Joanna Davinson has returned to the role of chief digital officer for the UK Government on an interim basis.
This follows Mike Potter having left the role in September after a two-year stint.
Davinson’s profile page on GOV.UK has been updated to describe her as non-executive director and interim government chief digital officer in the Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO).
She was previously in the role for a little under a year when the CDDO was set up in early 2021.
Her return will make her a prominent figure in the Government’s plan to create a new ‘digital centre of government’ under the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT). Her profile says that she will have “overarching leadership responsibility for the digital centre”.
Ongoing reorganisation
The department has been bringing CDDO under its wing, along with the Government Digital Service and the Incubator for AI, as part of the responsibility for digital public services it has assumed since the general election earlier this year.
Davinson has held a number of business and technology leadership roles in public and private sectors, including chief information officer at the Home Office, and general manager for European public sector consulting and systems integration at IBM.
Writing in the CDDO Bulletin, she said: "As I was leaving government back in 2022, I talked about how as a function we are stronger when we act collectively across government and the wider public sector. If we work together then we have the opportunity to make the whole a lot more than the sum of its parts.
"That’s why I’m particularly excited to be returning to lead the new digital centre for government within DSIT: it is our route to do just that - to more closely join forces in taking on the huge opportunities and the not inconsiderable challenges too! But the dedication and professionalism you all show on a daily basis mean that we are well equipped to respond."
Davinson quote added on publication of CDDO Bulletin, 19.12.24 pm
