Victoria's CIO office to be split up?

Victoria's Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) will be broken up under changes to the state government's IT functions by the recently re-elected Labor Party.

A source told ZDNet Australia today that the changes will see Victorian government CIO Jane Treadwell and some staff moved to the Department of Victorian Communities. Other OCIO staff will move to the Victorian Department of Treasury and Finance.

The changes follow through on Labor's pre-election policy to introduce a more integrated government focus on ICT. In its election policy document, Labor proposed combining the functions of the OCIO with Multimedia Victoria in an initiative which it claimed would save AU$20 million. According to the source, OCIO and other government functions such as Multimedia Victoria and the Office of Shared Services will be consolidated under the Department of Treasury and Finance.

Victoria's OCIO was created to improve IT planning and delivery across government.

The former deputy CIO of the Office, Dr Steve Hodgkinson, now public sector research director with analyst firm Ovum, said the decision to break up the OCIO was disappointing.

"There's been a lot of momentum built up over the last few years [in the OCIO] but they seem to be kicking the unruly teenager out of the house," Hodgkinson said.

A government spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment by the time of publication.