When it comes to mobile and wireless technology, what keeps a CIO up at night?

John Wade, CIO of the Saint Luke"s Health System in Kansas City, Mo., said he faces many of the same problems confronting other CIOs when it comes to supporting mobile and wireless technology in a large organization.

Wade is one of 25 senior IT managers making presentations at Computerworld"s Mobile & Wireless World conference this week in Scottsdale, Ariz. The event kicks off Monday, with an expected audience of about 300 attendees, including many senior IT managers, organizers said.

With nine hospitals in the system, Wade said he focuses on three main concerns: avoiding Wi-Fi network intrusions -- especially by hackers inside one of his hospitals; making sure doctors and nurses don"t lose a wireless signal during a life-and-death event with a patient; and finding an agnostic wireless signal that can support a wide range of devices.

Wade, who is scheduled to offer tips on top-down planning for a wireless infrastructure during a presentation on Wednesday, is one of several CIO presenters slated to talk about how they"re grappling with effective wireless deployments. Analysts say health providers are often leaders in implementing wireless and mobile applications and technologies.

The conference will focus on Wi-Fi and wireless security and a number of other topics, including radio frequency identification, the adoption of desktop applications for handheld use and the use of broadband wireless Internet service providers, according to conference organizers. Presentations will look at issues such as the use of municipal wireless networks to wireless networking at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange to the use of mobile communications.

Intel Corp., one of the conference sponsors, will present a talk on mobile digital lifestyles in the office, and Nokia Corp. will discuss deployment of a secure wireless access system at Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan.

The conference ends Wednesday.