| | November 20168CIOReviewThings Every CIO NeedsUpon crossing into the Information Age, virtually every organization is either becoming more dependent on IT and cyber capabilities or they are transforming into a technology company. CIOs of these organizations can take one of two paths: leaders who influence and transform their organizations, or keepers of the status quo who become relegated to the confines of the traditional CIO role. The trajectory of your organization may well hinge on the direction the CIO heads.This axiom rings true not only for business, but also government organizations--including the military. As the U.S. Air Force CIO, I contend our current and future missions' success are contingent upon the effectiveness of our activities in, through, and from the cyberspace domain. We must leverage the opportunities in this newest of domains to remain relevant as a uniformed service in the 21st Century.So whether your organization provides software applications, individualized transportation services, or national defense, the CIO must deliver on the following three items.1) Vision: In military parlance, we refer to this as both "objective" and "unity of effort." Essentially, it's the authority to direct all efforts toward a clearly defined, decisive, and obtainable goal. You cannot make progress if your HR department, your sales team, and your operations group have different and competing IT goals. As CIO, you must build and deliver on one objective for the entire organization; then have the authority and resources to make it happen. Without a singular authority, multiple system owners put the entire IT enterprise in jeopardy and by chasing varied and localized IT solutions based on individual needs. Congress solidified the role of Department of Defense (DoD) CIOs through National Defense Authorization Acts (NDAAs) and the Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA). These acts have determined the CIO as necessary to "provide better management and oversight of IT systems and operations within DoD." Again, I contend, our services deserve better than CIOs who stop at managing and oversight: we need visionary leadership.In the Air Force, we are working toward transforming our individualized IT architecture to a Joint Information Environment (JIE) with the other services. This singular vision requires enormous effort to merge architecture, information, and resources across the Department of Defense to drive each and every military mission to success--regardless of service. It's a large task with several moving parts, but it is absolutely critical for success against 21st century adversaries. When our military missions succeed, we all win! 2) Agility: Operational agility, in the military, allows our forces to develop and shift among multiple solutions to a given challenge. This concept is addressed in the concepts of "speed" and "manuever." Speed is well understood, but let me share with you the importance of speed, especially in the context of mission success.The Air Force was forged in the Industrial Age to deliver air and space capabilities to defeat a known enemy during the Cold War. Our processes focused on building strategies, plans, planes, missiles, bombs, and pilots to support national military objectives; and we were able to leverage state-of-the-art capabilities from the Defense Industrial Base (DIB) to achieve mission success. In My Opinion3By Lt. Gen. Bill Bender, Chief, Information Dominance & CIO, United States Air ForceLt. Gen. Bill Bender
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