Tech heart to future UK roads policy

There is no "killer idea" that will lessen levels of congestion on UK roads, though IT will be at the heart of improving traffic flow, according to the recently appointed director of information at the Highways Agency (HA).

Dubbed a 'jam buster', 'highways tsar' and 'road info tsar' (this publication's choice), Denise Plumpton has taken up the important reins at the HA after a year as IT director at mobile phone-maker Sendo. But, more significantly, she has in the past also served as head of IT at Powergen and logistics giant TNT, and remains chair of the Corporate IT Forum (TiF).

In an interview with silicon.com, Plumpton said that in her post at TNT she had "been at the other end of the telescope" but that that position stands her in good stead.

"[The two roles] also have a lot in common," she said. "There is the absolute complexity, the need for real-time information and the impact of incorrect or incomplete information."

However, her new role isn't that of head of IT. It is an executive board appointment with a broad remit - though some would say it carries the responsibility most IT director or CIO jobs should.

Plumpton will report into the directorate of the HA, a part of the Department of Transport, and though her unit will contain what most would call the IT department, she will be "contributing to business strategy, looking at how to drive the agency forward" and "looking after what information is put out".

It is her first public sector role, though she points out there are similar responsibilities - her chief executive will report into a government department, which is answerable to taxpayers. In the private sector, she would have similarly had a chief executive who would have answered to a chair, board and shareholders.

Just a few weeks into the role, is there a silver bullet to the UK's road problems?

"We can't just build our way out of the congestion problem," Plumpton said. "I have no killer idea in my head at the moment but we have trials going on [looking at car pooling and toll roads, for example] and we must plan journeys better. I had my eyes wide open ahead of taking the job."

Plumpton will now work on integrating the old ICT team with a small, strategy-focused group and learning from road policies around the world.