9 September 2004 Ian Watmore, the newly appointed head of the UK’s e-Government Unit, used his first public speech to call for more government IT programmes to be overseen by a CIO.

Speaking at Oracle’s user event in London, Watmore outlined his vision of creating a team of CIOs that spanned the public sector.

Watmore said: “We want to help the chief information officers of government. There are several people with that post, but not in every government department. This is something we need to change.”

The position of chief information officer should be at senior board level with the responsibility for delivering information and IT strategies for their departments, he said.

Watmore, who was previously managing director of Accenture UK and served as the Chairman of the president of the Management Consultancies Association, outlined key priorities for his role.

First, he plans to work with the rest of the government to implement common IT strategies.

Secondly, he will lead government in creating policies and frameworks needed to underpin IT strategies.

Finally, Watmore will work in partnership with the Office of Government Commerce to manage relationships with the private sector.