Chief information officers serving corporate boards

Many have mixed and somehow conflicting understanding of the role that Chief Information Officers play in the board. The initial thought will be to align the IT objectives and provide IT services according to the ever-changing business needs. As any organization, the business requirements are dynamic and change rapidly based on the market fluctuations, and IT must always be very agile to respond quickly to business changes. Hence, a close interaction and collaboration with the board members and other chiefs is vital.
Chief Information Officers face many challenges and obstacles. Technology is advancing exponentially while Chief Information Officers thrive to deliver value by ultimately facilitating the business requirements and needs, operating at multiple speeds and ‘keeping up with the pace’ is quite challenging. Not any new technology is worth spending time, effort and money on.  The challenge is how to assess the potential business benefits of those new trends without wasting time or effort, and how to make the right decision on any specific technology with guaranteed benefits.  Another challenge is bridging the gap between technology and business users; how to apply innovative technology for real-life business applications and how to translate the technology to direct users’ benefits.
The role of the Chief Information Officer is influenced by the industry, and as an example, the aviation and airline industry depends heavily on IT, complex business processes, sales and distribution channels, and flight operations hinge on IT services and solutions.  Chief Information Officers need to know that aspect of the business to be able to bring ideas and initiatives on how technology can help in increasing ticket sales and reach wider audience through direct channels and through mobiles, and how to optimize flight operations and reduce fuel burns with automatic flight plans creation, the opportunities are endless.  The IT services required by airlines are unique and specific for this industry, and the Chief Information Officers must be well versed in the business sides to ensure successful deployment and guaranteeing return on investments.
And the region also have an impact, this becomes evident when Middle Eastern airlines are compared to U.S. and European ones.  Each group of airlines are innovative but in different aspects.  U.S. and European airlines are innovative in empowering passengers to utilize their services directly without the need for intermediary or agencies, they focused on direct sales (Internet and mobile), with different ancillary services and customizable travel packages that the passengers can create according to their personal needs.  This matches the market segmentation and demographics in US and Europe.  In Middle East, the market is different, focus has been on providing full luxury services to the passengers with reliance on travel agencies.  
There are currently many IT trends that big potential and high impact on the aviation industry, Chief Information Officers must keep a close watch on them. Complex and manual business processes are transformed to be carried in mobile devices and tablets.  A prominent example is electronic flight bag on tablets to replace heavy paper-based bags used by pilots, using tablets by crew to offer personalized services to the passengers, and aircraft engineers using tablets for performing aircrafts checks, maintenance and inspections.  Big data has revolutionized how the market and demands are estimated, now airlines can monitor the market and identify early any shift in demands and monitor passengers’ feedback.  And cloud computing has spread through all airports and sales outlets to create a global hybrid cloud that helped airlines to establish connectivity and offer services to their staff in different geographical locations.  Another trend is using Internet of Things on aircrafts to optimize flights operations and establishing aircraft connectivity while on air which will enhance operations, flight control and safety.
On a last note, a simple advice to Chief Information Officers.  Voice your concern to the other chiefs, and participate in establishing initiatives while taking in consideration the organization’s mission.  Chief Information Officers must speak in the same language and wavelength that the C-suite and business understand. Chief Information Officers must cater to the ever-changing and dynamic business requirements and needs, and respond rapidly with agility to keep up with the pace of the business. Not doing so may put any organization in a situation referred to as “Shadow IT”, where IT solutions are built and deployed by other units that do not adhere to the IT policies and procedures, resulting in problematic “stealth” solutions without proper support.