"The Board and Information Technology Strategies," a study released by Deloitte Consulting, surveyed more than 450 directors of publicly traded companies with revenues of greater than $1 billion, and found that:
- 10% of boards relegate IT matters to a board committee;
- Only 11% of boards discuss IT at every meeting;
- 14% of boards are "completely an actively involved" in IT strategy; and
- 22% of respondents blame aspects of IT strategy for the inability to achieve organizational goals, but 52% admitted that their boards would be spending no more time on IT over than next three years than they do now.
In response to this troubling trend, PR executives must facilitate and perpetuate the importance of new technologies to their boards by integrating the use of new features into day-to-day business activities. If IT is a part of every organizational function, boards will have fewer excuses to overlook its essential role.