Job Title : CIO

Organization : Hillingdon Council

This is the third year Steve Palmer has made the CIO50 list. He first appeared on the inaugural list in 2007 before returning in 2009 and cementing his position this year.

As CIO of Hillingdon Council in London he looks after the delivery of technology services and leads the council’s customer experience improvement work. He has spent more than 20 years in senior direct service management positions in local government.

During the past year, Palmer has overseen the successful completion of the council’s resident-card project following 18 months of planning. This has seen the roll out of a smartcard used by more than 160,000 people which covers parking, leisure, libraries and shop discounts.

Palmer has played a prominent role in the Hillingdon Improvement Programme and won Public Sector CIO of the year at the UK Technology Innovation and Growth awards in 2006.

Palmer is a fellow of the British Computer Society and a Chartered Information Technology Practitioner and was president of Socitm during the 2009/10 term. He’s also an ardent follower of Leyton Orient FC and a keen traveller.