IT World Canada (ITWC) and CIO Association of Canada would like to invite you to nominate your candidate for CIO of the Year, Awards are open to all senior technology leaders serving Canadian organizations in the following categories:
private sector award Open to Senior Technology Leader in any private sector company of any size.
public sector award Open to senior technology leaders from federal, provincial and municipal governments as well as all affiliated agencies, Crown corporations, universities, schools and hospitals.
not for profit award Open to technology leaders with registered Canadian charities and associations.
Next Generation Leader Award Will be presented to a technology leader who continually strives for excellence, best management practices and innovation. They will be recognized for demonstrating remarkable promise and outstanding talent as a future leader in the technology sector.
This year’s panel of judges, chaired by Gary Davenport, includes several former CIO of the Year honorees, and includes:
- Rex Lee, Chief Information and Technology Officer, Canadian Tire Corporation
- Julie Levesque, Executive Vice President Technology and Operations, National Bank of Canada
- Philip Johnson, Chief Information Officer, National Research Council, and President, CIO Association of Canada
- Hamza Tehrani, Chief Technology & Digital Officer, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment
- Jan Bradley, Chief Information Technology Officer, City of Calgary
- Jim Love, FCMC, Chief Information Officer and Chief Content Officer, ITWC
- Rachel Porteus, Chief Information Officer, Canadian Center for Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis.
“The role of the CIO has evolved over the past few years to the point where expectations have never been higher, including the need for the CIO to now be the leader of digital transformation,” Davenport said. “It is no longer about how well the CIO keeps the lights on or delivers projects, but it is about the overall impact of the digital transformation initiatives that the CIO leads on behalf of the overall organization.”
What makes CIO of the year?
We asked the judges for their thoughts.
“I’m looking for a transformational leader who has had a significant and positive impact financially for their team, employees, organization and customers, as well as the organization represented by the CIO,” Levesque said. “I look for authenticity, flexibility, creativity, people leadership skills.”
Added Lee, “I look for people who have the courage to deeply understand core issues and challenge “best practices” by offering creative solutions that deliver better results. For me, it’s ‘next practices’ versus ‘next practices’.” ‘best practices’. A great CIO should be able to inspire and influence. I look at how the person is able to actually do that, even if it goes against popular sentiment.”
“The impact, I think is a big one,” Johnson said. “Measurable impact to their business, to their organization, moving benchmarks at a substantial or exponential rate, such as being IoT and keeping up with the business needs of the organization. That’s it. Another thing we look for is your ability to work collaboratively with senior executives in your organization.”
The deadline for nominations is March 24, and the awards will be presented at a virtual reception on May 25.
