Atkins gives CDO role to CIO Richard Cross

Engineering firm gives Cross additional duties as it aims to go 'digital by default'

Engineering juggernaut Atkins has given its CIO, Richard Cross, the additional responsibilities of the chief digital officer (CDO).

Cross joined Atkins in February 2014, after stints as group CIO at Arup and group technology director at ITV, and will lead the development and integration of new and emerging technologies across the organisation, as well as helping develop technology solutions for clients, as part of his new, expanded role.

Uwe Krueger, Atkins CEO, explained that the cloud, big data, social media, and consumerisation, along with digital engineering, will have a fundamental impact on Atkins and its clients.

"The design assets we deliver to clients will be primarily digital, the tools we use will be increasingly digital and assets will be monitored and maintained through the Internet of Things and live digital models, with data as our lifeblood," he said.

Cross added: "We have begun a process of revolutionising the IS group at Atkins, flipping from a traditional model to one that is focused on digital by default, exploiting technology as a differentiator and selling IS products and services to create value for clients."

The role of CDO is the subject of much debate in the tech sector. The CDOs of Lastminute.com and Travelex, for example, said that the CDO should report to the CEO, and that reporting into the CIO could be a recipe for disaster.

Specsavers Global CIO Phil Pavitt believes there is no need for the CDO to come from a CIO or marketing background, and equally there is no need for them to sit on the board, even if the role was introduced to disrupt the business.

"CIOs and marketers who think they should be a CDO have both missed the whole point - the actual answer is for IT and marketing to work together," he adds.

"I've seen CDOs recruited in other organisations and I've seen the disruption they bring - sometimes it's powerful like the Mike Bracken concept in government. But if you've still got a CDO after the first disruption, you may have missed the point because people would say ‘we do digital' when in fact the answer is that everyone does digital," he explains.

He draws a comparison with companies appointing quality managers decades ago.

"They would employ quality managers in companies and people would say ‘I don't do quality, it's the job of a quality manager' - the moment when you no longer had quality managers, I realised it was a part of my job, and it's the same with digital."

Meanwhile, the government has hired Conall Bullock to be its CDO - and he will effectively combine the previously separate duties of the CDO, CIO and CTO.

If you're interested in this, you should read: Why the CDO role shouldn't exist in 10 years' time