Cabinet Office Chief Information Officer

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Government IT Profession

The Government IT Profession is the professional group for all people working in IT in the public sector.

The 2009 ICT Strategy sets out the work the Government IT Profession is taking forward to drive the development of a more professional government IT workforce to ensure that the public sector has capable people and capable organisations, delivering and managing fit for purpose IT-enabled projects and services.

Key achievements

• Civil Service Technology in Business (TiB) Fast Stream, for the recruitment and development of tomorrow’s IT leaders
• Launch of the Government IT Profession community space in 2009, providing a single place for public sector IT professionals to build communities of interest, and collaborate to share knowledge and best practice
• 34 public sector organisations have adopted our key performance indicators showing their commitment and progress towards implementing IT professionalism

Professionalising IT-enabled change (ICT Strategy) [PDF]

How many IT professionals work in the public sector?

There are an estimated 35,000 IT professionals working in the public sector

Why was the Government IT Profession created?

The 2005 Transformational Government Strategy set out three major change areas for the public sector to make the best use of technology in delivering better public services. One of these areas was professionalism in Government ICT enabled change – in terms of planning, delivery, management and skills. The Government IT Profession was created to meet this challenge.

Why do we need an IT profession?

All of today’s public services are underpinned by technology, which is why the skills, capabilities and value of public sector IT professionals are of huge strategic importance.

We need to increase the professional capacity and capability of IT professionals within the public sector:

• To understand and fill our skills gaps and, at the same time, reduce the spend on consultants and contractors
• To drive and promote professionalism to enable the reform of customer services
• To enable the savings identified in the Operational Efficiency Programme

Useful links

• Government IT Profession community space [External website]
• Technology in Business Fast Stream [External website]

Contact
For further information email the Government IT Profession