County council says current Socitm president will take up post of head of information technology and management in August
Norfolk County Council has appointed Geoff Connell as head of its IT operations, taking on one of the more high profile figures in local government IT.
It has confirmed the appointment with an indication that he will step into the post in early August, moving on from his current position of director of ICT at oneSource, the shared service for the London Boroughs of Newham and Havering.
Norfolk’s executive director of resources, Anne Gibson, said: “He has a strong record of achievement, with experience of the creation and delivery of new IT service delivery and shared service models and of IT delivery and IT transformation.”
She referred to his recent contribution to Norfolk in helping to introduce a new CRM system based on the one used by Newham.
He has been active in promoting the role of shared IT services in local authorities, and is the current president of public sector IT association Socitm. On taking on the role last month he urged IT leaders to emphasise their role in business change, breaking away from a perception as “tin and wires” geeks.
Norfolk has a number of major IT projects in the pipeline, including a major upgrade of its communications network based on a £20 million contract with Update Infrastructure, and its £26 million Digital Norfolk Ambition transformation programme.
