Government appoints Andy Nelson as CIO

The government has announced that Ministry of Justice (MoJ) chief information officer (CIO) Andy Nelson (pictured) will be its new CIO.

Nelson will continue in his post at the MoJ while taking over from Joe Harley who announced in November last year that he is to step down. Nelson will step up in March when Harley retires.

Harley oversaw the government ICT strategy and the Strategic Implementation Plan.

Ian Watmore, permanent secretary of the Cabinet Office, welcomed the appointment because Nelson also has knowledge of the government ICT strategy.

"It is fantastic to be able to assign the role of government CIO to someone who has held major CIO roles in private sector and has been involved in the ICT strategy since the very beginning," said Watmore.

"Andy has worked closely with Joe over the past months and will continue to do so, ensuring that we continue to deliver ICT services fit for a modern civil service."

Nelson has been CIO of the MoJ since September 2009 and has previously been a group director for strategic change at the Royal Sun Alliance.

Separately, the Cabinet Office is currently advertising the Deputy CIO role which has been left vacant after Bill McCluggage's move to storage hardware firm EMC.