Why did I start to blog? Let me begin with a true story. I was recently in the US and I was asked to do a presentation at the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, addressing the CEOs and CIOs of companies who reside in one of the innovation capitals of the world.

I was told by my hosts that there would be no media in the room; however Tim O'Reilly of O'Reilly Media, the technology publisher and famed "Father of Web 2.0" had snuck in. Tim and I had a good chat before I stood up and did my 10-minute talk. What I didn't know was that Tim was tweeting away merrily about what I was saying - live.

As I sat down after questions some 20 minutes later I was getting emails on my PDA from the Cabinet Office in the UK, asking what I had been saying as the UK media had picked up Tim's tweets and wanted quotes from me. Fortunately, as I was a guest in another country I was not being particularly contentious.

This little event rather shocked me. I was shocked by how dynamic digital media really is; I was shocked by how global we truly are.

So I started the blog in June in recognition that digital media is the place to be. If you have to get a message out, if you have something to say, then a blog is a good way to do it.

Apparently I am one of only a small number of CIOs who blog externally, which is a bit of a shock as I feel I have dragged my feet to the blogging party.

Before my trip to America, my previous government minister, Tom Watson, the UK parliament's first blogger and the cabinet office minister formerly responsible for e-government, had said to me that I didn't get the digital media world. That was a dagger to my digital heart but, you know, I think he may have been right - as my experience in San Jose in April brought home to me.

Getting engaged

So what are the benefits of CIOs blogging? The benefit truly is in the dialogue: it is a great way to have a two-way engagement on a range of topics that are important to you and your audience.

For me it gives the ability to articulate the UK government's IT strategy - to open it up for public review, to public questioning and to public challenge. It helps me hone my arguments. And it helps me engage with colleagues, professionals, interested parties and those for or against different arguments in a way I cannot with printed media.

Blogging also benefits the organisation you work for. It helps you enrich your thoughts and ideas. It gives you access to a much broader range of views and experiences. All this enables you to develop better ideas and solutions. Finally it opens up your network of experts and interested parties. It is amazing how many people find the blog and provide a contribution.

John Suffolk is the UK government CIO and head of its CIO Council. He oversees IT strategy and execution across the country's public sector. His blog can be viewed here.

(Suffolk's US counterpart, Vivek Kundra, is also a regular blogger and committed to putting the US government's IT performance firmly in the public domain.)

Do you agree? Have your say by commenting below. Or for a contrasting point of view, see the response to this article by Andrew Keen, author of the bestseller The Cult of the Amateur and self-styled challenger to the "mad Utopians of Web 2.0".

See also our list of CIOs who maintain a regular blog.