The Western Australian government has appointed public sector veteran Greg Italiano as its new chief information officer.
Italiano replaces Giles Nunis, who left the government CIO role in March for a position at Deloitte Consulting.
Nunis led the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer, which was established in mid-2015 as part of a push by the former Barnett government to slash ICT costs.
The OGCIO spearheaded the government’s GovNext-ICT program, which the state government anticipated would save up to $650 million in technology costs over the course of a decade. An audit of the program, released in August this year, found that it would cut costs but not to the extent originally forecast.
In May this year, the McGowan government revealed it would shift the OGCIO to the Department of Premier and Cabinet and transform it into the Office of Digital Government.
The government said that the move would give the office a more focused role and a whole-of-government mandate in a number of specific areas, including cyber security.
“Creating this office within DPC ensures that digital capabilities are embedded within the McGowan government's public sector renewal program, and are better co-ordinated and implemented,” innovation and ICT minister Dave Kelly said in June.
Italiano was previously the executive director for corporate services at WA’s Department of Justice.
The government said that Italiano would focus on a number of areas including addressing the state’s woeful history of cyber security, online service delivery, data protection and sharing strategy, data analytics, IT procurement reforms and addressing the digital divide and digital disadvantage.
“Mr Italiano has a proven track record as a collaborative leader, and demonstrated experience bringing strategy, technology and efficiency together,” said WA innovation and ICT minister Dave Kelly.
“The McGowan Government is committed to efficiently and securely delivering world-class services, and a public sector enabled by technology is fundamental to that vision.
“I look forward to working with Mr Italiano in bringing leadership to this important area of public sector reform.”
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