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Chief information officers working in Asia Pacific are steaming ahead of their global peers in the adoption of the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI) and conversational interfaces, according to Gartner's 19th annual CIO survey.
Forty three per cent of CIOs from the region had deployed or were planning to roll out IoT technologies compared with 37 per cent globally. Some 37 per cent were deploying some form of AI technology, compared to 25 per cent globally.
Investments had been made in conversational interfaces by 28 per cent (21 per cent globally) of the 537 CIOs in the region surveyed, and virtual reality and augmented reality by 20 per cent (compared with 17 per cent globally). Thirteen per cent have already adopted blockchain or distributed ledger technology, compared to nine per cent globally.
"Asia Pacific is home to some very successful and entrepreneurial digital businesses, as well as to established manufacturing, financial services, protein export, mining, government agencies and higher education establishments, that are driving the region up the technology adoption curve," said Andy Rowsell-Jones, vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner at the Gartner Symposium/ITxpo on the Gold Coast yesterday.
The survey – which questioned 3160 CIOs globally including 113 in ANZ – showed that a majority of CIOs (95 per cent) say that technology trends such as these, specifically artificial intelligence (AI) and cybersecurity, will significantly change how they do their jobs in the near future.
Artificial intelligence, digital security and the internet of things were also considered the ‘most problematic’ technologies facing CIOs.
The survey respondents agreed that the most common pain point when rolling-out such technologies was the demand for new skills, which were not always readily available.
This year's survey also revealed that Australian CIOs are working within IT budgets in keeping with global averages – which have grown around three per cent since last year – but below the APAC average budget growth of 5.1 per cent.
The author attended Symposium/ITXpo as a guest of Gartner
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