With IT budgets tight, CIOs are under more pressure than ever to help ensure that innovation projects move beyond the "cool idea" stage to deliver business and shareholder value. During an InformationWeek 500 conference panel Monday in Dana Point, Calif., three IT executives talked about promising, innovative technology projects at their companies.

Coca-Cola CIO Jean-Michel Ares discussed Coke's new Freestyle fountain drink dispenser capable of more than 100 beverage choices, which includes 30 RFID-chipped cartridges that contain highly concentrated flavorings. The flavors are so powerful that only a few drops go into each drink recipe. With Freestyle, "We're changing the consumer experience and the way we're marketing to consumers," Ares said.

The dispensers, being test-marketed at fast-food chains in several cities nationwide, communicate with Coke's core SAP system back at its Atlanta headquarters over a Verizon wireless network. The consumption data they upload lets Coke provide analytic reports to its fast-food chain customers, to help with purchasing and inventory. Coke may also use that data to help it decide what new bottled products to bring to various markets (InformationWeek published an in-depth look at the Freestyle in June.)

The Freestyle is the result of four years of collaboration between Coke's IT and engineering departments, with business unit input. It's a good example of IT supporting a potentially industry-altering project, rather than getting in the way of it. "IT pros are very structured in their thinking, and tend to introduce constraints early in the process," Ares said. "The challenge is to really listen to our clients, whether they're in marketing or R&D, and hear their ideas."

At Harrah's Entertainment, which has been hurt by a pullback in consumer spending, it's important to keep innovating on IT projects that deliver both short-term results and long-term gains, said Katrina Lane, senior VP and CTO.

Innovative IT projects at Harrah's Entertainment include a virtual hotel check-in attendant being tested, which could reduce staffing costs. And interactive, touchscreen tables called "Surface," are being trialed in some casinos and bars Lane said. Customers can mix and order drinks from the tables, send a message to "flirt" with patrons at another table, and put digital images and pictures on theirs table.

Harrah's is looking to Surface to draw a younger, tech savvy crowd, get them to order more drinks and food, and buy products from partner companies marketing their wares via the interactive tables. Harrah's is also toying with the idea of having patrons in Las Vegas interact with those at casinos in other cities via the Surface tables.

The self-serve kiosk for hotel check-in, being tested in one market, is similar to how consumers check in for an airline flight. It's different, however, in that it strives to mimic the personal touch of an in-person check-in, with a virtual "friendly attractive guy who helps you check in," Lane said. The company is experimenting with different things, such as how to offer customers room upgrades. In a 90-day test period, tens of thousands of people used the kiosk to check in, she said.

At Chevron, innovation centers around new and better ways to find and manufacture oil, said Peter Breunig, GM of technology management at Chevron Information Technology Co. That includes getting more oil out of old fields and "moving reserves from probable to proven."

The energy company's IT goals include reducing data centers, reducing applications, cleaning up data about the status of oil wells, and better governance of IT. Data analysis from the fields is an important area of innovation for oil drilling, Breunig said, and newer fields are equipped with wireless networks to transmit more types of data for analysis back to headquarters.

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