Turnbull's department hires new CIO

The Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet has appointed a new chief information officer to fill a role left vacant by the Digital Transformation Office's poaching of its former IT boss.

In late January DPMC was forced to go to market for a new CIO after Radi Kovacevic moved into Prime Minister Malcom Turnbull's pet digital innovation office as the second-in-command for the gov.au service.

Kovacevic had served as the department's head of IT since May 2012.

Nathan Heeney, who acted as DPMC CIO in the interim, this month won Kovacevic's old role permanently and will work in the corporate services division under first assistant secretary Ben Neal.

His remit will include delivering on the department's current IT strategy and developing a new strategy when the existing document expires next year.

Heeney has been with the department since late 2013. Prior to that he worked his way up through the IT ranks at the federal Education department.

"Nathan has a strong record in delivering a broad range of ICT outcomes on behalf of the Commonwealth government," a DPMC spokesperson said.

"Most recently Nathan headed up the department’s ICT strategy and innovation capability. Nathan has a keen understanding of whole-of-government ICT and its interaction with broader industry trends."