New Delhi, Nov 19 (IANS) Seventy percent of chief information officers (CIOs) in India integrate business and technology to promote innovation for their organisation against 47 percent overseas, a study conducted by global IT major IBM has revealed.

Additionally, 64 percent of Indian CIOs proactively push IT as an innovation element and push low-cost business processes for their organisations against 55 percent abroad.

The study is based on a global survey of more than 2,500 CIOs including 100 from India.

'Indian CIOs are more focused than their counterparts anywhere in the world,' said IBM India-South Asia's chief technologist Guruduth Banavar.

According to the study, 56 percent of Indian CIOs decide on business strategy as a member of a senior management team, while globally this was 33 percent.

'Over 70 percent Indian CIOs expect to explore newer channls for end-customer interactions and greater transparency with customers in the next five years,' Banavar told reporters here.

Global responses rank between 56 and 64 percent, he added.

The study also said over 40 percent of CIOs in India have direct access to their chief executives.

'In India, it appears to be that CIOs are more progressive as compared to their global counterparts. Indian CIOs are looking to make innovation real and expand business impact,' said Nipun Mehrotra, vice president of general business, IBM Asia Pacific.

According to him, Indian CIOs want to lead their organisations into the league of the most successful companies worldwide.

'Due to intense competition across every industry, CIOs are compelled to do things very differently and they think out of box more often than many of their average global counterparts,' Mehrotra added.