CIO Jury was invented by silicon.com as an innovative way to find out what the top tier of IT users think on a range of provocative subjects, usually in a given 24-hour period.

We work with a pool of over a hundred CIOs, IT directors and other heads of IT at household names such as BA, Barclays, Betfair, BOC Group and British Sugar - and that's just to name the organisations starting with a B - as well as those driving change in central and local government.

They are invited to let us know their views on a range of hot topics. Past subjects include whether outsourcing works, when and how to kill IT projects, the role of industry analysts, consequences of the EU-Microsoft wranglings, future security tactics, IT representation in the boardroom - even whether the term 'CIO' has had its day.

CIO jury is a valuable way to gain insight from my peers on the issues of the day and to share my own experience. The Reader Comments section most enlightening, sometimes amusing but never dull.

Phil Young,
head of IT operations,
Amtrak Express Parcels

We don't want to pass this off as scientific research. Rather, CIO Jury is a unique, rapid response straw poll that allows IT leaders to speak freely in the company of their peers.

Some weeks a participant will vote with only a simple Yes or No on a subject that has been set by silicon.com editors - providing a guilty or not guilty verdict, if you like - while others he might share in-depth opinions. Other times, if a subject doesn't resonate, there is no obligation to take part - though we find most of our pool are regular contributors.

And while this piece of silicon.com content is about top CIOs sharing their views alongside those of their peers, it is clearly of interest to the rest of us. Whether we're vendors, analysts, the media or others looking in, the views of those leading the UK's use of information and communications technologies are invaluable.

CIO Jury Articles

The McCue Interview

Q&As - Quick-fire answers

About CIO Jury

The positions of the CIOs are often provocative and subsequent debates often kick off in our Reader Comments section.

Further to CIO Jury on the pages of silicon.com - this is a feature whose timely nature just wouldn't be possible without the use of email and the web, both at the heart of this publication - this year we will be looking at real world CIO Jury events.

A real-life court room-style CIO Jury is now a regular highlight at silicon.com's annual CIO Forum (this year to be held on 15 October at the Mayfair Hotel in London) and we are planning a series of events which complement our week-to-week articles.

Polling and surveying distinct groups of people is nothing new. But our mix of participants, timely reaction to breaking news and experience in presentation and distribution make silicon.com's CIO Jury unique.