The top IT leaders in the UK talked to Computer Weekly throughout 2012 to share their opinions and experiences of modern technology leadership and transforming business and government through IT innovation. Their views are valuable not only for fellow chief information officers (CIOs), but also any aspiring IT professional looking to develop their career opportunities.
Here are our top 10 CIO interviews of the year.
CIO interview: Gerry Pennell, CIO, London 2012 Olympic Games
And now, the end is near. On 23 November 2012, Gerry Pennell left the job of a lifetime. Four years after signing up as CIO for the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics, his IT team has won every technology gold medal going after successfully supporting the most connected Games ever. But even such a good thing must come to an end.
CIO interview: Simon Moorhead, Bank of England
Simon Moorhead began his career as the Bank of England's CIO with a baptism of fire, having started in November 2008 – just two months after Lehman Brothers collapsed and a year after Northern Rock was rescued by the government.
CIO interview: John Linwood, chief technology officer, BBC
The BBC covered every sport from every venue during the entire London 2012 Olympic Games. With more than 2,000 hours of live sport that meant the pressure on the IT department to ensure that everything works was enormous. Only a few months before what was perhaps the broadcaster's most ambitious coverage of a sporting event to date, the top IT man at the BBC, chief technology officer John Linwood, had a lot on his plate.
CIO interview: Tesco CIO Mike McNamara
Tesco CIO Mike McNamara discusses the retail giant's plan to aggressively pursue online sales over building new stores; its wait-and-see approach to contactless payments; and why London is one of the best places in the world for creative app developers.
CIO interview: Susan Cooklin, CIO, Network Rail
Susan Cooklin has had an eventful 2012. The CIO at Network Rail delivered major technology upgrades, while driving the projects required to help the London 2012 Olympic Games run smoothly. She is about to embark on a new cycle of transformation in January.
CIO interview: Catherine Doran, CIO, Royal Mail
''Royal Mail wanted a CIO who is comfortable in a really volatile and changing environment to drive change. And I am. I joined because the scale of the challenge is huge and I would be mad to say no to that.'' Catherine Doran appears to be thriving on that challenge.
CIO interview: David Cooper, CIO, British Gas
British Gas chief information officer David Cooper likes to keep things low-key. But the scale of his multimillion-pound technology transformation, and the impact his team's work has on customer spending, makes his one of the highest-profile jobs in UK IT.
CIO interview: Jane Moran, global CIO, Thomson Reuters
Organisations must prevent women from excluding themselves from the top jobs in IT, according to Jane Moran, global chief information officer of Thomson Reuters, and winner of Computer Weekly's ''Most Influential Woman in UK IT'' award.
CIO interview: Andy Nelson, UK government CIO
Newly-appointed government CIO Andy Nelson has his work cut out, tasked with transforming an ambitious 19-point ICT agenda from strategy to reality across Whitehall along with his day job working as Ministry of Justice CIO.
CIO interview: Rob Fraser, IT director, Sainsbury's
Rob Fraser, IT director of Sainsbury's, talks about why an in-house IT team works better than an outsourcing model and how the retailer hopes to grow to twice its current size without doubling its IT footprint.
