Government CIOs get own website

The government's new CIO Council has set up its own website to provide more details of its activities.

The website - www.cio.gov.uk - was launched late last month to act as a "focal point" for the work of the council.

The council was formed in January, with the aim of helping to transform government through the use of technology.

In his introduction to the site, government CIO Ian Watmore said: "What is clear to each and every member of the CIO Council is that our public services are hugely complex to deliver, and we concluded that we simply cannot transform complex, joined up, national services without sustained investment in information technology.

"There are few if any comparable private sector systems as large or complex as those we face."

The website includes details of the council's areas of interest, such as the development of a government IT strategy (due to be published this autumn), the move towards increased use of shared services, and plans to improve the delivery of government tech projects.

It also gives details of the Government IT Profession, aimed at developing a career path for IT professionals.

The site said that initiatives "coming soon" include a Government IT Academy, built in co-ordination with the National School of Government to create a structure and training options "that will allow us to deliver a career and not just a job to IT professionals".

It said there are also plans to introduce a Technology Faststream, which will complement the standard Civil Service Faststream programmes in place for highly skilled graduates, with course details expected to be finalised over the course of 2006/07.