What's a C.I.O?

Chief Information Officer - from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

The Chief Information Officer or CIO is a job title for a manager responsible for information technology within an organization, such as a listed company or an educational institution. They often report to the chief executive officer or chief financial officer. In military organizations, they report to the Commanding officer or Commanding General of the organization.

The prominence of this position has risen greatly as information technology has become a more important part of business. The CIO may be a member of the "executive board" of the organization, but this is dependent on the type of organization.

No specific qualification is typical of CIO's in general; every CIO position has its own specific job description. Many have degrees in computer science, software engineering, or information systems, but this is by no means universal. Many were programmers in the past. Further management training and experience is also required.

The CIO, unfortunately, also carried the backronym of "Career Is Over". This is due to the fact many CIOs have been fired due to the inability to fix some technical problem, or to direct the technology program of the organization to align it with the organization's goals.

The CIO role has in some cases been expanded to become the Chief Knowledge Officer, CKO, who deals in knowledge, not just information.