Ex-Qld CIO quits Microsoft

Peter Grant, the Queensland Government's former chief information officer, has left Microsoft after just 16 months with the software giant.

Grant resigned last Tuesday to pursue personal interests such as board and advisory roles he holds with the Australian Computer Society and the Queensland ICT Workgroup, according to Microsoft's head of communications, Joanna Stevens Kramer.

"He has resigned. He has a passionate interest in the ICT industry and community issues and will be pursuing those via board and advisory responsibilities including that with the Australian Computer Society executive," said Kramer.

Grant had left Queensland's top public sector technology job in early 2008 after three years service to take up Microsoft's Queensland state director role.

Both Grant and his successor Alan Chapman play an advisory role within the Queensland ICT Workgroup, which gate crashed the recent Queensland elections, placing an advertisement across the state's newspapers that called on the Liberal National Party and Premier Anna Bligh to support the local ICT industry.

Grant's departure from the Queensland Government came as it was amidst implementing key elements of recommendations that came from the state's 2006 Service Delivery and Performance Commission review of ICT decision making and purchasing. The commission was also the catalyst for the state to introduce a powerful state CIO to head up a highly centralised model.

Despite the move to centralise power in Queensland, Peter Carr, managing director of Queensland-based technology analyst firm Longhaus, reckons the state's agency CIOs remain the true power brokers.

Grant was unavailable for comment at the time of publishing.