UC chief digital officer named Info-Tech 2024 CIO award winner
Info-Tech Research Group recently named University of Cincinnati Vice President & Chief Digital Officer Bharath Prabhakaran a 2024 CIO Award winner in the Large and Enterprise Organization Division.
The annual Info-Tech CIO Awards recognize outstanding IT leaders for delivering exceptional value to their organizations. They honor leaders who have seamlessly aligned IT services with their organization’s goals to deliver strategic value and measurable results.
“I am honored to accept this award on behalf of the Digital Technology Solutions team. These nominations and awards celebrate the exceptional work we accomplish at DTS and at UC. I am glad that our innovative, mission-driven work in higher education is being recognized alongside corporations.”
Bharath Prabhakaran
Bharath Prabhakaran was named a finalist in the Large Corporate category for the 2024 Ohio ORBIE Awards and a finalist in the Enterprise category for the 2025 Ohio ORBIE Awards.
The ORBIE Awards is the premier technology executive recognition program in the United States. For over 25 years, the ORBIE Awards have recognized technology executives for leadership, innovation, and excellence. Since 1998, over 500 technology leaders have received the prestigious ORBIE Award. Finalists and winners are selected by an independent peer review process, led by prior ORBIE recipients.
Bharath Prabhakaran
Prabhakaran and his UC Digital Technology Solutions team work to accelerate digital transformation across the university. Under Prabhakaran’s leadership, DTS has focused on key initiatives that support excellence in IT operations, cybersecurity and resiliency, and modernization—pillars of UC’s ongoing digital transformation.
“I am honored to accept this award on behalf of the Digital Technology Solutions team. These nominations and awards celebrate the exceptional work we accomplish at DTS and at UC. I am glad that our innovative, mission-driven work in higher education is being recognized alongside corporations.”
DTS recently launched a university-wide BearcatGPT pilot program, leveraging Microsoft Azure's OpenAI technology. This limited-use pilot enables the university to gain hands-on experience with a private OpenAI environment, supporting a strategic and phased approach to adopting AI across UC.
Reflecting on Bharath Prabhakaran's appointment as Chief Digital Officer and Vice President in May 2022, UC President Neville Pinto remarked, "I’m confident that Bharath is the innovative and agile leader UC needs to guide us through our digital transformation initiative."
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