News - Refocus of SSC
Issue 14 - July 5 2005
Refocus of the State Services Commission
1 July 2005 marked the beginning of a transformation of the State Services Commission (SSC). This change will involve the SSC evolving from its current focus on the Public Service to a wider leadership role in State Services. This change has been driven by recent legislative changes that expand the statutory role of the SSC.
The future work of the SSC will be centred on the recently launched Development Goals for the State Services. The Development Goals are designed to encourage coordination amongst the multitude of government agencies that make up the State Services and outline the future direction for the sector. The goals of the E-government Strategy have been incorporated into the new Development Goals.
A new Information and Communication Technologies Branch will undertake the work of the E-government Unit. This is a recognition that e-government is now part of the mainstream, or core, work of the SSC. The Unit, which has had the responsibility of driving the delivery of the E-government Strategy, was formed in 2000.
The former head of the E-government Unit, Laurence Millar has been appointed Deputy Commissioner, Information and Communications Technologies and will continue to oversee the State Services Commission's delivery of the E-government Strategy goals.
Mr Millar described the process of mainstreaming e-government as "another positive step on the road to a transformed government by 2010.
"The June 2004 report on the state of New Zealand's e-government, Achieving e-government 2004, showed that New Zealand government has made significant progress using the Internet as the dominant means of enabling ready access to government.
"Mainstreaming e-government recognises this progress and signals our commitment to build upon this momentum in our drive towards the goal of 2007: that networks and Internet technologies will be integral to the delivery of government information and services," Mr Millar said.
The management team will be responsible for the delivery of the e-government programme and is:
Edwin Bruce, Manager E-government Projects. Edwin has more than 20 years experience in ICT both public and private sector, including 6 years as a CIO. He has been involved in most aspects of the e-government program over the last 4 years and led the implementation of e-government projects including the all-of-government web portal, SEEMail and the e-government Interoperability Framework (e-GIF).
Hugh McPhail, Manager E-government Strategy and Policy. Hugh led the development of the e-government strategy and the supporting policy and research programme. He is a widely experienced Policy Manager, and is a member of a number of cross government groups including the Digital Strategy Steering Committee, the Officials Committee on Geospatial Information and the e-GIF Management Committee.
Gavin Valentine, Manager All-of-government Authentication. Gavin is a career project and programme manager with 15 years experience in the public and private sectors, including roles in New Zealand, Australia, the UK, the Middle East and the Far East. Gavin has managed the Authentication Programme since July 2004.
Paul de Wijze, Manager All-of-government Operations. Paul has managed technical and professional teams in New Zealand, Australia and South Africa, and has experience as a CIO and COO. He has led nationwide operational systems in the financial services industry and the public sector.
Other E-government News:
- New online service for NZ employers
- Recycling computers into schools
- Public Sector Intranet launched
- New Zealand Government launches Digital Strategy
