Being a CIO 100 leader – A CIO’s take on CIO 100 membership and recognition

Richard Corbridge, the 2017 CIO 100 leader, wrote exclusively for CIO UK about the value that being part of the CIO 100 brings to your team and organisation. This article was first published on 2 January 2018.

Being part of the CIO 100 is like joining a ready-made network of like-minded friends and colleagues. I have been involved in the CIO 100 since 2014; it started as a way to meet other CIOs – I was a new CIO and I wanted to hear stories of others experiences and meet people going through similar trials and tribulations. There are so few cross-business vertical gatherings of professionals, we tend to focus on the vertical we are in and that can limit the learning experiences open to us.

[Take part in the 2019 CIO 100]

The CIO 100 is different, somehow the judging panel manage to pull together 100 of the top CIOs from across any business area, we hear regularly that every business is going to be a digital business, nowhere more so than in the CIO 100 is this reflected.

The impact of being part of the CIO 100 can be felt throughout an organisation. No CIO is included without the development of a team behind them, and when the CIO 100 is announced it is the CIOs’ teams that are celebrated. Describing a great digital team and a CIO leader can be done through looking at the CIO 100 lists over the years, driving innovation as a team, creating a digital culture through an organisation and representing the CIO agenda at the most senior level possible in an organisation are all reflections that can be taken from the CIO 100.

In recent years the CIO 100 has become less and less about the placing in the 100 list and more and more about the community that the CIO 100 creates. The stories that can be shared through the connections made ensure that you now have a ‘test ground’ for your new idea, a way to learn from others attempts to achieve digital goals, and new connections that allow your peer group and indeed your own virtual team to grow.

For me personally in 2017it provided me with a new platform to talk about the digital need in healthcare and the investment financially and culturally needed to enable digital to be the catalyst for improvement in health and social care throughout healthcare systems of the world. Being part of the CIO 100 provides you with what can become a ‘badge of honour’, a way of identifying you as an individual and your team as making the digital difference in your area.

The CIO 100 has been celebrated by organisations with their digital leaders named within it. An organisation with a digital leader that is part of the CIO 100 can, with confidence, be sure that they have a person in a leadership role that is one of the top performers in the industry. A member of the CIO 100 should be able to argue that the digital leader role is needed at the top table of the organisation, making strategic decisions that will impact upon the direction of the organisation.

Recognition of talent is a key role for CIOs, and you being part of the CIO 100 allows you to use this platform to highlight the success your team has made. The CIO 100 gave eHealth Ireland an opportunity in 2017 to be seen to be at the front line of digital change in healthcare, it enabled the organisation to have a voice within Europe – building on the CIO 100 recognition ensured a seat at the EHT Health Cloud Council, a leadership role in the EU Presidency Taskforce for a Digital Health Society, and a speaking slot on Cyber Security at the Gartner Symposium all were influenced by the CIO 100 listing and ultimately were great opportunities for Ireland and the eHealth Ireland organisation.

Personally the CIO 100 also helped me with my own ambitions as it is seen globally as recognition of digital leadership excellence. Building towards a new role back in the NHS the CIO 100 definitely helped me when it came to considering new roles and the ensuing CIO application process to move back to Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust. The coverage that the public sector has in the CIO 100 in the UK is hugely refreshing and one I think we need to find ways to continue.

So, as a five-year member of the CIO 100 club and the current CIO 100 leader, fill in those details and come and take part – it’s a great network to be part of.

[2019 CIO 100 questionnaire]

Richard Corbridge is the Chief Digital and Information Officer at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. The 2017 CIO 100 leader Tweets as @R1chardatron