Former Defence CTO takes over Immigration’s strategic IT

One-time Defence chief technology officer, Michael Milford, has joined the Immigration department as its new head of the major capability division.

Milford takes over a unit established when Immigration merged with Customs earlier this year.

He will oversee the design and implementation of all major new capabilities across the newly-conjoined entity, which from a technology perspective includes new border clearance technology and the use of data analytics for passenger screening.

The major capability role was most recently held by Randall Brugeaud, who has since made the sideways switch to the more traditional CIO role within the department. The positions sit at the same executive level.

Milford's department will hand over responsibility for new technologies and capabilities to Brugeaud once they are mature and fully operational.

Milford rose into the CTO role at the Department of Defence in an acting capacity to fill in for Matt Yannopoulos when he departed to join the Department of Immigration in August 2013.

His substantive role was head of ICT operations within the CIO group, led by CIO Peter Lawrence.

Milford began work at the Immigration department on August 17.