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Office of the Government Chief Information Officer

Role and Functions
The Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO) is responsible for developing and
implementing an ICT Strategy for Government that ensures an integrated approach to the
exploitation of ICT across all Departments and Public Service Bodies, accelerating the delivery of
digital services across Ireland and a transformation in the use of the Government’s information
assets. The Public Service ICT Strategy, Delivering better outcomes and efficiency through
innovation and excellence in ICT, was approved by Government and launched by the Minister for
Public Expenditure and Reform in January 2015. The OGCIO is the lead agency to drive forward its
implementation working together with Departments and agencies across the Public Service. The
Strategy consists of five streams – Build to Share, Digital First, Data as an Enabler, Improve
Governance, and Increase Capability. The Strategy is also aligned with the Civil Service Renewal
Plan, in particular through actions 14, 19, and 24 of that plan.

In addition to the Public Service ICT Strategy, the OGCIO has a broad remit which includes
responsibility for:
 the provision of all ICT services to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and
the Department of Finance;
 the provision of ICT infrastructure for National Shared Service Office and the Office of
Government Procurement; and,
 supporting digital service delivery and innovation initiatives across the Public Service
through the development and application of a range of ICT policies;
 oversight of ICT-related expenditure by Departments and agencies; and,
 representing Ireland at EU level in relation to public service ICT, eGovernment and CIO
working groups and fora.

The OGCIO has four business units to enable it deliver on its remit:
 CIO Office
 ICT Service Delivery
 Systems and Data
 Government Networks.

CIO Office
The role of the CIO Office encompasses the internal corporate support function as well as being the
primary liaison with key OGCIO stakeholders, internal and external, on a range of fronts. The Head
of Operations represents the G-CIO on the programme boards for the Civil Service Payroll Shared
Service and Financial Management Shared Service projects and is also a member of the Office of
Government Procurement’s ICT Category Council. The Head of Operations is also the Department’s
nominee to the CIO Council, which is chaired by the Government CIO.

The CIO Office function is supported by four teams:

 OGCIO Administration Unit
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 Digital Government Oversight Unit (formerly ICT Control)

 ICT Policy and EU
 Programme Management Office

OGCIO Administration Unit

The OGCIO Administration Unit leads on all corporate support and coordination functions for the
OGCIO, including oversight of financial management and reporting, responses to PQ, FOI, Press
queries, local facilities management, etc.

Digital Government Oversight Unit (DGOU)

The Digital Government Oversight Unit is responsible for the approval of ICT-related expenditure
by public bodies and ensuring that the expenditure is aligned with Government Policy. It has a
particular focus on ensuring the implementation of Circular 2/16 by Government Departments and
agencies. Circular 2/16, which replaces Circulars 2/09 and 2/11, is to ensure that ICT-related
expenditure on new initiatives by government bodies underpins the delivery of the Public Service
ICT Strategy as well as supporting the delivery of relevant commitments set out in the Public Service
Reform and the Civil Service Renewal Plans. DGOU is also a key liaison point for OGCIO external
stakeholders across the Civil and Public Service.

The Digital Government Oversight Unit is also responsible for administering the Peer Review
Process which consists of an independent review of projects at key decision points in the project
lifecycle for proposed large-scale or complex ICT Systems.

ICT Policy Unit

The ICT Policy Unit has a number of roles including:
 developing ICT policies/guidance for Departments and Offices in line with the Improve
Governance objective of the Public Service ICT Strategy; In December 2015 the Unit
published guidance to public service bodies around the potential adoption of cloud services
- Advice Note: Considering Cloud Services December 2015
 contributing material on ICT/ eGovernment/ Digital matters to a wide range of policy
documents and initiatives, nationally and internationally,
 attending relevant EU meetings as required; it manages the online services section of
www.gov.ie and engages with citizens through email and via social media, and
 organising events, drafting of speeches and briefing material, etc., relating to digital
government, the Public Service ICT Strategy, etc.
 providing the secretariat to the Public Service CIO Council, and Executive Council, as the
key stakeholder group for the Government CIO.

Programme Management Office (PMO)

The PMO plays the lead role in terms of managing the OGCIO’s engagement with its strategic
business partners in divisions across the Department, the Department of Finance, the National
Shared Services Office, and the OGP. The PMO is the first point of contact in the OGCIO for
requests for new ICT systems and services and leads the overall programme management of the
OGCIO projects portfolio. The PMO represents the OGCIO at the Civil Service Renewal
Programme Managers Group and leads the overall engagement between the OGCIO and the
Reform and Renewal programmes in relation to OGCIO-provided ICT services.

The PMO also provides mentoring and expert advice on best practice in project management to
the applications development and service delivery teams across the OGCIO.
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IT Service Delivery Unit

The role of the IT Service Delivery Unit in the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer is
to provide ICT services on a shared services basis for the Department of Finance and the
Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (including the Office of Government Procurement,
the National Shared Service Office, PeoplePoint, the Payroll Shared Service and the Financial
Management Shared Service project). The IT Service Delivery Unit comprises three sections – IT
Service Delivery, IT Operations Management, and Service Planning.

The IT Service Delivery Unit is responsible for supporting and developing the ICT services and
standard set of desktop applications for all 1,600 users (approx.) across HQ and its Countrywide
Area Network, i.e. 15+ sites. The IT Service Delivery Unit is also responsible for the implementation
of the Build to Share Infrastructure which is part of the implementation of the Public Service ICT
Strategy.

Systems and Data Unit

The System and Data Unit is comprised of the following four sections with associated
responsibilities:

eGovernment Systems Section has responsibility for the development and maintenance of a
number of public facing and service-wide ICT systems. Examples of these systems that are currently
in operation include the WhoDoesWhat Civil Service directory, the Death Events publication
service, the citizen identity service - Single Customer View.

Business Systems Section has responsibility for the implementation and maintenance of a number
of corporate systems both internally within PER & FIN and also across the Civil Service. The primary
objective of this section is to implement the Build to Share: Common Applications portion of the
Public Service ICT Strategy.

Data Analytics Section has responsibility for supporting both D/PER and D/FIN in data driven policy
making including facilitating the need to provide the various elements of Public Service data
reporting and analysis. This data is used internally, externally as part of Open Data and also
provided to the CSO for use in statistical aggregation and publication.

Data Infrastructure Section has responsibility for the overall advancement of broader data
infrastructure matters as part of the Public Service ICT Strategy, and in particular the “Data as an
Enabler” theme therein. The section works on introducing data harmonisation, standardisation,
governance and enablement technologies to support a more effective data driven policy
environment and a more efficient and effective service delivery environment across Government.

Government Networks
The Government Networks Unit is responsible for the design and delivery of voice, data, and video
services to the Public Service. Government Networks (GN) is a private, managed, wide area
network (WAN) connecting government agencies. GN offers a number of potential cost and
operational benefits to participating agencies and to government as a whole. The shared network
takes care of many standard day-to day infrastructure services so Public Service Bodies (PSBs) can
focus their resources on providing their core programmes and services.
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A Government Networks initiative, under the Public Service ICT Strategy, is the delivery of a
Government Cloud Network (GCN) which offers cost-effective, resilient, carrier-grade, high speed
network services for data, voice, and video to all PSBs. 130 PSBs are now connected to the next
generation GCN on top of the 200+ PSBs were connected to the original GN. Voice services have
been adopted by well over a 150 PSBs. This has ensured cost-effective fixed-line voice
telecommunications and has facilitated an integrated voice communications infrastructure within
these PSBs.

Acts or Schemes administered by the Division:

The division does not administer any acts or schemes.

Services Provided to the Public:

The division does not administer any acts or schemes. The Division provides information on
Public Services via the website www.gov.ie and responds to information requests received
from the Public via email. The Division also operates the govdotie Twitter account to
promote online services.

Policy Making

The role of the OGCIO’s ICT Policy Unit includes:

 developing ICT policies/guidance for Departments and Offices in line with the
“Improve Governance” objective of the Public Service ICT Strategy e.g. the Unit
published guidance to public service bodies around the potential adoption of
cloud services - Advice Note: Considering Cloud Services December 2015

 contributing material on ICT/ eGovernment/ Digital matters to a wide range of

policy documents and initiatives, nationally and internationally.
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Guidelines, Procedures or Codes of Practice issued by the Division:

The division issues guidance for the public service in a number of areas, such as ICT-
related governance, Cloud Services, etc., as detailed above in the section on policy
making.

Structure and Contacts

The Structure of the Division
Government Principal Assistant Principal Unit
Chief
Information
Officer
Barry Lowry Mary Michael McCarthy Digital Government Oversight Unit (DGOU)
A designated O’Donohue
public official Enda Holland ICT Policy Unit
under the
Regulation of Gary Martin OGCIO Programme Management Office (PMO)
Lobbying Act
Greg Darmody Administration Unit
2015. See
lobbying.ie for Gary Dermot Nolan IT Service Delivery
more Masterson
information Ruairí OhÓgaín IT Operations Management

Martin Sage Service Planning

Owen Dominic Taylor eGovernment Systems

Harrison
Mark Dunne Business Systems

Peter Malone Data Analytics

Fergus Ó Data Infrastructure

Cuanacháin
Jim Leahy Ken Barclay Government Networks

How to contact the Division

Digital Government Oversight Unit (DGOU)

By post: Office of the Government Chief Information Officer, 3A Mayor Street, Spencer Dock,
Dublin 1.
Email: dgou@per.gov.ie
Phone: 01 6045102.
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ICT Policy Unit

By post: Office of the Government Chief Information Officer, 3A Mayor Street, Spencer Dock,
Dublin 1.
Phone: 076 1007134.
Email: egov@per.gov.ie

OGCIO Programme Management Office (PMO)

By post: Office of the Government Chief Information Officer, 3A Mayor Street, Spencer Dock,
Dublin 1.
Phone: 0761007097.

OGCIO Administration Unit

By post: Office of the Government Chief Information Officer, 3A Mayor Street, Spencer Dock,
Dublin 1.
Phone: 0761007013.
Email: admin@per.gov.ie

IT Service Delivery
By post: Office of the Government Chief Information Officer, 3A Mayor Street, Spencer Dock,
Dublin 1.
Phone: 0761007164.

IT Operations Management
By post: Office of the Government Chief Information Officer, 3A Mayor Street, Spencer Dock,
Dublin 1.
Phone: 016045197.

Service Planning
By post: Office of the Government Chief Information Officer, 3A Mayor Street, Spencer Dock,
Dublin 1.
Phone: 0761007163.

eGovernment Systems
By post: Office of the Government Chief Information Officer, 3A Mayor Street, Spencer Dock,
Dublin 1.
Phone: 0761007161.

Business Systems
By post: Office of the Government Chief Information Officer, 3A Mayor Street, Spencer Dock,
Dublin 1.
Phone: 0761007162.

Data Analytics
By post: Office of the Government Chief Information Officer, 3A Mayor Street, Spencer Dock,
Dublin 1.
Phone: 016045157.

Data Infrastructure
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By post: Office of the Government Chief Information Officer, 3A Mayor Street, Spencer Dock,
Dublin 1.
Phone: 0761007109.

Government Networks
By post: Office of the Government Chief Information Officer, 3A Mayor Street, Spencer Dock,
Dublin 1.
Phone: 016045018.

Current Work of the Division:

The primary focus of the OGCIO, for 2016 and beyond, is the implementation of the Public Service
ICT Strategy. While all Departments and agencies are invested in the Strategy and its
implementation, there are challenges and issues to be faced in achieving real progress and
changing how ICT-enabled services across the Public Service are delivered.

 Build to Share
There is generally positive engagement with all three streams of Build to Share –
Government Networks, Common Applications, and Common Infrastructure. The challenge
for the OGCIO is in meeting the demand for such services which runs slightly ahead of
delivery capacity currently. However, Government Networks continues to be a good
success story, driving down the costs of telecommunications in parallel with improving
and enhancing services.

 Digital First
Departments and agencies are delivering a wide range of services digitally to citizens and
businesses. However, the overall level of engagement around the Digital First pillar of the
ICT Strategy has been limited to date. Accordingly, developing a programme to drive
forward the Digital First agenda is our main priority in 2016. A key challenge is raising
awareness across the system as to the work being done by Departments and agencies so
that others can build on this work rather than re-inventing the wheel in their own silos.

 Data as an Enabler
Digital First will in many cases also be supported by the Data as an Enabler stream of the
Strategy. The OGCIO is supporting the Department of Social Protection (DSP) in
promoting the use of the Public Service Card (PSC) by Departments and agencies as a
means of identifying citizens in their interaction with Government. The Department of
Social Protection has recently launched the next phase of the PSC which is an Identity and
Access Management (IAM) service whereby citizens with PSC can be authenticated on-line
to access digital government services. The DSP Jobseekers Service is the first digital
government service to avail of this on-line identity management capability, and
Jobseekers can now apply on-line for Jobseeker's Payment, to request a Jobseeker's
Holiday, view claims and benefits information and request a payment statement. DSP is
leading the engagement with Departments and agencies, supported by the OGCIO given
its central role, to encourage adoption of use of the PSC and IAM to streamline citizen
engagement with on-line government services.
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 Improve Governance
Achieving the ambition of the Digital First programme will depend the cooperation of
Departments and agencies in supporting the process to reconceptualise and transform
how they deliver services to citizens and businesses. Heads of ICT and the CIO Council
have a key leadership and influencing role to play, internally in their own agencies, in
ensuring common approaches and services are adopted such as the PSC/ IAM for citizen
authentication and adoption of Build to Share. The structure and membership of the CIO
Council, as the primary external engagement model for the OGCIO, will be reviewed
during early 2016 to ensure stakeholder engagement is aligned appropriately to support
progressing the ICT Strategy.

 Increase Capability
Recruitment and retention of skilled ICT staff is proving a real challenge for the Civil and
Public Service given the buoyancy of the IT sector generally. In addition, the age profile of
staff in ICT areas, which reflects that of the Civil Service generally, is resulting in significant
levels of retirements of highly skilled and knowledgeable experts over the coming years.
As part of the Increase Capability stream of the ICT Strategy, efforts will be made to
attempt to address both the short and medium term challenges of equipping Departments
and agencies with levels of skills and expertise essential to the ICT area. Having access to
such skills will be critical to achieving the Digital First, Data as an Enabler and Build to
Share agendas. Working with the Head of Civil Service HR, a plan is being developed by
the OGCIO to address the challenge of recruitment, retention, mobility, and up-skilling of
ICT staff across the Public Service.

 More detailed information on the work of the Division can be found in the Department’s
Business Plans for the years 2013, 2014 and 2015 at http://www.per.gov.ie/business-plan/

Classes of Records

The Division holds records related to its work, as set out above, such as e.g. working papers,
progress reports, minutes of meetings, publications and correspondence, submissions received,
correspondence with other public bodies and briefing notes. The division also holds similar
records related to prior work undertaken as part of its former role as part of the Centre for
Management Organisation and Development.
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Further information on the work of the Division can be accessed at the

following weblinks:

www.ictstrategy.per.gov.ie

www.gov.ie

www.per.gov.ie/en/ict-and-egovernment