Government abolishes Chief Information Officer position in the UK
The UK government is streamlining its digital governance by eliminating the role of cross-departmental Chief Information Officers (CIOs) and transferring responsibility to the Government Digital Service (GDS). This move aims to centralize and unify digital governance under a specialized, dedicated body, with the goal of improving efficiency, consistency, and oversight of government technology initiatives.
This shift in strategy aligns with broader trends in government digital transformations, where central digital teams like GDS take on stronger roles overseeing technology governance to reduce fragmentation and increase coherence. While the specific reasons for this particular governance restructuring are not explicitly detailed, the trend is clear.
The role of CIO, previously held by Andy Nelson, who is now CIO at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), is being redefined. Mike Bracken, the executive director of the Government Digital Service, has suggested that CIOs should focus on using information and data from technology and business systems to inform strategy, rather than being mired in procurement and supplier management.
Bracken's blog post highlights a shift away from the traditional large procurement approach to technology, with the 'old guard' in government clinging to these practices. Instead, Bracken argues that the government can do much more, more quickly by using the web, and digital tools and services internally, to collaborate.
However, the implementation of this new governance model is not yet widespread. GDS's approach has only been applied to the government's website, gov.uk, and not any of the public sector's large transactional IT systems. For instance, the Department for Transport recently outsourced its back office function to arvato for a seven-year deal, including a swap of its SAP installation for UNIT4's Agresso ERP application.
Moreover, the use of GDS's Identity Assurance federated ID scheme, initially planned for Universal Credit, may not be implemented as originally planned. This indicates that while the UK government is making strides towards centralizing and unifying digital governance, there are still challenges to be addressed.
In summary, the UK government's decision to eliminate cross-departmental CIO roles and shift governance to GDS is part of a broader trend towards centralizing digital leadership for better coordination, accountability, and efficiency in delivering government technology services. While the full implications of this change are yet to be seen, it is clear that the government is moving towards a more agile, user-centric approach to technology governance.
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