Chief information officers and technical communication

Abstract

This paper examines the role of the chief information officer (CIO) in large, technology-dependent organizations and argues that technical communication is an indispensable component of the training and experience required to fulfil this role. This is demonstrated by examining the nature of the systems that the CIO is responsible for and the importance of technical communication skills and perspectives to fulfilling this responsibility. At the level of the CIO, the systems being managed are complex, dynamic and "open", with issues like "system integration" being far more about balancing cross-organizational perspectives and tensions than they are about technical issues. The CIO's office provides the glue that integrates the many facets and perspectives of an enterprise-wide ICT system, and the fundamental skills of the CIO include communication, facilitation, team-building, and creative use of information tools - central skills of technical communicators.