| | August 20178CIOReviewThe CIO of The New Digital EraThe role of the CIO has drastically evolved in the past few years. CIOs are no longer just responsible for the data center and the IT infrastructure; on the contrary, they are now sitting at the top table of the executive leadership team. Businesses need many applications beyond the massive ERP system that is typically implemented and supported by IT to provide enterprise applications like HR and Finance. Many IT organizations used to be viewed as service providers and are usually part of operations. But, this trend is changing quickly as the dependency of the business on technology increases. In higher education, a third of the CIOs are reporting to the President and are part of the leadership team. The involvement of the CIO at the highest-level university leadership creates opportunities to participate in all aspects of the university business.The CIO as an EducatorImplementing and managing enterprise systems are not the only responsibilities for university IT organizations. The impact of technology on teaching and learning is becoming increasingly significant. CIOs need to consider the fitness of educational technology in the classroom and also ensure faculty is trained on its pedagogical use. Also CIOs are responsible for providing business intelligence (BI) and artificial intelligence (AI) systems that provide many solutions that help with student success. There are many technological solutions that are implemented to eliminate educational barriers for many students. CIOs are no longer limited to just managing technology; rather they need to provide a comprehensive ecosystem that helps students achieve their academic objectives. Digital TransformationDigital transformation is not something new; it has been going on for the last 40 years. However, digital transformation has meant different things at different times during the spectrum of those forty years. In the earlier stages of the transformation, having a static web presence was considered digitally transformative. Today the digital transformation of an online presence is expected to deliver adaptive streamlined services that can be accessed from various endpoint devices, anytime from anywhere. In higher education, the digital transformation began when PC labs were setup in schools and students used it for word processing. Today, many schools have implemented technology programs in classrooms and labs that utilize various online educational resources. There are many flipped and blended courses where students can learn part of the time in an interactive classroom and part of the time in an interactive classroom setting.The "Mobile Generation"Students who were in first grade when Apple released the first iPad in January 2010 will graduate from high school in 2021. Many of these students have been digital learners with access to an abundance of mobile devices at home and school. By 2009, the number of high school students, who had taken an online course had surpassed 3 million. This can By Berhanu Tadesse, AVP, IT/Infrastructure Services, California State University, FullertonIN MY OpinionIn My OpinionBerhanu Tadesse
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