"We should be following the European example with one in 14 of the biggest companies boasting a CIO or equivalent position on the board," Rush said. "IT bosses in Australia say this is symptomatic of the view of the IT function as a cost center rather than something that can provide competitive advantage.

"A seat in the boardroom remains elusive for most CIOs as businesses continue to exclude IT chiefs from high-level strategic planning," Rush said.

This is in contrast to companies in emerging technology markets in the Asia-Pacific region, including India, which are 10 times more likely to have a CIO on the board than elsewhere in the world, according to Talent2.

Experience shows that CIOs can generally expect to go no higher than being part of the senior management team, Rush said. "In terms of career progression, few CIOs go on to become CEOs or even COOs," he said.

"Only three percent of Fortune Global 500 companies have a CEO with previous IT experience," Rush said, adding that Harvard Business Review's research backed up the low figure and also showed that 95 percent of senior management do not know what their IT budget is spent on.