Lance, you asked "Do you think CIOs are well positioned to be the innovation nerve center?"

I believe that a CIO's effectiveness will vary, greatly, depending on their own individual ability to break free from legacy thinking.

Like most traditional business leaders in large organizations, legacy CIOs equate their power and influence to be directly tied to the budget and headcount that they control.

In contrast, I believe that true innovation comes from a deep understanding of business related challenges and opportunities -- within the global networked economy -- budget nor headcount are key factors in the process.

Moreover, I also believe that progressive thinking -- and the desired outcome-centric business advantages -- will emanate from those fearless people that choose to experiment with business model changes that are outside of the norm.

These advancements are unlikely to "come from the top" -- since most of those people at the senior executive I know can't easily move beyond their own personal vested interests to retain their legacy power and control.

Therefore, I believe that meaningful and substantive innovation leadership will come from those few people that follow their passion. They refuse to be constrained by the institutionalized mediocrity that is pervasive in so many large companies today.

One only has to look at the low level of employee engagement in American multinational companies [see the Gallup market study results] to realize that most CEOs have a better chance of being struck by lightening that finding someone bold enough in their organization -- that's both willing and able-- to become a true IoE innovator.

Those are my candid thoughts. This is the reality. No, in answer to your question, CIOs are not at all well positioned.