On 10 September, IBM released its first Global CIO Study, The New Voice of the CIO. This study, the largest and most comprehensive of its kind, expands on the understanding that the role of the Chief Information Officer has changed from utility manager to strategic business leader and that, across the executive suite, business leaders understand that CIOs are a driving force behind the technologies that drive the business.  Its insights are based on analyzing the responses of more than 2,500 CIOs from 78 countries, 19 industries and organizations of every size, including 91 CIOs from Life Sciences companies – pharmaceutical, biotechnology, generics and medical device and diagnostics manufacturers, consumer healthcare products companies and medical distributors. Our sample covers Life Sciences CIOs from 23 countries; 77 percent are based on established economies and 23 percent in rapidly growing economies.

Today’s Life Sciences CIOs spend an impressive 58 percent of their time on activities that spur innovation. These activities include generating buy-in for innovative plans, implementing new technologies and managing non-technology business issues. Another 36 percent is spent on essential, more traditional CIO tasks related to managing the ongoing technology environment. This includes reducing IT costs, mitigating enterprise risks and leveraging automation to reduce costs elsewhere in the business.  Finally, Successful CIOs blend three pairs of roles that seem contradictory, but are actually complementary.  By integrating these three pairs of roles, the CIO makes innovation real, raises the ROI of IT and expands business impact.