Tom Read has announced that he is stepping down as chief executive officer of the Government Digital Service (GDS).
In a statement on LinkedIn, he said that after three and a half years in the role he has decided it is to “move on to a new challenge” and that he will be leaving towards the end of June.
His successor will be announced “in due course”.
Read has been in the Civil Service for more than 10 years, with spells as chief digital and information officer at the Ministry of Justice and chief technology officer at both the former Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Cabinet Office.
At GDS he has had oversight of a number of major programmes, including the development of the One Login service for digital identities, the Government Data Exchange and experiments with a generative AI chatbot for GOV.UK.
“It has been an absolute honour and a privilege to lead the digital and technology teams at the Government Digital Service, Justice Digital and elsewhere in the UK Government,” Read said.
