The Government’s chief information officer has resigned, seven months after his appointment as the leader of the public service’s IT strategy. Bill McCluggage was named as chief information officer at the start of May but it emerged this week that he will leave the post in February for personal reasons. The position will be advertised after Christmas.

Mr McCluggage reports to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, which is spearheading "eGovernment" up to 2015. He is charged with implementing this and the Government's cloud computing strategy.

The role of chief information officer is central to the Minister for Public Expenditure Brendan Howlin’s plans to reform the business of Government in areas such as data sharing and improving the public’s experience when they deal with public bodies.

Career background
An electronics engineer by training, Mr McCluggage came to the post from a role as chief technologist for software firm EMC. He was previously deputy chief information officer in the cabinet office of the British government and, before that, acted as director of egovernment and chief information officer for Northern Ireland. His career began in an engineering role with the Royal Air Force.

The chief information officer post is one of a few senior positions in the public sector filled by open competition. Mr McCluggage reports directly to the secretary general and leads the CIO Council, a forum for senior managers who have responsibility for ICT and eGovernment.

He did not comment yesterday.