Bryan Glick seems to think that the Cabinet Office may not have decided on future of the government CIO role – will John Suffolk be the last central government CIO?
Forget the title. Let’s see this as an opportunity for the humble sufferers of indecision and abrogation (aka abolishment, abolition, annihilation, annulment, cancellation, defeasance, invalidation, negation, nullification) of standards to get some leadership. It can only be put right at this elevated level. Martha Lane Fox knows it to be true.
Most importantly give us an ICT strategy that is fit for the country and fit for purpose. The Cross Government Enterprise Architecture (XGEA), started in 2005, does not appear to have made any impact on anything. Certainly nothing from what was expected on the way forward:
- “Work on a common infrastructure based on the open standards and proven interoperability implemented with commercial off the shelf products
- Common standards to help facilitate reuse and sharing
- Inclusion of Information Assurance into all aspects of design and build
- Rationalising government data and voice networks
- Adopting a consistent approach to identity management“
Have these guys been earning fat salaries without delivering? Did Ian Watmore do any better when he was previously in the post? Isn’t their primary purpose to take the Minister’s policy forward into some clear strategic priorities? They should have all this sorted within three months, not five years. It looks like dithering to Quarkside.
We, that’s the public sector, seem to be wandering in the wilderness without a roadmap of where to go or what to take with us. We need leaders that can show us a vision, lay down the law and lead us to the Promised Land. Did somebody mention a recall for Moses?
