Grantly Mailes to drive Coalition ICT strategy in Victoria

The former first CIO of the South Australian government, Grantly Mailes, has been named the first ‘chief technology advocate’ of Victoria.

Mailes will be charged with delivering the Victorian Coalition’s ICT strategy and directing and coordinating information management and technology in Victoria, the state government said.

The Victorian Coalition last month revealed its whole of government ICT strategy, which focuses on controlling the costs of ICT purchases and projects. The strategy responds to what the Coalition views as a mismanagement of ICT by the previous Labor government. The Coalition proposed overhauls to ICT procurement in August last year.

Mailes “will initially focus on delivering better services, reducing waste, encouraging innovation and improving ICT procurement across government,” said Victoria technology minister Gordon Rich-Phillips.

Mailes will keep his existing position as deputy secretary, innovation and technology for the Victoria Department of Business and Innovation.

Rich-Phillips stressed that saving money for taxpayers will be a key part of the role.

“The previous Labor Government adopted a piecemeal approach to ICT that saw at least $1.44 billion wasted in cost blowouts on projects like HealthSMART, myki and the LEAP database,” he said.

“The money that Labor frittered away by mismanaging ICT projects could have funded the development of vital infrastructure like schools, hospitals and roads.

“The Coalition Government’s new strategy aligns processes across departments and sets clear lines of governance, accountability and direction that were clearly absent under Labor.”

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