Search Results


Looking for an SFU resource?

Some of our resources live on the main SFU website. Please follow the link below to search on SFU.ca

Simon Fraser University Logo

Search SFU.ca

Results

Events

Graduate Programs

Undergraduate Programs

Resources

Executive Education
For Individuals

Technology Leadership Program

The Chief Information Officer (CIO) role is among the most dynamic in the enterprise; beyond technology and systems expertise, you need strategic leadership skills to shape your organization’s success. Offered in partnership with the CIO Association of Canada, the Technology Leadership Program will help you gain the leadership skills and strategic perspective to take your IT career to the next level. Faculty members and industry experts will guide you through online modules, facilitated discussions, and a self-paced change project. You will gain an invaluable network of peers across industries while taking a program that fits your busy life.

The 2023-2024 schedule is as follows*:

  • Opening Session: September 28, 2023
  • Modules: September 30 to November 10, 2023
  • Mid-point Capstone Session: January 18, 2024
  • Final Capstone Session: February 29, 2024

*Subject to change

The Technology Leadership program develops technology leaders' strategic leadership and decision-making capabilities, giving them an enormous networking opportunity with peers and mentors in the technology profession. The program has been designed in partnership with the CIO Association of Canada and attracts professionals across industries who demonstrate the potential to advance from a mid-level IT management or senior technical leadership position to an executive-level role. Many participants already hold responsibility for strategic decision-making beyond systems and technology.

Recent participants include:

  • VP IT
  • Senior Manager, Application Services
  • CIO/Software Development Manager
  • Director, Digital Solutions and Business Technology
  • Senior Manager, Business Intelligence & Analytics
  • Director of IT, Solutions & Support
  • Manager, Enterprise Architecture
  • CIO Association of Canada Members: $3,850 plus 5% GST, covering all learning materials
  • Non-Members: $4,300 plus 5% GST, covering all learning materials as well as Associate membership
Employers may be eligible to apply for a Canada Job Grant covering up to 80% of the program fee.

The Technology Leadership program includes the following course topics:

IT Manager to Business Leader

Enhance your leadership and management skills and examine an overall framework for leading change. You will learn to personalize leadership by matching leadership styles to specific situations and individuals, using emotional intelligence (EQ) and deep listening.

Leading Projects and Managing Change

Fostering project management skills and practice is vital to organizational success. When teamed with the discipline of building business cases, you are more likely to choose suitable projects and deliver them effectively. You will learn about the project process, agile methods, business plan development and steps an organization can take to make the best use of its project resources.

Making Executive Decisions: Rational Actor, Organizational Processes & Bureaucratic Politics:

CIOs will invariably find themselves in positions where they need to make outsourcing decisions. You will explore the theoretical underpinnings and practical considerations you will face when analyzing the motivation and benefits behind outsourcing and implementing outsourcing arrangements.

Aligning Business and IT Strategies

Gain the strategic tools needed to apply the correct information with the right technology to the right place in the business. Help create a competitive advantage for your organization by identifying the relationship between core business strategies and the strategic value of information technologies.

Navigating Digital Transformation and Corporate Governance

For many organizations, IT remains the single-largest capital investment. You will gain an appreciation of the benefits and risks to an organization with the information technology investments, understand the role of executives and directors regarding governance, and enhance your understanding of how to communicate effectively to create value and support strategy implementation.

An additional feature of this program is an applied change project:

Capstone Project:

Through this project, you will pick a topic that allows you to apply your learning and insights from the courses and act as a change agent in your organization. The project concludes with a final Capstone session, where you will report on your project results and lessons learned.

Networking and Mentorship: Within a small cohort, you will build your network with peers, senior CIOCAN members and established CIOs who have “been there” and can play crucial roles in guiding and facilitating your learning and career.

CIOCAN Membership: Acceptance to the program includes an Associate membership to the CIO Association of Canada for 2023/2024.

Dr. Andrew Gemino

Associate Dean, Executive Education, and Professor, Management Information Systems, SFU Beedie School of Business

Dr. Andrew Gemino is a Professor and serves as SFU Beedie's Dean pro-tem. He has twice received the Canada Trust Distinguished Teacher award from SFU Beedie. Andrew’s academic research focuses on IT project management, business systems analysis and the design of technology-mediated collaborative environments. He holds a grant from the National Sciences and Research Council of Canada (NSERC). He also co-founded a software company that develops commercial software for professional sports teams in the NHL and NBA and automated employee scheduling for sports and entertainment companies. Andrew also provides his expertise to the Surgeon Information System Working Group for the Provincial Surgical Oncology Council, affiliated with the BC Cancer Agency.

Learn more

Dr. Blaize Horner Reich

RBC Professor of Technology and Innovation, SFU Beedie, & Board Director

Dr. Blaize Horner Reich came to academia after 15 years as an information technology professional and consultant in Canada and Asia. Today, Blaize is the RBC Professor of Technology and Innovation at SFU Beedie, an internationally respected researcher and speaker. Her research and teaching interests focus on supporting boards during digital transformation and improving the value delivered from technology projects. She has served as Associate Dean, Graduate Programs and Dean of SFU Beedie School of Business. Blaize has many years of service on corporate boards, including Industrial Alliance Pacific Life Insurance Company (1999-2012), Central 1 Credit Union (2016-2021), and BC Automobile Association (2017 – current; Chair, Business Transformation sub-committee). She is a founding director of the CIO Association of Canada and was an ICTC director. Dr. Reich has been honoured as a WXN Top 100 Women in Canada and was named an Academic Fellow by the International Council of Management Consulting Institutes.

Learn more

Dr. Peter Tingling

Associate Dean, Undergraduate Program, and Associate Professor, Management Information Systems

Dr. Peter Tingling joined SFU Beedie from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario, where his thesis focused on technological decision-making in an organizational context. Although Peter has had a long association with higher education and has taught at several business schools, he also spent more than two decades in the information technology industries, working in several senior line staff positions as well as consulting for a diverse range of Fortune 500 and start-up organizations across North America. He is a 2004 Literati Club research award winner and received a 2007 TD Canada Trust Distinguished Teaching Award. Peter is also the president and CEO of Octothorpe Software Corporation, a decision sciences company.

More Information

Dr. Sandy MacIver

Instructor in CIOCAN program/Part-time Lecturer

Dr. Sandy MacIver has spent the last 44 years learning and teaching leadership, teamwork, company values, systems thinking, trust, and trust-building. He has factored knowledge in these fields into his three overlapping careers. Sandy has done thirty-three years (and counting) of consulting, executive coaching and working with CEOs and other senior executives. He has advised and assisted in improving performance and working relationships in the workplace, leading applied learning programs and building engaged and productive organizational cultures. His work has spanned North America. Sandy has taught scores of leadership and organization-related classes at four different universities, starting in 1987. Sandy also teaches leadership in the Manager of Technology MBA program at SFU and the Values-Based Leadership Certificate at RRU. Sandy's cut his career 'teeth' in public sector planning and policy for ten years.

Learn more

Program Brochure

Download PDF Brochure

The big revelation for me was that the IT industry is geo-agnostic. We had an incredibly diverse group of participants from across Canada in the course. By talking to people across the country, you can learn a lot more about adversity and how to overcome challenging circumstances.

Archana Nirad

Chief Information Officer

BC Financial Services Authority (BCFSA)

TLP: Archana