A Chief Technical Officer, or more commonly Chief Technology Officer (abbreviated as CTO), is an executive-level position in a company or other entity whose occupant is focused on scientific and technological issues within an organization. It typically involves overseeing Research and Development (R&D) activities, and formulating long-term visions and strategies at the officer level. Essentially, a CTO is responsible for the transformation of capital - be it monetary, intellectual, or political - into technology in furtherance of the company's objectives. They typically combine a strong technical or scientific background with business development skills.
The role became prominent with the ascent of the information technology (IT) industry, but has since become prevalent in technology-based industries of all types (e.g. biotechnology, energy, etc.). As a corporate officer position, the CTO typically reports directly to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and is primarily concerned with long-term and "big picture" issues (while still having deep technical knowledge of the relevant field). Depending on company structure and hierarchy, there may also be positions such as Director of R&D and VP of Engineering whom the CTO interacts with and/or oversees. The CTO also needs a working familiarity with Regulatory (e.g. U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Environmental Protection Agency, CPSC, as-applicable) and Intellectual Property (IP) issues (e.g. patents, trade secrets, license contracts), and an ability to interface with legal counsel to incorporate those considerations into strategic planning and inter-company negotiations.
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[edit] Contrast with Chief Information Officer (CIO)
The focus of a CTO may be contrasted with that of a CIO. A CIO is likely to solve organizational problems through acquiring and adapting existing technologies (especially those of an IT nature), whereas a CTO is principally overseeing development of new technologies (of various types). Many large companies have both positions.
Another major distinction is between technologies that a firm seeks to actually develop to commercialize itself vs. technologies that support or enable a firm to carry out its ongoing operations. A CTO is focused on technology integral to products being sold to customers/clients, while a CIO is a more internally-oriented position focused on technology needed for running the company (and in IT fields, for maintaining foundational software platforms for any new applications). Accordingly, a CTO is more likely to be integrally involved with formulating intellectual property (IP) strategies and exploiting proprietary technologies.
In an enterprise whose primary technology concerns are addressable by ready-made technologies (which, by definition, is not the case for any companies whose very purpose is to develop new technologies), a CIO might be the primary officer overseeing technology issues at the executive level. In an enterprise whose primary technology concerns do involve developing (and/or marketing) new technologies, a CTO is more likely to be the primary representative of these concerns at the executive level.
[edit] Contrast with Chief Science Officer (CSO)
In some organizations, the same person may hold the Chief Science Officer (CSO) title along with that of Chief Technology Officer (CTO). Alternatively, a company could have one or the other, or both occupied by separate people. Often, a Chief Science Officer exists in heavily research-oriented companies, while a Chief Technology Officer exists in product development focused companies. The typical category of Research and Development that exists in many science/technology companies could be led by either post, depending upon which area is the organization's primary focus.
A Chief Science Officer almost always has a basic/pure science background and advanced degree, whereas a Chief Technology Officer often has a background in engineering and/or business development.
[edit] Genesis of the CTO role
The position originally emerged in the 1980s from that of Director of R&D (sometimes as a substitute; sometimes as an overseer). However, it came into far more common use during the dot-com era of the 1990s. In small, emerging IT companies, a CTO would also be responsible for many typical CIO concerns such as office automation, regulatory compliance, data storage, security, enterprise networking, and workstation provisioning. As such a company became larger and more complex, a CIO position might be created.
In many older industries (whose existence may pre-date IT automation) such as manufacturing, shipping or banking, an executive role of CIO would often arise out of the process of automating existing activities; in these cases, any CTO-like role would only emerge if and when efforts would be made to develop truly novel technologies (either for facilitating internal operations or for enhancing products/services being provided) - perhaps through intrapreneuring.
[edit] CTO of the United States
President of the United States Barack Obama appointed Aneesh Chopra the United States' first Chief Technology Officer in April 2009.
[edit] References
- John Brockman, (not dated), “Nathan Myhrvold: The Chef”.
- Mary K. Pratt, "Is the CTO an R&D boss, a senior technologist, an IT visionary or a business insider? It depends." Computerworld.com
- Tom Berray & Raj Sampath, (2002), "The Role of the CTO, four models for success"
- P D Smith, (2003), "The chief technology officer: Strategic responsibilities and relationships"
- John W. Medcof and Haniyeh Yousofpourfard, (2006), "The CTO and Organizational Power and Influence"