John Suffolk has been confirmed as the government's new
chief information officer.
Suffolk, who is moving up from his current position as director
general of criminal justice IT, will lead the work of the
E-Government Unit at the Cabinet Office. He will also head the
public sector CIO Council, which is responsible for delivering the
Transitional Government technology strategy.
Suffolk worked in the financial services industry for more than
20 years before taking up the director general role for criminal
justice IT in February 2004, where he took charge of the £2bn
Joined Up Justice programme. No successor has yet been appointed to
the criminal justice role he is vacating.
Suffolk is stepping into the post left vacant by Ian Watmore,
who went to head the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit in January this
year. Suffolk will report to Watmore in his new role.
"I am very pleased to welcome John Suffolk in this role," said
Watmore. "His combination of public and private sector experience
makes him ideally equipped to lead the implementation of the
Transformational Government strategy."