On August 1, (2019) Alison Pritchard was appointed GDS Director General, here she comments on her new job role and how she plans to spend her time
‘I was out sailing in the middle of the ocean, somewhere between Darwin and Christmas Island, when I received an email that read something along the lines of ‘would you like to lead GDS for a period of time?’.
‘My response was immediate and resounding. Absolutely yes.
‘I have stated that my aims during this time are to accelerate momentum on our business right now, including all the essential work on EU Exit. It’s a huge part of our current effort and it’s exhilarating to be at the very heart of preparations and support.
‘We also need to build our future, setting goals for digital advancement across government, a push on data analytics, digital identity and embedding of innovation. To do that, we need the right resource, capability, powers and influence.
‘I have a duty to help land permanent leadership of GDS in a way that we don’t miss a beat and so we can springboard into the future state for digital government.
‘I’ll be joining ministers and GDS colleagues talking about those things – and the future vision for the organisation in more detail – at Sprint 19.
I look forward to seeing you there.’
Previous job roles in government
- Ministry of Defence (MoD) – Systems analyst and systems designer;
- MoD – Sought opportunities to implement digital solutions;
- Equalities Office – Legislation to allow same-sex couples to marry and gender pay gap reporting;
- Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs(Defra) – Leading transformation;
- HM Treasury – Handling efficiency;
- Cabinet Office – Addressing air travel for the Prime Minister;
- Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) on gambling policy.
Original source: https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2019/08/29/a-public-service-odyssey/
