I had a great time at UBTech 2016 in Las Vegas – they even had an Elvis impersonator at the conference! On the serious side, I was asked to give the keynote about the changing CIO role and the value of IT in higher education.
My theme was that today’s CIOs need to increase their visibility as well as their ability to provide strategic input so that they can help their organizations deal with rapid change and the demand for innovation. Higher education institutions increasingly have to manage costs and prepare for the digital future of education, and so the CIO is a critical voice to include in those discussions. In UC’s large $9B healthcare enterprise, our CIOs have become key partners to the business and clinical communities, helping to leverage technology to move the needle in the quality and cost of patient care.
UC is really a leader in seeking to grow our IT community’s ability to be catalysts for innovation and help the institution achieve its mission and goals. In the end, a good CIO is relevant to his/her community and constituents.