Queensland CIO appointment and why Bligh should be worried

With the newly created role of CIO for the Queensland government having been advertised over the weekend, analyst firm Gartner warned the Bligh government to take heed of the lessons learned by previous state CIO appointments.

Speaking to CIO Australia, Gartner’s research director from the government research group, Steve Bittinger, said the Bligh government must be prepared for the often rocky road ahead.

“State CIOs have seen some trouble,” he said.

“Clearly, states have struggled and there are some who still are, and in the case of Queensland, there will be some challenges.”

One challenge Bittinger said the yet-to-be-appointed CIO may face could be around their working relationship with government departments.

“It’s a question of what the personal and working relationship is between the CIO and the minister … what is achieved as a result of the relationship between those individuals,” he said.

“One of the problems previous state CIOs have run into is that agencies have a mission to deliver to their portfolio, while the CIO is trying to move to shared services.”

In a statement from the Queensland Department of Public Works, a spokesperson said the role was advertised nationally on the weekend, with Bittinger saying an appointment from the private sector could be possible.

“It’s a high profile role and I think we saw New South Wales hired from the commercial sector, and the Victorian government hired Jane Treadwell [as CIO] and she came from Centrelink, so outside of the [state] government,” he said.

“You want the best person for the job and with recruitment you take each person for their merits.”

Queensland government agency, Public Trustee, called for candidates to fill the role of CIO earlier this year, with the full-time temporary position set to be 12 months.

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