The term "chief innovation officer" was first coined and described in the 1998 book Fourth Generation R&D.
[5] The CINO is responsible for managing the innovation process inside the organization that identifies strategies, business opportunities and new technologies and then develops new capabilities and architectures with partners, new business models and new industry structures to serve those opportunities.
The words "chief" and "officer" are used to communicate that a person in this position is responsible for driving innovation throughout the entire organization.
Using a functional "chief ... officer" title helps to communicate that this is a cross-organizational position and enables this person to work across organizational silos.
This position is typically held by a person with broad technical expertise in that organization's industry.