This year’s annual CIO Symposium isn’t just for CIOs, of course. The May 20 event, held on the MIT campus in Cambridge, MA., may be aimed at business and IT executives, but the lineup promises to be equally insightful for anyone charged with designing or implementing transformative digital products, platforms or policies. In other words, just about everyone.
The theme of “Inventing Your Future” is also all-too familiar to business leaders grappling daily with new technologies that automate, analyze and recast traditional tasks and business relationships. Strategic views from academic experts, consultants and tech developers will offer helpful guidance, while tactical tips from business practitioners can be invaluable.
Nevertheless, the challenges are formidable.
The full agenda, found here, shows the scope of topics including healthcare IT, cloud developments, platform shifts and cybersecurity updates. Special breakouts, keynotes and the annual innovation showcase of leading-edge startups round out the day. The CIO Leadership Award winner will be named, as well. Offering closing remarks and recap, MIT IDE co-director, Andrew McAfee, warns that Objects in the Future are Closer Than They Appear.
MIT IDE faculty and researchers will lead panels throughout the day. These include:
- The Impact of Automation, moderated by IDE co-director, Erik Brynjolfsson. Brynjolfsson contends that the gap between rapidly transforming technology, and the slower pace of adoption will widen in the coming decades as exponential improvements in AI, robotics, networks, analytics and digitization affect more of the economy. How will CIOs respond?
- Getting the Data: Approaches to Managing Personal Data. Alex ‘Sandy’ Pentland, of the IDE and MIT Media Lab will moderate a provocative discussion about the thorny dilemmas of moving to a big data world. When acquiring data about their customers businesses must address privacy, liability, security and ethical considerations. How are multilateral organizations and nations coping?
- The Future (and Potential) of Large-Scale Digital Experiments. IDE Moderator Sinan Aral, drills down to explain that businesses need to understand the opportunities as well as the challenges inherent in big data experiments that leverage modern analytics. What are the implications of cheap, rapid, digital experimentation at scale, as well as the benefits and costs?
- Leading Digital: A Manifesto For IT And Business Executives. George Westerman, MIT IDE, notes that although companies in every industry are mapping their way through the digital realm, some firms are far outpacing others in their ability to derive new value from digital technology. Panelists discuss the secrets of Digital Masters.
You can also get updates and follow the event on Twitter at #mitcio.