Veteran cop Stephen Fontana has been appointed as the new chief information officer at Victoria Police following Jack Blayney’s decision to retire later this year. Fontana’s appointment comes at a time when Victoria Police is rolling out a number of IT projects across the organisation. The Victorian government in February announced the commencement of the first stage of a multi-million dollar investment to equip police across the state with body-worn cameras. A trial of 200 cameras was rolled out to police in Epping and Ballarat in April as part of the plan to deliver 11,000 cameras by 2020. The investment is part of the Vic government’s $596 million Public Safety Package announced in the 2016/17 and supports recommendations from the Royal Commission into Family Violence which called for the trial and evaluation of body-worn cameras to collect statements from victims to use as evidence in court. Police also began a rollout of10,000 Apple devices in November with 59 devices delivered to officers from Transit police and Protective Services at Werribee in Melbourne’s outer western suburbs. Chief commissioner Graham Ashton said on Monday that the CIO is a critical leadership role at Vitoria Police and he is “confident that Steve is the right person to carry on assistant commissioner Jack Blayney’s excellent work.” Fontana, who has been with Victoria Police since March 1975, will commence the role on April 30. Blayney had been CIO at the organisation since July 2015. Victoria Police’s IT department has risen from the ashes of what was described in a November 2009 report by the state’s chief watchdog as a ‘dysfunctional, shambolic unit where taxpayer funds are wasted, government tender guidelines flouted and questionable million dollar tender deals done.’ Follow CIO Australia on Twitter and Like us on Facebookhellip;Twitter: @CIO_Australia,Facebook: CIO Australia, or take part in the CIO conversation onLinkedIn: CIO Australia Follow Byron Connolly on Twitter:@ByronConnolly Related content brandpost Sponsored by SAP What goes well with Viña Concha y Toro wines? Meat, fish, poultry, and SAP Viña Concha y Toro, a wine producer that distributes to more than 140 countries worldwide, paired its operation with the SAP Business Technology Platform to enhance its operation and product. By Tom Caldecott, SAP Contributor Dec 04, 2023 4 mins Digital Transformation brandpost Sponsored by Azul How to maximize ROI by choosing the right Java partner for your organization Choosing the right Java provider is a critical decision that can have a significant impact on your organization’s success. By asking the right questions and considering the total cost of ownership, you can ensure that you choose the best Java p By Scott Sellers Dec 04, 2023 5 mins Application Management brandpost Sponsored by DataStax Ask yourself: How can genAI put your content to work? Generative AI applications can readily be built against the documents, emails, meeting transcripts, and other content that knowledge workers produce as a matter of course. By Bryan Kirschner Dec 04, 2023 5 mins Machine Learning Artificial Intelligence feature The CIO’s new role: Orchestrator-in-chief CIOs have unique insight into everything that happens in a company. Some are using that insight to take on a more strategic role. By Minda Zetlin Dec 04, 2023 12 mins CIO C-Suite Business IT Alignment Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe