Norfolk County Council on the hunt for ICT boss

Norfolk County Council wants a new head of ICT and information management to lead its Digital Norfolk Ambition (DNA) project, aiming to improve public services.

The council is offering a salary of £89,533 to £103,793 per annum, with a potential salary of up £115,000, including a market supplement, for an “exceptional candidate”, according to the job advert.

Norfolk County Council began its DNA project two years ago, signing a partnership deal with Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) to deliver a £23m transformation programme.

Under the deal, HPE is providing devices, data sources and a cloud-based information hub to transform the delivery of integrated public services in Norfolk by utilising the economic and social value of big data.

The deal includes refreshing its desktops and the council has completed 90% of its desktop migration. According to the job advertisement, “work is progressing on the design of the datacentre to ensure the disruption to the business is minimal during migration”.

The council’s previous CIO Tom Baker left his role in January 2015 to take up a role at BT as business development director for smart and healthier cities. Since then, an interim CIO has been in place, but the council is now looking for an ICT and information management boss to drive the project.

In an interview with Computer Weekly in 2014, Baker said the council wants to create a seamless experience for its citizens using day-to-day public services.

In January 2016, the council awarded four-year, £30m contract to Capita-owned public services network supplier Updata. The contract will see the council upgrade its network infrastructure across council buildings, schools and libraries.

The council is also working on self-service libraries, as well as a highway management system due to be replaced in April 2016. The system will be integrated to the council’s customer relationship management (CRM) and content management system to introduce “mobile ways of working”, the job ad said.

“A social care system replacement project has commenced. The payroll system is due to come to the end of its life in 2018, with the finance/HR system [ending] two years later,” the ad said.