1. A joint research project between The Institute for CIO Excellence and the Department of Informatics at USC Upstate

2. The top 12 most important skills for a CIO to have in order of importance: 1. IT Alignment 2. Executive Leadership 3. IT Governance 4. Corporate Political Communication Skill 5. Knowing how to use IT as an effective organizational behavioral change tool 6. Evaluation of the proper timing for adopting new technologies

3. The top 12 most important skills for a CIO to have in order of importance: 7. Understanding the historical and future forces and trends impacting the CIO 8. Business skill 9. IT Project justification (ROI) 10. Understanding marketing 11. Understanding the multicultural issues that impact IT in the global marketplace 12. Understanding how to tailor PMOs for your company

4.  Also-rans: 13. Sourcing (Offshoring management) 14. Enterprise Risk Management 15. eCommerce 16. Information Security 17. International Economics 18. Quality Assessment Control

5. Not on the list:  Project management skills  Technology skills of all sorts  Others