Pia Andrews, well known for her work in the areas of open government and open source, will return to Australia’s shores to take on a new role with the New South Wales government.
Andrews last year departed Australia to help lead the New Zealand government’s Service Innovation Lab. Prior to decamping to NZ she held a string of roles within federal government, including overseeing GovHack.
The NSW government said that Andrews had been appointed executive director of digital government, effective 24 September.
Andrews will report to Greg Wells, the state government’s chief information and digital officer.
“Pia is well respected worldwide and brings decades of experience in open data, open government, digital transformation and government as an API,” said the secretary of NSW’s Department of Finance Services and Innovation, Martin Hoffman.
“She brings a unique and effective blend of systems thinking, technical creativity and vision. Her experience, passion and drive are a perfect fit for the role of executive director for digital government and I look forward to seeing Pia and her team support greater collaboration, innovation and digital transformation across the NSW government for the benefit of our communities and economy.”
Andrews said that her new role will include forging a partnership between the NZ Service Innovation Lab and the NSW Government Digital NSW Acceleration (DNA) Lab.