Asian CIOs need to embrace technology more strategically: Study

BANGALORE: Around 81% of CIOs in Asia Pacific have agreed that lower digital literacy among senior executives is hampering business growth. "The Future Role of the CIO; Digital Literacy", a study by CA Technologies, showed that only 20% of Asian CIOs understand the importance of new technologies.

Just 17% of the senior executives were involved in defining business strategies despite 75 % believing that IT to be important for building strategies. Around 9 Asian markets were studied that included Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand.

"Asian business leaders today have largely accepted that IT has a role to play in enhancing the competitiveness of businesses. For IT to be truly transformational to businesses, leaders need to elevate the role of CIOs to be more strategic than operational," said Lionel Lim, President, Asia Pacific & Japan, CA Technologies.

The lack of digital literacy is leading to missed business opportunities, lower enthusiasm from markets, poor competitiveness and slower time to market.