02.08.16
New head of Government Digital Service appointed
A new head of the organisation responsible for improving the digital capability of the public sector has been appointed.
Kevin Cunnington was appointed to the Government Digital Service after three years as director of general business transformation at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), where he set up the Digital Academy, which trained 3,000 civil servants in digital project management.
He has also previously worked for companies including Vodafone and T-Mobile.
He said: “I am delighted to be joining the Government Digital Service, working across government to continue to improve digital services and increase value for money for taxpayers.”
Unlike his predecessors, Mike Bracken and Stephen Foreshew-Cain, Cunnington will also hold the rank of director general at a time of expansion for the service, which is now implementing the GOV.UK Verify and GOV.UK Notify stages of the Government as a Platform programme.
John Manzoni, chief executive of the Civil Service, said: “At DWP Kevin played a pivotal role in successfully introducing a range of digital services and products and growing the DWP digital academy.
“He combines that proven track record with a deep understanding of the business transformation necessary to ensure that the full benefits of digital investment are realised.”
Ben Gummer, the new minister for the Cabinet Office, said he had asked Cunnington “to build on the outstanding legacy of Mike Bracken and Stephen Foreshew-Cain, to work with governments departments to continue the transformation of government services so that we can better serve the public, and to continue the global leadership in digital transformation that Government Digital Service is rightly famed for here and abroad”.
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