Stories by: Mary K. Pratt

Bruce Smith is feeling some tablet pressure. As director of computing services for Cummins Inc., Smith helps the company's 40,000 employees get the right computers for their jobs.

Every year the MIT Sloan CIO Symposium recognizes IT leaders who pursue innovative uses of technology to further business objectives. This year's Award for Innovation Leadership went to Marco Antonio Orellana Silva, CIO and executive manager of information, communication and automation technology at Codelco. Corporación Nacional del Cobre de Chile (which translates to the National Copper Corporation of Chile) is the world's largest copper producer.

It's been a rough time of late for global business travelers who need to stay in touch.

Andy Pratt, director of technology at The Lowell Whiteman School, has to support some unusual schedules. Many of the students at this college-prep boarding and day school in Steamboat Springs, Colo., are competitive skiers and snowboarders who travel the world for training and competitions. Teachers and students had relied on paper-based assignments and occasional phone calls and, later, a patched-together recording system. But this year, Pratt implemented a videoconferencing system to create a much richer academic experience for students while they're away.

Professor Corey Schou was working in his school's library when he realized his computer was picking up a particularly strong Wi-Fi signal.

Ingo Elfering talks a lot about opportunities. That's not surprising, considering he has built his career on developing transformative uses for IT. In 1987 he founded his own company, MedicalData Service, which developed software for the medical community. SmithKline Beecham bought Elfering's company in 1997 and hired him as part of the deal. A native of Germany, he came to the U.S. with his wife in 2000 when a merger created GlaxoSmithKline. Last November, Elfering became vice president of business transformation for the company's Core Business Services. He now holds dual American and German citizenship and was named one of Computerworld's 2010 Premier 100 IT Leaders.

Charles E. Christian got his start in healthcare in the clinical arena, working in radiology before moving into IT. Today he's CIO of Good Samaritan Hospital, a 232-bed community facility in Vincennes, Ind., with 1,600 employees. Christian, 57, has become a leader in healthcare through his work at Good Samaritan for the past 22 years and through his service on various policy and advocacy committees. In January, he was recognized as the 2010 John E. Gall Jr. CIO of the Year by the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives and the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, which jointly bestow the award on healthcare IT executives who make significant contributions to their organizations and demonstrate innovative leadership through effective use of technology.

David Edelstein is using technology to battle poverty, and his weapon of choice is the mobile phone. Edelstein is director of the Grameen Technology Center and vice president of technology programs at Grameen Foundation, a Washington-based nonprofit that supports microfinance practitioners worldwide. Edelstein holds the top technology job, guiding the foundation's efforts to create innovative and sustainable technology approaches to benefit the world's poor.

You can't run a company without technology, but you can't invest in technology without the blessings of the finance department. And thanks to the long-stagnant economy, the pendulum of power between finance and IT is swinging decidedly toward the chief financial officer's door these days.

There were no big brainstorming sessions, rah-rah team meetings or executive committees convened to devise a plan to drive FiOS TV customers away from using call centers in favor of self-service ordering, the more cost-effective option.