Ministry of Justice IT chief Andy Nelson to become government CIO

The government has announced that Andy Nelson, the current chief information officer (CIO) for the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), will take over as the government's CIO in March, when Joe Harley retires.

Harley announced he was stepping down in November last year in a move that created a power vacuum at the top of government after deputy CIO Bill McCluggage announced he was vacating his role to work for storage vendor EMC.

As such, the appointment of an existing department CIO to the post was welcomed by Cabinet Office permanent secretary Ian Watmore, who said it would ensure a continuation of the work the government is doing to enhance its use of technology.

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

"Nelson has worked closely with Harley 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 will also continue in his role as CIO for the MoJ, the government confirmed.

The announcement comes as a job advert for the role of deputy CIO confirmed a starting salary of £120,000 for the successful applicant.

There had been concerns the government's inability to match the pay on offer in the private sector would make it hard to recruit and retain talented staff, but it has pledged to ensure this is not an issue.

The government has also announced plans to overhaul the teaching of ICT in schools in an effort to make the syllabus more relevant for the modern age and to ensure the UK does not end up with a lack of qualified IT professionals in the future.