Are CIOs Ignoring Web 2.0 Technologies?

Is IT innovation just the privilege of IT organizations? That appears to be the attitude of many IT executives. According to the June 2005 Innovation survey, CIOs believe that IT has a critical role to play in innovation, particularly process innovation. Yet most appear to be taking a proprietary, even parochial view of emerging technologies. Few encourage business users to experiment, even with free applications they can download from the Web. That may explain why most respondents say Web 2.0 technologies have not been frequently deployed, despite their explosive growth and low cost. Even more remarkable is how many IT executives say their company has no interest in these applications. Might companies enjoy more innovation and higher payoffs from emerging technologies if users were given freer rein to try them out? And are IT organizations setting themselves up for the same kind of shadow IT activity that occurred when IT organizations tried to squelch personal and client/server computing? That could already be happening at many companies where there’s supposedly no interest in Web 2.0 technologies.

What emerging technologies are on your CIO’s radar screen—and which aren’t? Read our 2006 survey’s findings: