Mayor of London Sadiq Khan appointed the capital’s first ever Chief Digital Officer (CDO) just before the Bank Holiday.
That individual is local government IT and games industry veteran Theo Blackwell, who is expected to play a leading role in realising the Mayor’s ambition to make London “the world’s smartest city, ensuring that the capital’s status as a global tech hub helps transform the way public services are designed and delivered, making them more accessible, efficient and responsive to the needs of Londoners”, according to the official announcement of the move.
Blackwell was previously at GovTech accelerator Public Group advising start-ups on local public services and one-time Head of Policy & Public Affairs at video games industry trade body Ukie, where he ran a ‘Next Gen Skills’ campaign to get coding back on the curriculum. And in a previous role as cabinet member for finance, technology and growth at Camden Council, he is claimed to have established Camden as London’s leading digital borough through its use of public data.
All told, Blackwell brings more than 20 years of experience in technology and digital transformation in both the public and private sector.
The new CDO for London will work closely with the Mayor’s Smart London Board to develop a new Smart London Plan, plus play a central role in building collaboration across London’s boroughs and businesses to drive the digital transformation of public services, as well as supporting the spread of innovation through common technology standards and better data-sharing.
Finally, Blackwell will also promote manifesto ambitions around pan-London collaboration on connectivity, digital inclusion, cyber-security and open data.
London already has more than 47,000 digital technology companies, employing approximately 240,000 people. It is forecast that the number of tech companies will increase by a third and a further 44,500 jobs will have been created by 2026, says the Mayor’s office.
“I am determined to make London the world’s leading ‘smart city’ with digital technology and data at the heart of making our capital a better place to live, work and visit. We already lead in digital technology, data science and innovation, and I want us to make full use of this in transforming our public services for Londoners and the millions of visitors to our great city,” said Kahn.
“I am delighted to appoint Theo as London’s first Chief Digital Officer, and I know he will use his experience working in the technology sector and developing public services to improve the lives of all Londoners.”
For Blackwell, “The new Chief Digital Officer post is an amazing opportunity to make our capital even more open to innovation, support jobs and investment and make our public services more effective. The pace of change over the next decade requires public services to develop a stronger relationship with the tech sector.
