Denise McDonagh awarded CBE for services to IT

Former G-Cloud head Denise McDonagh has been awarded a CBE for services to IT in the Queen’s birthday honours list 2013.

McDonagh has worked in government IT for 33 years and recently stepped down as part-time G-Cloud director at the Cabinet Office, with the programme having become part of the remit of the Government Digital Service (GDS). She is due to take a new role as chief technology office (CTO) at the Home Office. 

Over the last decade, she has been focused on dealing with big suppliers, having worked as director of outsourcing at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, before moving to the Home Office as IT director.

In 2009, McDonagh implemented an "extend and blend programme" for the Home Office, which took out more than £100m in costs over the life of the contracts by breaking up supplier duplication on including desktops, hosting and networks.

McDonagh has been an advocate for change in the way government does IT, with the public sector having come under fire for spending around £16bn a year IT with just a handful of suppliers.

“We’ve got to the point where things have to change," she told Computer Weekly in an interview. "We can’t continue to deliver IT in the way we do. I have many examples of frustrated customers, as they can't get IT quickly enough and at a price they can afford.”