In today’s world, change is the only constant, innovation means survival, collaboration creates opportunities, and transformation leads to success. This paradigm shift is affecting the role of information technology (IT) and the chief information officers (CIOs), including the Federal Government, where the new administration is a change agent focused on delivering big results, and is tech-savvy and prolific in using Web 2.0 tools.

The perception of IT within most organizations was that it was focused on providing technical support—you go to IT when your Blackberry fails. IT culture was introverted and reactive, with budgets derived from ongoing costs plus ad hoc requests. The CIO was not the “great communicator.” Additionally, business needs and opportunities were poorly coordinated and correlated with IT—business problems were not strategic drivers for IT investment. The focus was on delivering operational infrastructure (LANs, WANs, desktops, devices, etc.) IT projects on time and within budget.

The new IT, IT 2.0 as I call it, is based on providing significant business value—immediately. This requires IT to become a business partner and a business expert. Organizations now have to stop thinking of IT as a tactical tool but rather as a strategic partner. Federal organizations and their leadership who recognize the significant value of technology and the role that IT leadership plays in areas of business value will be the winners and will provide significant value to customers and citizens. Federal organizations that cling to “IT as a technical solutions provider” will be left behind, resulting in significantly lower business value.

So what does this new role of IT 2.0 call for? First, the organization must become savvy and self-aware to start addressing business needs and problems with appropriate technology solutions. That means IT needs to be integrated into business needs discussions early and often. Business technology alignment needs to be strong. Second, the organization must have the ability to connect the dots, especially within the Federal Government. For example, several modes within DOT could have similar business needs (safety) and there is potential for creating a holistic solution that provides exponentially higher value at a significantly lower cost. Focus should be on developing portfolios around business needs with projects and outcomes that provide significant business value rather than just a delivery on time and on budget.

This IT 2.0 change requires the organizational leadership to take an investment approach to technology rather than a bean-counter approach to funding projects. And the CIO needs to be a visionary implementer of technology and a strong communicator who can build solid internal business partnerships, understand business needs, and translate them into broad requirements for IT—as well as translate technology infrastructure talk into tangible business results and agility for the organization’s business executives. Technology communications is a two-way street.

Finally, this new role for IT and the CIO is in addition to being an excellent operational manager of technology infrastructure. If the basic technology infrastructure fails (email) or is insufficient (bandwidth), there is no possibility of an expanded role for IT as a business partner. Basic competency is key in reaching higher goals.