In recent years, the level of a CIO’s professional responsibility has increased. The CIO is responsible for collecting and storing all of the city’s information, analyzing it, and making it available to decision-makers, residents, and business partners.
In most authorities, the municipal CIO is, at best, a department manager who is subordinate to an administration manager; they do not participate in the municipality’s management meetings.
However, during the last decade, with the development of technology in business organizations and the introduction of intelligent information systems such as ERP, CRM, BI, and other similar smart operating systems that level up the status of the municipal CIO in most business organizations.
An increasing number of CIOs have become senior team members around those CEOs who understand the great importance of a professional CIO, one who is familiar with the organization’s strategy and is a partner in all decisions.
Transforming a city into a smart city is not only a technological change but also a strategic change. It means changing the thinking of the city’s leadership regarding the use of ICT technologies for efficient use of resources, energy, cost savings, and improving services. In addition, ICT technology also reduces damage to the environment while increasing innovation, economic activity, and employment among residents.
CIOs professional status will receive better professional recognition. In addition, participation by the CIO in the ongoing running of the city, together with other members of the municipality management, will improve the city’s management and connect all the management’s members to the technology, information, needs, and opportunities that exist in the city.
To attract good professionals in the technology sphere to municipalities, they should be given good pay and appropriate status because good technology people are highly sought after by the private sector. Municipalities generally cannot match the benefits and status that corporations provide to their CIOs.
