Vantage point: Insights from cutting-edge research

Shared leadership building blocks for a resilient digital government

Chief information officers (CIOs) must work with their IT leadership teams and the agency leadership in four areas to keep their digital government programme on track, according to Gartner, Inc.

First, CIOs and IT leaders developing a digital initiative should build a partnership with their organisation’s head of HR and the lead of any wider transformation programmes. Second, shared goals between the IT department and executive leadership within the government organisation are a critical aspect of success. Third, implementing a policy of transparent communication on successes and setbacks should be at the core of all IT principles, and should be clearly visible in the actions of the CIO and IT leadership team. Lastly, there is a need for a broad view of risk management practices to ensure they reflect the current risk appetite. Using traditional IT project-based approaches to risk management may result in a disconnect between the risk appetite of the public organisation and the risk-management activities of the programme.

Enterprises in India are cautious about adoption of augmented reality

As every business becomes digital, the spread of technology such as augmented reality (AR) and Internet of Things (IoT) devices can add significant business value and personal convenience. Yet a new study (IT Risk/Reward Barometer) from global business technology and cybersecurity association ISACA shows that consumers and IT professionals disagree on the risks and rewards. Ninety per cent or more among Indian consumers who are employed agree that a range of suggested AR applications would improve their lives or make it easier for them to do their job. However, only 30 per cent of IT professionals are convinced that the benefits of AR outweigh the risks. To help organisations overcome the barriers to AR adoption and monitoring AR apps that could impact their business, ISACA offers the following recommendations — extend social media monitoring to AR platforms; consider how AR can improve your business; review your governance framework and update your policies; and build security into every part of the process.

Marketers need to be as familiar with a balance sheet as they’re with ad campaign

Marketers will need to be as familiar with a balance sheet as they are with an advertising campaign, says a report titled “The CMO of Tomorrow” by Oracle Marketing Cloud and the Association for Data-driven Marketing and Advertising based on research across Asia Pacific. The three main impediments for the region that marketers feel are preventing them from doing their jobs are budget (50 per cent), capability and education (48 per cent), and return on investment (RoI) (37 per cent). Lack of budget was cited as the biggest problem in every geography except India. Marketers are also grappling with the issue of finding the right skills and ensuring the capabilities of their existing teams are kept up-to-date. And given their concerns over capabilities and skills and their understanding of digital marketing technologies, marketers struggle to mount a successful argument for further investment in digital marketing based on measures like RoI. The CMO will need authority across much broader parts of the business to deliver the best results, the report added.