ICT knowledge has proved the key both to a successful career and travel for Leeanne Charteris.
After a hesitant start to fulfilling her goal of getting into an IT career, she is now in charge of the New Zealand computer network at food company Arnotts Campbells. Charteris works within the finance division and reports to the financial controller — a useful discipline, she says, as it means any discussions have to be phrased in commercial, non-technical terms.
A lack of networking opportunities for IT security industry people in Wellington has led Voco consultant Paul Hortop to launch the 1st Tuesday Club.
Hortop is originally from England where 1st Tuesday Club are held every month.
New Zealand is a “branch economy” of Australia whether you like it or not, says M. Gordon Hunter, professor, information systems at The University of Lethbridge in Canada and author of Contemporary Chief Information Officer: Management Experiences. “In other words, the head office is in Australia, the branch office is in New Zealand.
“The problem is when you have the branch office CTO called the CIO,” says Hunter, who has just completed a two-month teaching and research stint at Massey University. “You are limited by what you do.”
The CIO role can ‘disappear’ but only for the right reasons, asserts Marcel van den Assum, a professional director and independent advisor.
By this, says the former Fonterra CIO, “You have got to the point of maturity in your organisation where the executive leadership has embedded IS principles and understanding, and that is a reflection of the information revolution having run its course.”
ASB has appointed Russell Jones as the bank's head of group technology.
Jones has worked for paper company Sappi in both South Africa and Europe, as well as Carter Holt Harvey in New Zealand and International Paper in the US.
Businesses in the Asia-Pacific region have yet to develop well-established leadership processes, as the shortage of management talent pushes salaries to record levels.
The severity of the problem stems from an insufficient number of potential leaders and leadership development constraints, according to IBM's Global Human Capital Study 2008 called Unlocking the DNA of the Adaptable Workforce.
Though technology becomes more pervasive in the lives of young people each day, technology jobs aren't high on the lists of what they want to do when they grow up. Consider the 90 per cent of girls between the ages of 11 and 16 who think computers and cutting edge gadgets are cool, according to a recent survey of 1000 UK adolescents: Only 28 per cent of those girls are considering careers in the technology industry.
CEOs face major organisational changes and feel their companies are responding less well to those challenges, including new ways to take advantage of technology, according to an IBM survey.
Murray Mitchell has been appointed ICT manager of the New Zealand Police, replacing Rohan Mendis who retired in December.
He will lead a 248-person strong IT organisation, according to the just released MIS 100.
Lack of skilled staff is stifling the ability of companies to innovate, a report by accounting firm Deloitte, based on talks with 480 chief executives, found.
"There are about a quarter of a million skilled workers needed to fill the existing void," the report's author, Tom Imbesi, a lead partner with Deloitte's manufacturing team, says.
When it comes to sectors dominating this year’s MIS100 organisations, there were few surprises. Government, health and education comprise more than half of the list, as they have since MIS100 started tracking the country’s top users of ICT in the past 11 years.
If at all, the variances that emerge from this annual report have been about the challenges faced by the heads of the ICT departments of these organisations, and their decisions about investments in technology and systems.
Long-time Coles Group chief information officer Peter Mahler has resigned as Wesfarmers moves to break up the Coles IT operation into smaller parts following its $18 billion takeover of the retailer.
Mr Mahler had held the role, one of Australia's highest profile corporate technology positions, for the past six years, joining the retail giant from Brussels-based Belgacom Telecommunications.
Most people have an image in their minds of the ideal work environment, tailored to meet their financial, intellectual and social needs, but a majority of people probably don't leave their homes every day expecting to work in that fantasy realm. Yet recent survey results suggest that young IT workers might not be able to distinguish reality from fantasy when they enter the workplace.
Recently a staffing firm revealed that a majority of IT managers cited employees between the ages of 18 and 31 as the biggest challenge in terms of retention. The topic raised the question: Is IT behind the times in its expectations of young talent? Or as the survey suggests: Are workers just entering the workforce disillusioned about the reality of today's IT-related employment options?
Microsoft spokeswoman Anne Flanagan confirmed yesterday that Peter Grant, Queensland state government chief information officer, had accepted a role at the company.
The appointment is a significant coup for Microsoft as Mr Grant is one of Australia's most powerful public sector technology officers.
Derek Locke, former CIO of the NZ Defence Force, says his current role — as chief financial officer of FX Networks — is the latest step in a career that has seen him move back and forth between finance and ICT.
He joined FX full-time in June — when the company’s financial resources could afford such a position, he says — but he has been a director and shareholder of the company since 2003.