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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
iTTi | Boosting growth
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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;
which 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 the use of IT lies with the board of directors (BoD) or equivalent
supreme governing body. Corporate governance mechanisms link BoD’s steering activities
with the management domain through the chief executive (CEO) and the rest of the C-
suite, including the Chief Information Officer (CIO).
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The iTTi Manifesto on
Corporate Governance of Information Technology (cont.)
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.
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 of IT-savvy and IT-
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,
effective, secure and friendly digital world.
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The iTTi Manifesto on
Corporate Governance of Information Technology (cont.)
14. A world that provides quality digital access and experiences to all in every facet of life:
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.
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.
18. Recommendations and works published in the last decade by MIT Sloan School of
Management’s CISR & CDB, Antwerp Management School’s ITAG Research Institute, the
Swedish Royal Institute of Technology’s Department of Industrial Information and Control
Systems and University of Navarra’s IESE, as well as more recent awareness efforts by
NACD targeted to corporate America, shall deserve attention, too.
* * *
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Signatories (in alphabetical order, as of 2015/05/30)
Institutional endorsements (as notified by an authorized person):
ALAMCIA. Spain
ATI, Spanish IT Practitioners Association. Spain
BAZ IT. New Zealand
CCI, Industrial Cybersecurity Center. Spain
CommerceLink. Spain
Enterprise Governance Consulting. Australia
EOA Spain, European Outsourcing Association Spain Chapter. Spain
Fundación Compromiso y Transparencia. Spain
IEE, Informáticos Europeos Expertos. Spain
iTTi, Innovation & Technology Trends Institute. Spain
ProcesoSocial. Spain
Rotatecno/Rotatecno Robotics. Chile
Sinapsis Empresarial. Spain
Symbiosis. Spain
The Thorp Network. Canada
Personal endorsements:
Acevedo Juárez, Héctor. Magazcitum. Mexico
Álvarez, Alfonso. Vodafone España. Spain
Álvarez Arderius, Luis. Canary Islands Accounting Office. Spain
Arroyo, Alberto. ALAMCIA. Spain (member of The iTTi Community)
Avelino, Maite. Spain
Baena Álvarez de Quevedo, Francisco Javier. MINECO. Spain
Barranco, Paco. BETApermanente. Spain
Cabezuelo Ortega, Eduardo. Vass. Spain
Cabrera, Javier. USA (member of The iTTi Community)
de la Calle, Mª José. iTTi. Spain
de la Calle, Marina. Spain
Caloto, Juan Antonio. AEC. Spain (member of The iTTi Community)
Carballo Gutiérrez, Ramiro. CAELUM. Spain
Carrillo Verdún, José D. UPM. Spain
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Signatories (cont.)
Castro Requejo, Pedro. ENSILECTRIC. Spain (member of The iTTi Community)
Ccoicca, Félix. Peru (member of The iTTi Community)
Colomo-Palacios, Ricardo. Østfold University College. Norway
Crespo Romero, Oliver. Grupo Generali. Spain
Crespo Vallejo, Jesús. Corporación Masaveu. Spain
Curiel, Gabriel. Spain
Dacal, Martín. Quint Wellington Redwood. Spain
Dalmau Parés, Raimon. GenCat/SEM. Spain (member of The iTTi Community)
Dávila Ramírez, Juan. Peru
Díaz Amorós, Isabel. Spain
Díaz Bañobre, Raúl. Spain
Dombriz Espada, Sergio. Afina (a Westcon Group company). Spain
Domínguez, Amor. CCI. Spain
Esteban Sánchez, José Antonio. Codere. Spain (member of The iTTi Community)
Fernández, Cristina. ProcesoSocial. Spain
Fernández Martínez, Jaime. ATI. Spain
Fernández Torres, Elia. Innovative Soft. Mexico
Fraile, Marlon. Spain
de la Fuente, José. Cluster IDiA. Spain (member of The iTTi Community)
Fuentes Sánchez, Nuria. Ferrovial. Spain (member of The iTTi Community)
Fuertes Santaeulalia, Carlos. Symbiosis. Spain (member of The iTTi Community)
Gaitero, Domingo. ProcesoSocial. Spain
García Carranza, Sergio. SMT Advising. Spain
García del Valle, Ignacio. Praxair. Spain (member of The iTTi Community)
García Fernández, Jairo. Atos. Spain
García-Menéndez, Miguel. iTTi. Spain
García-Monedero, Ignacio. Spain
Gómez Alfonso, Fernando. Data Adviser. Spain
Gómez Ruedas, Jesús. Ministry of Defence. Spain
González Canda, Pilar. Autana Business Partners. Spain
González, Óscar. AMV Seguros. Spain (member of The iTTi Community)
González Hernán, Gustavo. Sinapsis Empresarial. Spain
González Fernández, Ana Isabel. Atos. Spain
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Signatories (cont.)
Gutiérrez, Miguel. Grupo SEGUR. Spain (member of The iTTi Community)
Heras, Lola. AUREN. Spain
Hernández Arroyo, Daniel. Spain (member of The iTTi Community)
Holzhauer, Maik. Siemens España. Spain
Jiménez Fernández-Mazarambroz, José. Spain (member of The iTTi Community)
Juiz, Carlos. Spain (member of The iTTi Community)
Kajimoto, Masatoshi. ITGI Japan. Japan (member of The iTTi Community)
Leal, Silvia. Spain
Linares, Samuel. CCI. Spain
López Benito, Óscar. Spain (member of The iTTi Community)
López Guerrero, Diego Ángel. Easycronos. Spain (member of The iTTi Community)
Lucero, José Luis. IEE. Spain
Martí Manzano, Juanjo. UOC. Spain (member of The iTTi Community)
Martín Cavanna, Javier. Fundación Compromiso y Transparencia. Spain
Martínez Ruiz, José María. Ferrovial. Spain
Mayo Martín, Nuria. Ferrovial. Spain
McRitchie, James. CorpGov.net. USA
Menéndez, Eduardo. Spain (member of The iTTi Community)
Menéndez Piñera, Francisco. Contein XXI. Spain
Mínguez López, Cristina. Grupo TPI. Spain
Modukanele, Abel N. Prion Group. South Africa
Morales, Javier. GDF Suez Energía España. Spain (member of The iTTi Community)
Morenilla Salas, José V. Unisys. Spain
Moreno del Cerro, David. Grupo Cortefiel. Spain (member of The iTTi Community)
Moreno Montero, Esther. Spain
Moya Catena, Antonio. Spain
Mújica Irarrazabal, Carlos. Cinemark Chile. Chile (member of The iTTi Community)
Navarro Alcaraz, Marcos. EOA Spain. Spain (member of The iTTi Community)
Pagés Casas, Llorenç. ATI/Novática. Spain
Palao, Manolo. iTTi. Spain
Palao, Eduardo. Spain
Palomares, Javier. Tui Travel A&D. Spain
Pardo Martínez, Juan. Spain
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Signatories (cont.)
Paredes, Nacho. CCI. Spain
Pérez-Chirinos, César. Spain
Pérez Sánchez, Alejandro M. Telefónica Global Technology. Spain
del Peso, Mar. IEE. Spain
Pons, Joan. ATI. Spain
Prieto Delgado, Agustín. Spain
Quevedo Silva, Rodrigo Andrés. Rotatecno/Rotatecno Robotics. Chile
Ramió, Jorge. UPM/Red Temática Criptored. Spain
Ramos, Miguel Ángel. IEE. Spain
Ravotto, Pierfranco. AICA. Italy
Rodríguez de Cora, Rafael. CALS. Spain
Rodríguez Ringach, Eduardo. Spain (member of The iTTi Community)
Rodríguez Sánchez del Álamo, Juan Luis. Spain (member of The iTTi Community)
Rouyet, Juan Ignacio. Quint Wellington Redwood. Spain
Rubio, José Antonio. King Juan Carlos University. Spain
Rubiralta Costa, Xavier. Spain
Sabaté Armengol, Albert. Cafés Bou. Spain (member of The iTTi Community)
Sáiz, Julio. Adecco. Switzerland (member of The iTTi Community)
Sánchez Rodríguez de Guzmán, Mercedes. Spain (member of The iTTi Community)
Sastre, Álvaro. Mutua de Procuradores. Spain (member of The iTTi Community)
Sotos Olmo, Elena. Spain
Suárez García, Román. Caja Rural de Asturias. Spain (member of The iTTi Community)
Torres, Juan Carlos. Accenture. Spain
Thorp, John. The Thorp Network. Canada
Ugarte García, María del Carmen. ATI. Spain
Valentine, Elizabeth. Enterprise Governance. Australia (member of The iTTi Community)
Valiente, José. CCI. Spain
Vállez Rodríguez, Olga. CommerceLink. Spain
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)
Vigo, Juan Carlos. ATI. Spain
Wood, Basil. BAZ IT. New Zealand (member of The iTTi Community)
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Signatories (cont.)
Yáñez, Javier. AUREN. Spain
Zia-ur-Rehman, Azhar. Rehmaniyah Mgmt. Consultants. UAE (member of The iTTi Community)
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