Job Title : CIO

Organization : Borough of Newham

Geoff Connell appears on the CIO50 list for the second year running, in recognition of his work as CIO at the Borough of Newham and head of business systems at the Borough of Havering.

The dual role came about in 2009, when Connell added the position at Havering to his existing responsibility for Newham’s technology strategy. Since he took on the management of shared ICT services across the two east London boroughs, related operating costs have been reduced by £2m a year.

Like many in his role, Connell has been called on to help the councils meet tough overall savings targets. Recently, he has undertaken a channel shift with a new website, customer-relationship management and integrated systems across three east London boroughs to deliver these.

Connell is leader for the ICT Workstream for the East London Solutions group of six councils, which aim to share services across north-east London. He is also involved in the London Connects project to improve the management of ICT overheads in public-sector bodies in the capital.

On top of this, he is chairman of the London branch of Socitm and is a board member of the Local CIO Council, which works with the central government CIO Council to align technology-related policies, standards and activities.