Is there a need to single out the UK's top 50 CIOs? This publication thinks so. That's why we've spent several months putting together the CIO50 2007 list. It's the first of its type and something we intend to compile annually.

The list is illuminating for the range of individuals it includes and the biographical information it contains.

silicon.com believes passionately in technology driving a successful economy (the tag-line under our logo at the top of these pages gives that away) and those who drive technology at the organisations making up UK Plc are critical to that success - and we use UK Plc loosely, to include the public sector or privately held companies playing an equal role in the country's wealth.

It is interesting that our panel of experts - fellow CIOs and IT bosses as well as headhunters and others - chose many individuals with a broad grounding across IT and business. Few of the 50 are newcomers to tech, few of them couldn't cut it at a boardroom table.

The silicon.com CIO50 2007

♦ CIO50: Who's on the list?
♦ The top 10 CIOs
♦ CIO50 analysis: How to be a top CIO
♦ CIO50: The full report

For one thing, just take a look at the job titles. Many are simply 'CIO'. Others have wider responsibility - areas such as product marketing, business process, procurement and even general management all come up.

One of the many interesting nuggets this research has highlighted is the training grounds where today's top CIOs learnt their trade in the early days. For example, a notable number of those on the CIO50 list have benefited from the excellent training and mentorship at Marks & Spencer and Mars during the 1980s and 90s.

And we should mention our top 10. As silicon.com community editor Andy McCue worked on pulling together the various votes and opinions on the nation's top CIOs, a handful came out ahead. It was a close run thing.

As we look at that top 10, at leaders in companies such as BA, Tesco and Unilever, let's acknowledge the role IT has played in making these companies among the best in the world but also look forward to the future - to a more competitive economy… and also new names.

Because there is one thing we can guarantee: in IT and in the world of the CIO, things change fast.