Winners of the 2023 Ohio ORBIE Awards Announced by OhioCIO

OhioCIO has recently revealed the victors of its highly acclaimed 2023 ORBIE® Awards, which paid tribute to the chief information officers across seven vital categories, namely, Leadership, Super Global, Global, Large Enterprise, Enterprise, Large Corporate, and Corporate. The Ohio ORBIE Awards ceremony was conducted at the Renaissance Columbus Downtown Hotel.

Jim Fowler, OhioCIO Chair, accentuated the importance of programs such as the ORBIE Awards, which are initiated by the members themselves and are non-commercial, as they foster significant professional bonds among colleagues who face comparable challenges, thereby helping them to resolve problems and avoid setbacks. He believes that successful leaders grasp the superpower of trustworthy relationships, and the answer to any technology leadership predicament can be found within the room.

The 2023 Ohio ORBIE Award recipients are as follows:

Chris Hjelm, the EVP & CIO of Kroger (ret), was bestowed with the Leadership ORBIE.

›› Anil Bhatt, the Global CIO of Elevance Health, received the Super Global ORBIE for organizations that have a yearly income of over $7 billion and operate globally.

Srini Koushik, the EVP & CTO of Rackspace Technology, was granted the Global ORBIE for organizations that earn more than $1 billion annually and have multi-national operations.

Howard Melnick, the EVP & CIO of Signet Jewelers, was conferred with the Large Enterprise ORBIE for organizations with an annual income of more than $5 billion.

Ervan Rodgers II, the SVP & CIO of Designer Brands, was honored with the Enterprise ORBIE for organizations that earn over $1.6 billion per year.

Ed Romito, the Chief Transformation Officer of Genesis HealthCare System, earned the Large Corporate ORBIE for organizations with a yearly income of over $500 million.

Jim Smith, the CIO of Dwellworks, LLC, clinched the Corporate ORBIE for organizations that generate up to $500 million in annual revenue.

The ORBIE Awards program is the most prestigious technology executive recognition initiative in the United States. Since its inception in 1998, over 500 technology leaders have been conferred with the coveted ORBIE Award. The ORBIE lauds chief information officers who have demonstrated excellence in technology leadership. The finalists and winners are selected through an impartial peer review process led by prior ORBIE recipients.