All of these companies provide inspiring examples of leadership in business strategy that leverage public and private networks to get a competitive edge in today's markets. CIOs from any industry can take advantage of these models of low-cost but high-payoff approaches. So now the question becomes: How are you harnessing the power of these technologies for innovation in your company?

Madeline Weiss is director of the Society for Information Management's Advanced Practices Council (APC). June Drewry is former CIO of Chubb and a contributing adviser to the APC.