Chief technology officer - wikipedia Chief technology officer This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( August 2017 ) A chief technology officer ( CTO ), sometimes known as a chief technical officer, is an executive - level position in a company or other entity whose occupation is focused on scientific and technological issues within an organization. Contents 1 Overview 2 See also 3 References 4 Further reading Overview A Chief Technology Officer ( CTO ), `` examines the short and long term needs of an organization, and utilizes capital to make investments designed to help the organization reach its objectives... ( the CTO ) is the highest technology executive position within a company and leads the technology or engineering department ''. The role became prominent with the ascent of the information technology ( IT ) industry, but has since become prevalent in technology - based industries of all types -- including computer based technologies ( such as game developer, e-commerce, and social networking service ) and other / non-computer - focused technology ( such as biotech / pharma, defense, and automotive ). In non-technical organizations as a corporate officer position, the CTO typically reports directly to the chief information officer ( CIO ) and is primarily concerned with long - term and `` big picture '' issues ( while still having deep technical knowledge of the relevant field ). In technology - focused organizations, the CIO and CTO positions can be at the same level, with the CIO focused on the information technology and the CTO focused on the core company and other supporting technologies. Depending on company structure and hierarchy, there may also be positions such as director of R&D and vice president of engineering whom the CTO interacts with or oversees. The CTO also needs a working familiarity with regulatory ( e.g. U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Environmental Protection Agency, Consumer Product Safety Commission, as applicable ) and intellectual property ( IP ) issues ( e.g. patents, trade secrets, license contracts ), and an ability to interface with legal counsel to incorporate those considerations into strategic planning and inter-company negotiations. In many older industries ( whose existence may predate IT automation ) such as manufacturing, shipping or banking, an executive role of the CTO would often arise out of the process of automating existing activities ; in these cases, any CTO - like role would only emerge if and when efforts would be made to develop truly novel technologies ( either for facilitating internal operations or for enhancing products / services being provided ), perhaps through `` intrapreneuring ''. See also Chief innovation officer ( CINO ) or ( CTIO ) References Jump up ^ Smith, Roger D. The Chief Technology Officer : Strategic Responsibilities and Relationships. Jump up ^ Staff, Investopedia ( 2011 - 07 - 11 ). `` Chief Technology Officer - CTO ''. Investopedia. Retrieved 2017 - 12 - 12. Further reading Pratt, Mary K. `` The CTO : IT 's Chameleon '', Computerworld.com, 22 January 2007 Berray, Tom & Sampath, Raj ( 2002 ) `` The Role of the CTO, four models for success '' Medcof, John W. and Yousofpourfard, Haniyeh ( 2006 ) `` The CTO and Organizational Power and Influence '', International Association for Management of Technology Corporate titles Chief officers Administrative Analytics Audit Brand Business Channel Commercial Chief communications Compliance Content Creative Data Design Digital Diversity Executive ( CEO ) Experience Financial Human resources Information Information security Innovation Investment Knowledge Learning Legal Marketing Medical Networking Operating Privacy Procurement Product Quality Research Restructuring Revenue Risk Science Security Strategy Sustainability Technology Visionary Web Senior executives Chairman Chief managing director Creative director Development director General counsel Executive director Non-executive director President Vice president Mid-level executives General manager Divisional manager Regional manager First - level executives Departmental manager Manager Related topics Board of directors Corporate governance Executive pay Senior management Supervisory board Talent management Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chief_technology_officer&oldid=826806754 '' Categories : American chief technologists Chief technology officers Corporate executives Management occupations Women chief technology officers Iranian chief technology officers Hidden categories : Articles needing additional references from August 2017 All articles needing additional references Talk Contents About Wikipedia Беларуская ( тарашкевіца ) ‎ Català Deutsch Español فارسی Français 한국어 Italiano עברית Монгол Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Português Română Српски / srpski Suomi Svenska Türkçe Українська Tiếng Việt 中文 14 more Edit links This page was last edited on 21 February 2018, at 02 : 59. 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Question: role of a cto in an it company
Answer: an executive-level position in a company or other entity whose occupation is focused on scientific and technological issues within an organization