Speaking in an interview with CSW, he set out plans to allocate areas of responsibility for the strategy’s delivery across government: “I’m expecting that the departments who feel that they can contribute and have something to offer will be part of the delivery of it: we need people’s talents,” he said.

The new CIO Delivery Board, charged with implementing the strategy, has agreed the responsibilities. The board is made up of CIOs from seven large departments, each of which will oversee delivery of certain areas mentioned in the ICT strategy.

The Cabinet Office will be responsible for encouraging ICT innovation and re-use, reforming procurement, building capability, and leading the government’s international ICT links and compliance.

The Ministry of Justice shares responsibility for developing ICT capability, and will lead work on data centre consolidation, cloud computing and building a government ‘apps store’.

The Department of Health will oversee work on data standards and developing a cross-government information strategy. The Ministry of Defence will lead overall work on security, green issues and delivering the Public Sector Network. HMRC will work on a cross-government desktop/device strategy, new technology standards and building reference architecture which, the strategy says, will support “delivery of interoperable and open ICT solutions so that they can be shared and reused”.

The Home Office is responsible for delivering commitments on open source, social media, and the development of common document standards to maximise public access.

The CIO Delivery Board is due to publish a strategic implementation plan, in collaboration with other departments and HM Treasury, by summer 2011.

To read the full interview with government CIO Joe Harley, click here.

Written by Suzannah Brecknell, CSW