It was some surprise, and not a little amusement, that I noted the advertisement of a position on PublicJobs.ie for chief information officer (CIO) for the Irish Government on 1 March 2013.
Surprised because I was already aware of the work of the Irish Public Service CIO council whose remit "discusses key ICT and eGovernment issues, and provides expert input to decisions and actions aimed at maximising the positive impact of these on public service modernisation and customer service," according to ciocouncil.gov.ie; and amused because the only direct answer I have ever received from a Government minister was on this very subject.
On 14 February last year at a press conference, Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Pat Rabbitte TD answered my question on this very subject by saying that the Government had reconsidered the position of Government CIO. This came as something of a shock as detail on the post had been scant and there had been little confirmation of what was being done either way. We were told that the CIO council was all that was necessary and that it would inform Government ICT strategy and decision making.
Few were happy with this result and there the issue lay till 1 March this year. I think that it is fair to say that the advertisement of the position came as something of a surprise generally, but no matter. What was more important was definition of the role, which, unlike previous information in this area, was surprisingly detailed.
"Information Booklet TLAC 485" is the uninspiring title of the document that was downloadable from thePublicJobs.ie web site to accompany the advertisement of the position. It is fairly detailed on the roles and responsibilities for the Irish Government CIO (GCIO). This is good, because of course, the announcement of the intention to recruit for the position immediately begged certain questions. To whom would the GCIO report? Would the position be mainly leadership or would there be operational or organisational elements? What would the GCIO’s relationship be with the existing CIO Council? And so on.
Well, firstly the information booklet described the GCIO position as a "senior executive appointment" that would "influence a major change programme, provide guidance and leadership at the executive level across the entire IT spectrum and to ultimately take responsibility for the development of the ICT strategy for Government and the wider public service". Secondly, it states that the GCIO reports to the Secretary General of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, and "will form part of a management team and will hold ultimate responsibility for the strategic direction of technology in support of the wider mission and strategic change objectives in the Public Sector". Critically it says that "the successful candidate will lead the CIO Council and will drive the implementation of the eGovernment and Cloud Computing strategies."
Without being an expert in HR, I’d say that sounds like a little more than a leadership figurehead who will evangelise new technologies as possible directions for government ICT strategy. This had been a worry for many commentators with an interest in this position, but it sounds as if, in the role description at least, the plan is for a hands on individual.
The successful candidate will lead the CIO Council in devising and implementing an ICT strategy and will be responsible for all IT operations currently undertaken by the CMOD"
The booklet goes on to say that the successful individual will have a strong background in ICT with specific mention made of budgetary, project and people management skills, with a particular emphasis laid on performance measurement-a curious thing indeed in a public service setting. Perhaps most telling of all though, is the line that says the successful candidate will "possess a general awareness of the machinery of Government in Ireland-the Civil Service and Government process".
Delving a little further, the booklet gives more detail on the relationship with the CIO Council, and also Centre for Management and Organisation Development (CMOD).
"The CIO role will lead, manage and direct across Government Departments to define and implement an enterprise-wide ICT strategy (technology, knowledge, and information management) to support the Reform agenda and improve the overall performance of the public service. The successful candidate will lead the CIO Council in devising and implementing an ICT strategy and will be responsible for all IT operations currently undertaken by the CMOD."
Now, speculating for a moment here, the requirements for experience in terms of project delivery and ICT industry experience seem to preclude an internal candidate. However, the requirement for "general awareness of the machinery of Government in Ireland – the Civil Service and Government process" would seem to suggest high level individuals who may have held positions such as country manager for a technology multinational. Either way, the pool of candidates is likely to be small, especially so, when the terms of the job are considered. First of all, the job is a five year, fixed term contract with a maximum salary of just shy of €150,000. This is not small beans but is certainly likely to be less than the salary of the Irish country manager of a major blue-chip tech company. Therefore, whoever takes up the position is likely to be of the more mature variety, already highly successful and willing to don the green jersey.
The fact that it is a five year appointment means that the individual will be in place beyond the lifetime of the current government. That in itself is significant.
The other significant detail was that the application period was short and had already passed at time of writing.
Questions as to why the policy change and what prompted it had been acknowledged but unanswered by the respective government departments at time of writing but hopes are high. Having had a direct answer on this previously, my expectations are set.
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