Yes, we have a huge number of devices that have, use and send data - but that is not the brass ring. Collecting the right data and connecting it to useful outcomes is very nascent.

Security is the other area that we have an enormous number of solutions, but we do not really have great answers. We continue to play whack-a-mole - which causes IT departments to invest huge sums of money on "solution", appliances,software, scanning, etc - but I not think we have very good holistic solutions.

Online education is causing huge disruption in education. This is another technology that is still in its infancy. MOOCS, adaptive learning, and other online solutions are not very robust yet. There is a huge shift towards data collection a n d use (like consumer prediction models for shopping). However, we do not have sufficient understanding of cognitive learning (and more importantly correcting cognitive misunderstanding) and how to determine this from learning and behavior data. This is what great teachers do: see where a learner has misunderstood or has a fundamental error in some knowledge - and how to help the learning fill in the missing relationships and then learn the new concept. Computers a moving in that direction and will continue to get better.

Trends

We are business enablers-the trends toward "chief Digital Officers" and similar functions is recognizing that some CIOs are more technology focused and do not have the experience or skill to improve, direct and collaborate around business functions with technology as a component and not the answer. As an example, you cannot improve a business process by automating it - you must first improve the process.

Strategic IT plan

We have instituted both a strategic IT plan for the whole organization as well as IT governance across the organization.

The strategic plan implementation is comprised of six initiatives: Broader implementation of Service Now (all IT uses it for service, we are expanding to business offices), implementation of a service catalog, creation of a data hub and data governance system, creation of a technology master plan (a five year roadmap for all campus) and a refresh of our IT governance. Huge. As CIO I take on a big role of evangelist and gaining support for increased data security. The CISO works with many of the folks on campus setting requirements, drafting policy, working on implementation, etc - it is a very big PR, training and marketing effort - not to mention the technical work to make it all function.

See Also: ComplianceQuest | CIOReview