CIOs are being held back by their focus on details

Chief Information Officer (CIO) is usually seen as a plum role in technology organizations. But new information from search specialist Lucidworks reveals that day-to-day responsibilities are holding back CIOs from driving innovation.

Some 25 percent of CIOs are solely responsible for leading tech-driven innovation at their organizations, but most of their time is being taken up with problem solving and troubleshooting.

Ideally CIOs would like to be spending 57 percent of their time driving innovation but currently are only spending 12 percent. In order to free up time for innovation they're increasingly turning to unconventional activities like hack days, study tours and tech showcases.

There also seems to be a trend towards recruiting more staff to take pressure off the department head, with 87 percent of CIOs surveyed saying they plan to increase headcount in the coming year. The findings show that appointing a deputy can free up the equivalent of one day a month.

CIO time needs to be spent in promoting a digital rather than corporate culture. They can do this by maintaining regular contact between IT and business leaders and by increasing the level of business knowledge within IT. They're also increasing their spend on tools to empower individuals, with the biggest investment being in business intelligence and analytics.

You can view the complete findings in infographic form below.

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