The UK
managing director of consultancy firm Accenture has been unveiled
as the head of e-government, a new role that replaces e-envoy
Andrew Pinder.
Ian Watmore, who
has been at Accenture since 1980, will take up the position in
September, in a role he described on Tuesday as “one of the biggest
and most challenging IT positions in the UK today”.
Watmore, who will
be accountable to Douglas Alexander, minister for the Cabinet
Office, and report to Sir Andrew Turnbull, Cabinet Secretary, said
he faces a “formidable” challenge in driving up use of government
services online and driving change, reform and efficiencies
throughout the public sector by using IT.
He needs to build
on the achievements the Office of the e-envoy has made over the
past four years, according to Pinder.
“A lot has been
achieved, but there are still huge opportunities for further
progress, particularly in the effective use of ICT by the public
sector,” he said.
The major part of
the Office of the e-Envoy will start its transition into
the e-government Unit from Wednesday 2 June in preparation for
Watmore taking up the post in September. Specific responsibilities
of the e-government Unit will be:
Strategy: developing policy and planning for ICT
within government and providing an element of programme management
for implementation, to support the government's objectives for
public service delivery and administrative efficiency.
Architecture: providing policy, design, standards,
governance, advice and guidance for ICT in central government;
commissioning government-wide infrastructure and services; and
addressing issues of systems integration with other levels of
government (eg EU, Devolved and Local).
Innovation: providing high-level advice to
government bodies on innovative opportunities arising from ICT to
improve efficiency.
IT
Finance: in partnership with OGC, monitoring major IT
projects in government and advising on major investment
decisions.
IT
HR: head of the IT profession in government and leading
its professional development.
Projects: undertaking ad hoc policy and strategy
studies as necessary to support ministers, the Prime Minister's
Office, Cabinet Office or the Treasury.
Research: Identifying and communicating key
technology trends, opportunities, threats and risks for
government.
Security: overseeing government IT security
policy, standards, monitoring and assurance, and contingency
planning for the critical national infrastructure (the functions of
the Central Sponsor for Information Assurance, a responsibility of
the existing e-Envoy).
Supplier
management: in partnership with OGC, managing the
top-level relationship with strategic suppliers to government and
conducting supplier analysis.