Qld hunts for emergency services IT chief

Queensland’s Public Safety Business Agency is searching for a new chief information officer to oversee the ICT direction of the state’s public safety agencies.

The agency - which serves as a service provider to the Queensland public safety portfolio - has been without a permanent technology chief since Jenson Spencer left the agency in September 2016 to become the inaugural chief digital officer at the Queensland Police Service (QPS).

Greg Watts is currently acting in the PSBA CIO role.

The incoming CIO will lead the agency’s frontline and digital services division, which is responsible for providing ICT services to QPS, Queensland Fire and Emergency Services, the Ambulance Service, Queensland Corrective Services, and the Inspector-General of Emergency Management.

The executive will oversee the implementation of the PSBA’s new whole of public safety portfolio ICT strategy and roadmap, which was accepted by the government in May this year.

It provides a ten-year vision and four-year high-level ICT investment roadmap for public safety agencies.

As such the agency expects the new CIO to "develop strategies that maximise ICT efficiency and effectivenes" and “make sound investment decisions... to address identified gaps in current ICT performance which includes the development and implementation of contemporary ICT infrastructure and practices to keep pace with the market".

The PSBA is offering the successful applicant a five-year contract with an annual package worth up to $229,885.