Three months on from its major restructuring, the Queensland Government Chief Information Office (QGCIO) remains tightly focused on ICT issues in the state, according to the agency.
The restructuring, completed in July, was carried out in response to the September 2009 launch of the <i>Toward Q2 though ICT</i>; a five-year strategy outlining the Queensland Government’s new information and communication technology priorities and targets.
In an effort to better deliver on the government’s ICT priorities, the QGCIO was broken up into three new offices: An ICT Policy and Coordination Office, a Public Sector ICT Development Office, and a Telecommunications, Broadband and Digital Economy Coordination Office.
The three offices continue to be a part of the Department of Public Works and report to the Queensland Government chief information officer and director-general of the Department of Public Works, Mal Grierson. Grierson has held the CIO role since November 2008.
According to a Department of Public Works spokesperson, the restructure would strengthen, rather than weaken, oversight of government ICT initiatives and help avoid experiences similar to Queensland Health’s bungled payroll system deployment.
“The role of the Queensland Government chief information officer continues to be vitally important in both setting direction across the government and in monitoring the maturity and development of ICT capability within Queensland government agencies,” the spokesperson told Computerworld Australia.
“The department strongly rejects any suggestion that there is no longer a central point of ICT management. The restructure was made to improve management oversight, not dilute it.”
According to the spokesperson, the new ICT Policy and Coordination Office will increase the government’s focus on whole-of-Government ICT policy creation, covering the Queensland Government enterprise architecture, information management, strategic planning and research.
The ICT Portfolio Management Office, which resides within the ICT Policy and Coordination Office, is responsible for overall delivery of actions identified in the Toward Q2 through ICT strategy.
The Public Sector ICT Development Office is managing stakeholder engagement and aids agencies in the implementation of ICT policies, methods and frameworks.
It also develops best practices, guidance, process improvement and training for agencies and is responsible for gathering and analysing ICT data from across the sector.
The Telecommunications, Broadband and Digital Economy Coordination Office will increase focus on the state’s telecommunications strategic direction, broadband roll out and coordination of digital economy activities.
It is also working with the Federal Government on the National Broadband Network (NBN) and the NBN Co for the roll out of the high-speed broadband network in Queensland.