Paul Coby, BA CIO
Position: 11 Last year: Not ranked
Why? Model CIO who continues to transform the airline's IT operations
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A respected statesman and valued spokesman for the CIO community, Paul Coby's much-used mantra is "there are no IT projects, only business projects". It is an approach that has proved extremely successful in helping steer British Airways away from financial collapse.
Technology has played a crucial role in BA's turnaround and IT running costs have been cut by 43 per cent. New innovations include a completely revamped and more user-friendly BA.com website and self-service - for both staff and passengers - with online check-in and an employee portal that allows staff to check rosters and print their own payslips.
Over the past year, Coby has been working on the tech infrastructure behind the massive new Terminal 5 at London's Heathrow Airport, which BA will occupy from spring 2008.
All aspects of T5, including customer check-in and baggage, will be handled by new, state-of-the-art IT systems.
Coby also takes an active role in wider industry groups and is chairman of Sita, the airline industry IT body, and chairman of the CIO board for IT industry skills group e-Skills UK.
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BA CIO Paul Coby predicted "exciting" new developments in in-flight passenger comms on new aircraft but warned it is essential for these communications to be "firewalled and separate from the cockpit".
Paul Coby topped the CIO50 list in 2007 and has been present in the list since then. The IT group and Coby have won numerous awards as a result. At the beginning of 2009, Coby gained additional responsibility as BA's head of financial shared...
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