OREANDA-NEWS. April 04, 2016. “The majority of CIOs now perceive of themselves as their organization's primary driver of a business and IT transformation, according to a recent survey from Cognizant,” writes CIO Insight, a website focused on IT strategy, management and leadership, in a slideshow entitled How CIOs Can Lead a Digital Transformation, featuring study findings from Cognizant’s Digital CIO report, Being Digital: How and Why CIOs Are Reinventing Themselves for a New Age, focused on how CIOs perceive themselves, and key characteristics/leadership dynamics they need to position themselves as leaders of digital transformation. A total of 200 North American CIOs took part in the research.

“The report indicates that CIOs must make key contributions to strategic planning, while emerging as a “chief inclusion officer” who fosters an open culture of innovation,” CIO Insight adds. “CIOs also need to take a hands-on role in leading digital programs/initiatives, while articulating clearly how these efforts contribute to company goals. And to ensure successful transformations, CIOs have to build a strong relationship of trust with their CEO. “Being digital will require a strong push from the CIO; it won't happen on its own,” according to the report.”

CIO Insight highlights, “Concurrently, the dynamic between the CIO and CEO must change. The CIO needs to complete the shift to digital change agent, becoming a catalyst for business transformation, a true digital champion and a trusted advisor to the CEO…The CEO needs to adopt the role of venture capitalist, reading the needs of the marketplace, securing funding for promising initiatives and working with the CIO on a collaborative roadmap for digital maturity.”