1. The Meaning of ‘CIO Squared’ (Opinion) http://www.govtech.com/policy-management/The-Meaning-of...
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The Meaning of ‘CIO Squared’ (Opinion)
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E-Government March 8, 2012 By Andy Tweet 2
Emerging and Sustainable Blumenthal Enter your email VIEW SAMPLE
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An article recently
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IT Policy/Mgmt/Enterprise describes the term
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Tech “CIO Squared” as “the
combination of chief information officer and chief
Justice and Public Safety
innovation officer,” and goes on to provide examples
Products of CIOs who are both of these.
Transportation and
Infrastructure While I respect this definition of the term and think
innovation is certainly critical to the success of any
Wireless/Mobile/Broadband
CIO — and for that matter any organization in our Like 1822 likes. Sign Up to see what your
View All News Topics... times — I have been writing a column called CIO friends like.
Andy Blumenthal, division
Squared for a couple of years in Public CIO
chief, U.S. State Department
GT Network of Sites magazine and have other thoughts about what this
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Digital Communities really means.
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Moreover, I think the article in CIO missed the point of what "squared" really implies.
Public CIO Government Best Practices
Videos Like the notion that 1+1=3, CIO Squared is a concept that the CIO is not just multifaceted
» A New Model for Human Resources
Photos and multitalented (that would be 1+1=2), but rather that the CIO integrates multiple facets,
» Abandoning the High Cost of Enterprise Content
roles and synergizes so that they have an impact greater than the sum of the parts (i.e.,
Newsletters Management
1+1=3).
Industry Perspectives I see CIO Squared fulfilling its potential in a couple of major ways:
Case Studies
First, many organizations have both a chief information officer (CIO) and a chief
White Papers
technology officer (CTO) — breaking the “information technology” concept and
Contributed Solutions responsibility into its components and dividing the responsibility between two different
How to Guides people or different roles in the organization. One is responsible for the information needs
of the business; the other brings the technology solutions to bear.
However, I believe, fundamentally, a truly successful CIO needs to be able to bridge both
of these functions and wear both hats — and wear them well. The CIO should be able to
work with the business to define and, moreover, envision their future needs to remain
competitive and differentiated (that's the innovation piece). But at the same time, CIO also
needs to be able to work toward fulfilling those needs with technology and other solutions.
Therefore, at some point the role split between the CIO as the "business guy" and the
CTO as the "technology whiz" has to merge back into an executive who speaks both
languages and can execute on these.
That does not mean that the CIO is a one-person team — quite the contrary, the CIO has
the support and team that can plan and manage to both. But the CIO should remain the
leader — the point of the spear — for both.
Another way to think of this is that CIO Squared is another name for chief information
technology officer (CITO).
A second notion of CIO Squared that I had when putting that moniker out there for my MOST VIEWED MOST COMMENTED
column was that the CIO represents two other roles. On one hand, he or she is a
consummate professional and business person dedicated to the mission and serving This Section | Whole Site
customer and stakeholders. On the other hand, the CIO needs to be a “mensch” — a School Laptop Scandal Teaches Valuable Lessons
decent human being with integrity, empathy and caring for others.
New York Officials Promise Reforms After Scathing
IT Audit
This notion of a CIO, or for that matter, any CXO — chief executive officer or the “X”
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representing any C-suite officer (CEO, COO, CFO, CHCO, etc.) — needs to be
dual-hatted, where they perform highly for the organization delivering mission results, but New York City to Mandate Open Data
simultaneously do so keeping in mind the impact on people and what is ultimately good 5 Tips for Managing Successful Vendor
and righteous. Relationships
Therefore, the CIO Squared is one who can encompass both the business and technology
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2. The Meaning of ‘CIO Squared’ (Opinion) http://www.govtech.com/policy-management/The-Meaning-of...
roles and synthesize these for the strategic benefit of the organization, but also one who is
mission-focused and maintains integrity and oneness with his people and “G-d” above
who watches all.
This column was reprinted with permission from Andy Blumenthal’s website.
You may use or reference this story with attribution and a link to
http://www.govtech.com/policy-management/The-Meaning-of-CIO-Squared-Opinion.html
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