By Peter Krass

For CIOs, innovation is as perennial a topic as "aligning IT with the business" and "doing more with less." So what's new about practical innovation? Plenty. Practical innovation involves the harnessing of both existing and emerging technologies to meet today's most important business challenges. It can empower CIOs to optimize business processes, deliver true value and emerge as true business visionaries.

To accomplish all this, IT leaders must be effective communicators, inspiring leaders, and innovators when leveraging technology. In this issue of Smart Enterprise, we show how CIOs and other IT executives can combine these traits and skills to emerge as a new generation of business leaders.

As our cover story "Get Practical" shows, CIOs in both North America and Europe are delivering real, measurable business results with practical innovation. For example, at construction management company Hill International, CIO Michael Petrisko is taking an innovative, yet practical, approach to automating regulatory-compliance systems, saving both time and money.

Deirdre Woods, CIO at the Wharton School, is another IT leader who engages in practical innovation. This issue's case study describes how the prestigious business school, under Woods' leadership, is automating classrooms with video systems to make learning more engaging. The school has transformed its Wharton Research Data Services, originally designed for academic researchers, into a paid subscription service now used by more than 260 institutions.

Practical innovation is also on tap at companies ranging from HR solutions provider Adecco Group France, to the Canadian Red Cross, to fast-food purveyor Church's Chicken. They're just three of the organizations whose IT leaders are quoted in this issue's "CIOs Speak Out." How about you? Are you a practical IT innovator? And what kinds of business value are you delivering? I welcome your answers, comments, suggestions — and innovations. Also, follow us on twitter at http://twitter.com/smartEnterprise

Peter Krass is the Editor in Chief of Smart Enterprise magazine.