Director General and HM Government Chief Information Officer, Corporate IT,
Department for Work and Pensions
What are you most proud of achieving in 2011?
Government ICT is more complex than it needs to be, and current spending on ICT is unsustainable into the future. We are not underestimating the extent of that challenge, but we are meeting it, and weíve achieved a great deal this year. While I donít have space to list all our achievements, I can name some of the highlights. We published an ambitious and provocative ICT strategy, which is about delivering better public services for less cost, and followed it up with a realistic and detailed implementation plan. We've saved £300m by stopping or reducing spending on "low value" ICT projects in 2010-11. In August we successfully completed live testing of the Public Services Network (PSN) Project Pathfinder trials, with Hampshire and Kent County Councils. PSN is the backbone of our ICT strategy, enabling us to drive down costs and increase the effectiveness of public services by providing a versatile network offering inter-operability. We're using the revolutionary 'agile' approach in the formation of Universal Credit. The Government Digital Service has moved onto Google apps in the cloud, making significant savings. And I am also proud of how the delivery leads from the six major departments are implementing the various parts of the strategy.
How has the shape and structure of the IT profession changed during 2011?
The way we govern and manage new developments has changed significantly. We have also set out, in the Government ICT Capability Strategy, our plans for moving the profession to a greater level of maturity, and in future operating cross-government, profession-wide processes for the development and deployment of our professional capability.
When I took up the role of head of profession, I reconstituted the IT profession board to lead and deliver our programme of change. It includes representatives from a range of departments, the wider public sector, and external stakeholders. The board identified the priorities for moving the profession forward, and shaped these into the strategy. Board members now own responsibility for implementing components of the strategy, drawing on their and colleague' resources, led by the senior responsible office, Andy Nelson from the Ministry of Justice.
What is the most important thing the profession must achieve during 2012?
In 2012 we will continue to deliver the strategy. We plan to deliver models for the ICT functions which are best retained in-house in departments; processes for talent management and workforce planning (starting with senior levels); a reinvigorated ëtechnology in businessí Fast Stream programme; and proposals on professional accreditation, among the many parts of the strategy implementation. But possibly the single most important thing is that we communicate this progress and the opportunities it provides to the thousands of members of the profession. We have set up a work stream in the strategy specifically to address this challenge.
How is the civil service likely to change during 2012?
We are putting the framework in place for a more coherent civil service, as we start to share more and collaborate more to produce joint and common approaches ñ as illustrated by the implementation of the ICT strategy.
Which historical, mythological or contemporary figure would you most like to join for Christmas dinner?
Billy Connolly for a good laugh.