This blog post first appeared on blogs.fco.gov.uk on 04 April 2009  

The London Summit broke new ground for digital media. I feel sure that the debate that took place in blogs and forums influenced opinion around the world in the lead up to and during the summit, and that digital debate has contributed to the way in which the outcome of the summit has been received.

We’ve played our part, running the UK government web presence, but a lot of the debate has taken place spontaneously elsewhere. I’ve been really excited about the work of G20 Voice, bringing 50 bloggers from 22 countries to the summit venue. I played a very small role in helping to make some connections, so I know that the 50 bloggers owe their place at the summit to the vision and perseverance of Shane, Karina and the rest of the G20 Voice coalition. Their legacy will be that it will probably seem perfectly natural for bloggers to have similar or greater access to the next summit.

And it almost passed me by, but I think there was a historic moment for blogging in the Excel Centre when Richard Murphy – one of the G20 accredited bloggers – was called to ask the Prime Minister a question.