John Kost said: "It's quite clear the role is still evolving."

Kost - who was Michigan's state CIO from 1992 to 1996 - said government CIOs are still quite limited in their role but there are signs this is changing to include a greater range of responsibilities.

He identified various stages of the government CIO evolution, from the pre-CIO - who basically advises on IT - to the CIO 2.0 who is extremely business focused and part of the strategic leadership.

Kost said the attributes which mark out a government CIO 2.0 include the abilities to lead, develop relationships, innovate and manage change.

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He added to get to the point where the CIO can play an integral role in government, they need to become credible in the eyes of politicians and other senior members of organisation.

Kost said: "To establish credibility, we have to focus on what the leadership wants to achieve."

This is a challenge, he said, especially when senior members of organisations have little interest in technology - something Kost termed the "impenetrable wall of technical apathy".

He said: "You've got to work out how to minimise the technology issues. The organisation typically wants to be told what they need to do."

Kost added the only true government CIO 2.0 in Europe is the director general of IT for the NHS, Richard Granger. "He is clearly having an impact," Kost said.

But he added: "We've got a long way to go in most of Europe."