The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has appointed Theo Blackwell as the capital’s first ever Chief Digital Officer.
What will the Chief Digital Officer do?
The Chief Digital Officer will play a pivotal role in transforming the way London’s public services are designed and delivered, making them more accessible and efficient – improving the lives of Londoners.
He will ensure London is making the best possible use of new technology and will play a central role in building collaboration across London’s boroughs, and businesses, to drive the digital transformation of public services and better data-sharing.
He will also promote the Mayor’s ambitions for pan-London collaboration on connectivity, digital inclusion, cyber-security and open data.
About Theo Blackwell
Theo has over 20 years of experience in technology and digital transformation in both the public and private sector.
As cabinet member for finance, technology and growth at Camden Council, Theo established Camden as London’s leading digital borough through its use of public data – and this year they received national recognition as Digital Leaders ‘Council of the year’.
He’s worked at GovTech accelerator Public Group, advising start-ups on the growing market in local public services, and was previously Head of Policy & Public Affairs for the video games industry’s trade body, Ukie.
The new Chief Digital Officer post is an amazing opportunity to make our capital even more open to innovation, support jobs and investment and make our public services more effective.
The pace of change over the next decade requires public services to develop a stronger relationship with the tech sector.
Our purpose is to fully harness London's world-class potential to make our public services faster and more reliable at doing things we expect online, but also adaptable enough to overcome the capital's most complex challenges.
Theo Blackwell
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