Interesting - for information of RTI enthusiasts...
Extracted from Silicon India:
http://www.siliconindia.com/shownews/Does_India_really_need_a_Federal_Chief_Information_Officer-nid-65839.html?utm_campaign=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_source=Subscriber
Does India need a Federal Chief Information Officer?
By Sudarshan Kumar
Bangalore: The U.S. intelligence agencies had all the authentic information
about 9/11 terror attacks, but failing to get systems to talk to each other
that time resulted in a catastrophe. Waking up to the challenge after this
attack, the Bush government decided to appoint a Chief Information Officer
(CIO), who could integrate these IT departments and also help the government
deliver its strategy for the transformation of public services, enabled by
technology. Following the U.S. several other countries like UK, Australia and
Canada too realized the importance of CIO post, and included this portfolio in
their cabinet. But India which dreams of becoming one of the economic powers
along with China by 2020, has failed to understand the importance of a CIO till
now.
With the country set to spend nearly $6 billion on IT over next few years, and
planning to roll-out large number of e-governance projects; a national level
CIO is really needed, who can drive effective services designed around the
needs of citizens and businesses. Explaining the need of a Federal CIO, Akshaya
Gaur, Executive Vice President and Head - Software Solutions of Standard
Chartered says, "India does need a CIO to run the major initiatives that emerge
from national governance requirements, and also I believe that this post should
be staffed by leaders from the IT Industry rather than bureaucrats." Till now
Indian IT Secretary has been responsible for drafting the government's $6
billion National e-governance plan. Gaur said that IT Secretary can only be
involved in determining strategy; he can't identify and deliver a complex
technology solution. This can only be done by a CIO. Speaking on the similar
lines, Ajay Dhir, Chief Information Officer
of JSL explains that the IT Secretary is a Bureaucrat whereas the Federal CIO
should be from the CIO Community and not a Bureaucrat by any means. The IT
Secretary can keep doing what the Government has designated him to do, but the
Federal CIO should be the custodian of the IT Assets of the country, the
protector of the IT Systems of the country and should work closely with
stakeholders in Government, Defence, Public and Private Sectors.
Unlike India, in other countries, it is the Federal CIO, who establishes and
oversees enterprise architecture to ensure system interoperability and
information sharing and maintains information security and privacy across the
federal government. Also, a CIO plays an important role in ensuring that the
government is running in the most secure, open, and efficient way possible.
While talking at NASSCOM Leadership Summit in Mumbai, John Suffolk, CIO of UK
said, "A CIO's role is like a chief integration officer, who ensures that the
right supplier marries the right departments for smooth flow of information."
In this role, Suffolk has been providing leadership to the IT profession across
the wider public sector, enabling public service transformation through the
strategic deployment of technology and driving the development of shared
services.
The country could benefit immensely from the creation of such a high profile
post, where a professional, drawn either from the public sector, the IT
industry or academia, could spearhead the central government technology and
e-governance initiatives. The person at the helm would not only be the 'face'
of the Indian government's IT strategy both at home and overseas, he/she would
also be responsible for directing the policy and planning of technology
investments and IT spends. "CIO would be the vehicle for delivering
transparency in the way the government works," said Gaur.
Suggesting Indian Government to choose someone like Nandan Nilekani for this
extremely respected post, Indian IT Secretary R Chandrasekhar said that the
person need not be too familiar with technical aspects of the job, but he/she
should be excellent with envisioning how digital means can be used to change
the way services are being delivered to citizens in the country. The technical
aspect can be taken care by the technical people, and the respective project IT
heads. Such a person typically plays a key role in leading the implementation
of the Transformational government strategy, centred on the roll out of
e-governance initiatives.
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