Dive Brief:

• Launching a digital transformation effort in a heavily regulated industry can present significant challenges not faced by companies in non-regulated industries.

• Bharat Amin, CIO of Newport News Shipbuilding, recently told CIO.com that though he was hired to digitally transform the company, no smart devices were permitted when he joined the company two years ago.

• "Imagine hiring a millennial to come work and saying 'Leave your great technology behind, you come work for us and we're going to give you a flip phone. That doesn't work,” he told CIO.

Dive Insight:

Newport News Shipbuilding makes nuclear-powered submarines and aircraft carriers and is overseen by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Regulation has made it difficult to modernize the company’s processes, but despite the challenges, Amin said he is making progress modernizing the company’s legacy technology systems and business processes with cloud technology and analytics software.

Digital transformation is growing more critical to businesses’ ability to remain competitive. A recent survey released by Quickbase indicated digital transformation is now a priority for an overwhelming 97% of the C-level respondents. And an August study from International Data Corporation found most IT spending worldwide is currently spurred by investments in solutions that enable digital transformation efforts.

But CIOs working in regulated industries may find it more difficult to launch digital transformations due to the restrictions they face.