Chief technology officer
Synonyms | CTO chief technologist |
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A chief technology officer (CTO) (also known as a chief technical officer or chief technologist) is an
A CTO is very similar to a chief information officer (CIO).[2] CTOs will make decisions for the overarching technology infrastructure that closely align with the organization's goals, while CIOs work alongside the organization's information technology ("IT") staff members to perform everyday operations.[2] The attributes of the roles a CTO holds vary from one company to the next, mainly depending on their organizational structure.[3]
History
After World War II, large corporations established research laboratories at locations separate from their headquarters. The corporation's goals were to hire scientists and offer them facilities to conduct research on behalf of the company without the burdens of day-to-day office work. This is where the idea of a CTO focusing on the overarching technology infrastructures originates.[4]
At that time, the director of the laboratory was a corporate
In the 1980s, the role of these research directors changed substantially. Since technology was becoming a fundamental part of the development for most products and services, companies needed an operational executive who could understand the product's technical side and provide advice on ways to improve and develop.[6]
This all led to the creation of the position of Chief Technology Officer by large companies in the late 1980s with the growth of the information technology industry and computer (internet) companies.[3]
Overview
A CTO "examines the short and long term needs of an organization, and utilizes capital to make
Depending on company structure and hierarchy, there may also be positions such as
In many older industries (whose existence may predate IT automation) such as manufacturing, shipping or banking, an executive role of the CTO would often arise out of the process of automating existing activities; in these cases, any CTO-like role would only emerge if and when efforts would be made to develop truly novel technologies (either for facilitating internal operations or for enhancing products/services being provided), perhaps through "
See also
- Chief creative officer
- Chief executive officer
- Chief innovation officer (CINO or CTIO)
- Chief scientific officer
- Chief security officer
References
- S2CID 154123520.
- ^ a b Margaret, Rouse. "What is Chief Technology Officer (CTO)? - Definition from WhatIs.com". SearchCIO. Retrieved 2019-11-08.
- ^ a b "What Is a Chief Technology Officer?". Business Research Guide. 29 July 2016. Retrieved 2019-11-08.
- ^ Smith, Roger. "The Role of the Chief Technology Officer in Strategic Innovation, Project Execution, and Mentoring" (PDF). Princeton.
- S2CID 151234119.)
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ^ Lewis, W.W.; Lawrence, H.L. (1990). "A new mission for corporate technology". Sloan Management Review. 31 (4): 57–67.
- ^ "Chief Technology Officer - CTO". Investopedia. 2011-07-11. Archived from the original on 2017-12-25. Retrieved 2017-12-12.
Further reading
- Pratt, Mary K (22 January 2007). "The CTO: IT's Chameleon". Computerworld.com.
- Berray, Tom; Sampath, Raj (2002). "The Role of the CTO, four models for success" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-08-30. Retrieved 2009-07-06.
- Medcof, John W.; Yousofpourfard, Haniyeh (2006). "The CTO and Organizational Power and Influence" (PDF). International Association for Management of Technology. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2013-07-17.
- Noble, Jason (2018). "Day in the life of a CTO" . CTO Academy