The iTTi Manifesto on Corporate Governance of …informatica.blogs.uoc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/2014-08-13... · p s. @iTTiresearch ... 4. Hence, there is an ... The iTTi Manifesto

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The iTTi Manifesto

on Corporate

Governance of

Information Technology

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The iTTi Manifesto on Corporate Governance of Information Technology First edition, authored by the iTTi team with valuable contributions by Elizabeth Valentine and other members and friends of The iTTi Community. About iTTi® iTTi, the Innovation & Technology Trends Institute, is the not-for-profit independent research source for all those corporate leaders looking for objective opinion and advice, both in English and/or Spanish, on business advancement through technology, mainly business information technology. iTTi aims to fostering directors and executives’ awareness on their accountability and advocacy for key information, and related technology, assets. iTTi focuses on analyzing the most significant trends regarding the application and use of technology, and its consequences; but primarily on analyzing how organizations make decisions on –i.e., govern–, such issues. At the same time, iTTi helps current technology leaders in becoming business boosters capable of increasing organizational growth through improved technology contribution. About The iTTi® Community An appendix of iTTi, The iTTi Community is the exclusive (invitation-only!) fellowship of digitized leaders concerned with the contribution that IT makes to their organizations. Please, send further questions or your request(*) to join The iTTi Community to: [email protected] You can follow iTTi on: WWW: http://www.ittrendsinstitute.org LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/itti-innovation-&-technology-trends-institute Twitter: http://twitter.com/iTTiresearch (@iTTiresearch) Paper.li: http://paper.li/iTTi_news/1350513265 (iTTi Update) Flipboard: http://flip.it/gzGGy (#iTTinerary, ... your path to growth!) Slideshare: http://www.slideshare.net/iTTi_news © Copyright 2014, iTTi, Innovation & Technology Trends Institute. All rights reserved. © Copyright of the photographs, Gema Prieto. All rights reserved. (*) All requests will be assessed prior to approval.


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“There is an increasing need for organizations to improve their Corporate Governance of Information Technology (IT); i.e., to enhance their processes of making decisions on the application and use of IT, as well as on how to timely prevent and resiliently overcome the undesired consequences of such use”.

-The iTTi Manifesto

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The iTTi Manifesto on Corporate Governance of Information Technology 1. Information Technology (IT) –or, in today’s words, “things digital”–, has permeated the

whole Society in all its aspects and will continue doing so. Nowadays there is no single human activity that it is not affected by or susceptible to digitization.

2. Nevertheless one cannot ignore:

a. the existence of parts of our society and other societies where such digitization has not yet happened, or where it has only happened partially;

b. the frequent, significant, technology-related frustration, miss-steps, failures and fiascos; and,

c. the negative and increasing IT-related business consequences of poorly devised information systems, the impact of cyber-attacks, the questionable safety and security of certain emergent technologies such as the “Internet of Things”, etc., to name but a few.

Each can potentially reduce or dull IT’s extraordinary benefits and promises. 3. That makes IT “something too serious to be entrusted to IT professionals”, as Prof. G.

Vaughn Johnson stated in 1990, paraphrasing France’s former Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau.

4. Hence, there is an increasing need for organizations to improve their Corporate Governance of IT (CGIT), defined as the process of making decisions on the use of IT; or, in ISO’s wording, as “the system by which the current and future use of IT is directed and controlled”.

5. CGIT is the set of high-level mechanisms (structures and relationships, policies and decision-making processes) aimed to determining the why, what, and how of the application and use of IT; and to timely preventing and resiliently overcoming the undesired consequences of such use.

6. Accountability for CGIT lies with the board of directors (BoD) or equivalent supreme governing body. Its mechanisms link BoD governance with management processes through the chief executive and the C-suite, including the Chief Information Officer (CIO).

7. Boards and executive management have joint but different roles in CGIT: boards evaluate the status of the enterprise and the requirements of the stakeholders, set strategic direction and monitor outcomes; management, under such direction, details and executes the strategy and reports to the board.



The iTTi Manifesto on Corporate Governance of Information Technology (cont.) 8. The interpretation of CGIT set forth above implies that commonly accepted naming

conventions like “IT Governance” may need to be avoided. This is because such a term allows for boards to assume that IT governance is only a matter of IT management and thus the board steps down from its responsibilities; and/or allows for CIOs to run a pseudo-governance of IT, thus providing to the board a false relief while seizing some of the board’s responsibilities.

9. CGIT entails two main –sometimes antagonistic– realms: performance (including IT’s strategic contribution to value generation and innovation, and business risk optimization) and conformance (including legal, regulatory and contractual abidance; as well as safety and security assurance).

10. There is sufficient empirical evidence that enterprises with good corporate governance [of IT] –i.e., meeting generally accepted principles, including recent digital leadership standards– achieve higher differential outcomes in the short-, medium- and long-terms. Such differential results include bolstered trust, improved strategic positioning, optimized risk, and increased growth, revenue, profitability and market value.

11. The “digitized boards” –those populated with an adequate percentage or IT-savvy and -concerned directors– of said enterprises are acting in accordance with the demands of the times and endowing their companies with a head start.

12. CGIT calls for local and global approaches by every interested party: corporate governing bodies, executives, professionals (including IT practitioners), governments (even supranational ones), politicians and citizens.

13. Every interested party shall:

a. have access to trustworthy complete information and become aware of its implications;

b. develop appropriate CGIT and digital management knowledge and skills, building competence and capability; and,

c. assume appropriate roles, stances and actions leading to obtaining an affordable, efficient, secure and friendly digital world.

14. A world that provides quality digital access and experiences to all in every facet: personal

(health, work, leisure, etc.), economic (sustainable smart products and services) and social (e-vote, e-democracy, e-government, political parties, affinity groups, clubs, etc.); respecting inter-personal and -cultural differences; and the environment.



The iTTi Manifesto on Corporate Governance of Information Technology (cont.) 15. CGIT is not the domain of a single person, or a few individuals or bodies. It is a part of

digital leadership and culture, a ‘state of affairs’ and an urgent need that appeals to all of us.

16. CGIT should be grounded on sound general principles -as set forth in globally respected and accepted codes, standards and models, that everyone shall ad@pt™ -adopt and adapt.

17. South Africa’s King Code, and international sources like ISO 38500 or ISACA’s COBIT may provide solid initial guidance.

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Signatories (in alphabetical order, as of 2014/08/13) Arroyo, Alberto. ALAMCIA. Spain (member of The iTTi Community) de la Calle, Mª José. iTTi. Spain Castro Requejo, Pedro. ENSILECTRIC. Spain (member of The iTTi Community) de la Fuente, José. Cluster IDiA. Spain García-Menéndez, Miguel. iTTi. Spain Gutiérrez, Miguel. Grupo SEGUR. Spain (member of The iTTi Community) Juiz, Carlos. Spain (member of The iTTi Community) Kajimoto, Masatoshi. ITGI Japan. Japan (member of The iTTi Community) Linares, Samuel. CCI. Spain López Guerrero, Diego Ángel. Easycronos. Spain (member of The iTTi Community) Martí Manzano, Juanjo. UOC. Spain (member of The iTTi Community) Menéndez, Eduardo. Spain (member of The iTTi Community) Moreno del Cerro, David. Grupo Cortefiel. Spain (member of The iTTi Community) Mújica Irarrazabal, Carlos. Cinemark Chile. Chile (member of The iTTi Community) Navarro Alcaraz, Marcos. EOA Spain. Spain (member of The iTTi Community) Palao, Manolo. iTTi. Spain Paredes, Nacho. CCI. Spain Rodríguez Ringach, Eduardo. Spain (member of The iTTi Community) Rodríguez Sánchez del Álamo, Juan Luís. Spain (member of The iTTi Community) Sabaté Armengol, Albert. Cafés Bou. Spain (member of The iTTi Community) Sáiz, Julio. Adecco. Switzerland (member of The iTTi Community) Valentine, Elizabeth. Enterprise Governance. Australia (member of The iTTi Community) Vargas Traid, Rafael. Tecnatom. Spain (member of The iTTi Community) Velarte Carrascosa, David. Spain (member of The iTTi Community) Verdura, Oriol. Grup SERHS. Spain (member of The iTTi Community)


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The iTTi Manifesto on Corporate Governance of …informatica.blogs.uoc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/2014-08-13... · p s. @iTTiresearch ... 4. Hence, there is an ... The iTTi Manifesto