Optimizing public services: Cities that run their own operating system
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For about a year and a half now, the UK government has been on the hunt for one of the biggest jobs in tech. The Cabinet Office has been recruiting for its next Government Chief Digital Officer (GCDO), a £200,000-a-year role operating at the most senior level of the civil service, to accomplish a seriously daunting task: to lead the public sector's digital transformation.
Now, fifteen months after the GCDO's job was first advertised, and despite confirming on various occasions that the recruitment process was ongoing, the government has quite dramatically changed its course of action. Instead of hiring a digital leader, as originally planned, the Cabinet Office has announced that a whole new organization will be set up later this year to carry out the exact same duties as the ones laid out in the GCDO's job specs.