It could be argued that the replacement of EC Digital Commissioner Neelie Kroes by three Commissioners signaled recognition of the growing economic relevance of the digital agenda. Or maybe it was testimony to her concentrated multi-tasking fire-power. Or perhaps a political response to a perceived threat of revolution – divide and rule.
Sure, there’s the digital and cloud agenda that Neelie Kroes was instrumental in forming. But that word ‘digital’ no longer represents a ‘thing’ – it is a force for change. So the most plausible explanation behind the remelding of the former Commissioner’s role is that digital change and their impacts are now everywhere in society. And everywhere in your business.
CIO’s understand that life in a corporate team demands equally sensitive diplomacy. Changing the way we do things around here is both a threat and an opportunity.
No matter how carefully planned, the way ahead is full of surprises. What was never likely last year suddenly becomes today’s ‘must have’ vital capacity. But the flexibility you need does not infer that you should abandon all principles and be blown by the wind.
Within your corporate environment priorities and roles are always dynamic – yesterday’s definitions are not sacrosanct. Armed with an understanding of how transformative cloud concepts can be, the CIO can reach beyond the constraints of departmental boundaries to inform a wider, more collaborative, realisation of benefits throughout the business.
All businesses have distinct cultural traits and processes. All departmental chiefs will have their specialist viewpoints. But very few have their finger so directly on the pulse of the business or witness in such detail the ebb and flow of activity across the entire enterprise.
As the ‘force for change’ engendered by digitalisation seeps through long-established silos, the CIO role can be re-envisaged – more than the custodian of technology. More even than the creator of new connections and opportunities, now is your chance to lift heads from the sand and help others gain new perspectives.
Make Do
23 April 2015
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