Many industries have already been disrupted and redefined by digitalisation.
As the digital revolution progresses, it will create an even greater need for new information management roles as business units rush to harness the digital opportunities of big data.
Gartner believes that chief information officers (CIOs) and chief data officers (CDOs) should take the lead in anticipating and capitalising on digital remastery.
Data has become vital to business growth and yet so complex that good outcomes are unlikely without executive focus.
While many business units, such as R&D and marketing, are rushing to exploit data-based digital opportunities, others, such as legal and HR, are rightly concerned about ensuring compliance with regulations and protecting their company's information assets and reputation.
The IT organisation, led by the CIO, must play a role in both enabling digital business and ensuring security and compliance.
The job of the modern CIO, however, is increasingly overloaded with additional responsibilities relating to, for example, digital innovation, change management programs and transformation.
Therefore, CDOs will be ever more critical to the effective management and control of data.
Gartner predicts that 25 percent of organisations will have a CDO by 2017, with that figure rising to 50 percent in heavily regulated industries such as banking and insurance.
Gartner's 2014 CEO survey (410 CEOs and senior business executives) found that 20 percent of large organisations’ CEOs have already involved a data officer in leading their organisation’s digital innovation.