Communications Technology - IT Executive

A meeting of the minds the Cio.it AgendA

Christina Anderson
director of Web
strategy
nCtA

ChristinA Anderson

Engineers, marketers, women, communicators, minorities, publicists, human resource executives, small cable operators, even accountants: All have their own associations or professional societies within the cable and entertainment industries. The members of each of these groups are essential to the overall success of our business. And each of these organizations provides the networking, camaraderie, relationships, resources and best practices that contribute so mightily to the success of its members.

But a close look at this array of organizations for cable professionals shows a gap. Absent from the lineup is an association or organization for information technologists. These are the people who help keep our companies running smoothly: make our billing systems work; manage and keep track of our content; create, design and make our Web sites operational and then keep them that way; deploy and maintain the electronic infrastructure that’s the basis for the way we work and communicate. These professionals provide the operating foundation for our MSOs, programming services, and vendor and supplier companies.

I T executives, from the CIO to the front-line I T technician, keep our desktops and laptops talking to each other. To many cable executives, this is a largely invisible workforce that speaks a different language and works in obscurity. But those of us who have been part of such an enterprise—or whose objectives have risen or fallen based on the quality of IT support—fully appreciate the intrinsic and profound impact of the CIO and his or her band of IT professionals.

The acknowledgement of this crucial role, combined with the recognition that no other group today exists to serve the unique networking and industry-specific professional development needs of cable’s IT community, gave rise to the initiative we now call CIO.IT at The Cable Show, the annual industry conference and international exposition sponsored by the National Cable and Telecommunications Association. The two-day conference-within-a-con-ference was born two years ago, after several prominent cable CIOs asked us for a platform for them to share ideas, identify best practices, and contemplate the future of their business and discipline.

A strong core of seasoned and accomplished IT leaders has guided the development of the program, from identifying topics for panel discussions and keynote speakers to enlisting the participation of vendors who provide critical services to cable’s IT community. Even as we have invested the hundreds of hours necessary for planning and executing the events at The Cable Show, we’ve seen the real value of CIO.IT in the informal exchange of ideas and information, the brainstorming around technology solutions, and the discussion of best practices among these IT executives that takes place every time we gather in person or on the phone under its auspices.

Engage, compete and celebrate

Our objective with CIO.IT is simply to provide an opportunity for a meeting of the minds among cable’s senior IT managers. Participants tell us the initiative is accomplishing that objective. But even more, by shining a light on the role of these gifted executives and their teams of thousands of IT professionals that keep our businesses on track, we celebrate IT and its key contributions to cable’s success. It’s a role that’s fundamental to the growth of our business, and which today is rapidly expanding in an industry driven by the need to understand, evaluate, and manage information.

In today’s competitive landscape, it is more critical than ever that we understand our companies’ strategy for information technology, and this specialized venue will help the cable industry do just that.

This year, CIO.IT will convene its third annual conference at The Cable Show in New Orleans. With more than 30 of the industry’s top IT executives, it has doubled in size from the previous year and will cover how IT tackles technological innovation within customer service, marketing, our products’ user interfaces, the backend of gathering metadata, and the infusion workflow into business and operations. CIO. IT will also have special panel that will be co-hosted with the WICT “Tech It Out” program to celebrate and interview the most powerful women in IT. ■