100 and growing

In parallel with this issue we are re-launching the CIO 100 – available at www.cio.co.uk/cio100– and it is with great pleasure I can announce that the top five CIOs in the 100. They are: Trevor Didcock of easyJet, Myron Hyrcyk of Severn Trent Water; Jane Moran at Thomson Reuters; Darrell Stein at Marks & Spencer and Mark Leonard at Colt. 

Why were these CIOs chosen? Yes they have been on the cover and featured widely in CIO magazine, but there is a reason for this, they are the CIOs with a bold transformative story to tell. They all have board level influence and have put the CIO role and technology at the heart of what these organisations achieve. These organisations are demonstrating what a difference technology can make to their customers, workers, leaders and partners when faced with difficulties, change or opportunity. Severn Trent Water, Marks and Spencer and Colt arguably face tough challenges, whether regulatory, economic or technology changing usage. Thomson Reuters has undergone a massive merger and easyJet, our number one, has turned a business sector on its head largely through technology usage. 

How were these CIOs chosen? In previous eras CIOs have been judged by the size of their estate, the budget available to them or the size of the organisation. In 2012 I believe this to be a completely unsatisfactory judgement on the benefits technology and CIOs offer organisations. We believe CIOs are the engines for business transformation. 

This new CIO 100 is intended as a benchmark for all CIOs. The top 20are what the CIO panel of experts believe to be the foremost transformative CIOs in the British economy over the last 12 months. I hope the CIO community will embrace this benchmark to see how the leaders not only transform their organisations but how they communicate transformation and operate or influence at board level. 

The CIO 100 is completely subjective and we welcome open discussion and look forward to debating its existing ranking and your thoughts for the next CIO 100. Personally I expect that from this transformation onward the ranking will change radically with each year as the economy changes and different sectors grow or react to the environment they operate in. Lastly I would like to thank all involved in the CIO 100.