The Monthly Insight of the Board Room: An IT-Friendly Boardroom Oct., 2016

Modern corporate boards play significant roles in guiding businesses toward the right direction and achieve expected business results. Due to the “VUCA” characteristics -Complexity, Uncertainty, Ambiguity and Velocity of the Digital Era, the directorship in any organization must have agility to adapt to change and build abilities to advise, inspire and motivate a group of people toward accomplishing shared visions and goals.
              An IT-Friendly Boardroom“Digitizing Boardroom” Book Chapter 5: An IT Friendly Board, Presentation, Video: According to the variety of corporate board surveys, directors reported gaps in critical areas of board expertise: There were skill sets or areas of expertise missing or talent with cognitive difference insufficiently represented on their boards. Technology expertise was the most common missing or underrepresented ingredient on boards. Nowadays information is the lifeblood of the business, and technology is the disruptive force behind changes. Hence, it is strategic imperative to build an IT friendly and technology-savvy Board to understand the power of information and potential of technology, and CIOs as BoDs should play a crucial role in envisioning, advocating, and communicating IT effectively.
A Tech-Savvy Board: Forward-looking organizations cross-sector claim they are at information businesses, as IT touches every facet of business today, from strategy to operation; from key processes to competitive capabilities. Based on an industry survey, the majority of BoDs think IT is critical to their companies, and more and more organizations also put IT oversight in their boardroom agenda, does it mean it is the right timing to shape a tech-savvy Board, if so, what shall they focus on?
How can CIOs convince the Board & Top Management of IT strategy: Due to the increasing speed of changes and fierce business competitions, many IT organizations are at a cross road to either being transformed into a value-added digital engine for their business growth or being irrelevant as a cost center only. How do you define the strategic role of CIOs at Board Level, what are important skills they need to cultivate, and how can you convince the Board and top management of your strategy?
An Informative Board: Information is the lifeblood and one of the most invaluable assets in digital business today, the corporate board as top governance body plays a significant role in overseeing business strategy and monitor business performance. To connect the dots, can today’s digital board become more information-driven, and IT savvy? But how?How Tech-savvy are Corporate Boards these days? According to corporate governance survey, directors reported gaps in critical areas of board expertise: about half of directors said there were skill sets, or areas of expertise missing, or talent with cognitive differences insufficiently represented on their boards. Technology expertise was the most common missing or underrepresented ingredient on boards according to US directors – boards are recognizing there is a gap of technology expertise in the forward-looking enterprise. This recognition creates opportunities for CIOs as the new breed in the boardroom, but how shall they make the difference and fill out the gap at the big table.
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