The CDO Unit

The CDO: Definition and Role

The Chief Digital Officer (CDO) is responsible for developing and deploying an overall digital Strategy, implementing and monitoring digital projects within government departments, and implementing the government's vision for the digitisation of citizen services.
More specifically, the CDO oversees the overall IT Strategy of the Sector and oversees the IT Team under his/her supervision.
In other words, the Chief Digital Officer (CDO) is an executive that oversees the digital transformation needs of the entire Sector (Ministry and all the affiliated institutions or institutions with similar mandate) to ensure that they support the entire Sector’s vision and goals.  Therefore, he/she is responsible for planning, implementing and managing the overall use of information technologies, streamlining operations by implementing relevant technologies, developing technological systems that will improve customer satisfaction, and managing the information technology department.

The CDO is expected to be comfortable working in the fast-changing technology landscape and with the responsibility and pressure that comes with leading transformative initiatives to success in this environment. 

The specific duties and responsibilities of the CDO position include (not limited): 

Strategic Planning and Leadership:

• Advise the Sector Leadership in all IT related matters
• Be responsible to establish and infuse the sector’s digital culture
• Strategic planning of the Sector to create business value, promote innovation, and contribute to growth objectives using technology
• Plan and oversee Sector’s IT projects, develop and approve technology programs and budgets for the entire Sector
• Ensure tech systems, infrastructure and procedures lead to outcomes in line with business goals, develop strategies to improve the efficiency and efficacy of technological initiatives
• Oversee the development of customer service platforms
• Establish IT policies, strategies, and standards for the Sector (Policies, Strategies, IT Enterprise Architecture, digital literacy development, digital infrastructure, tools and content, sector-specific digital advancement, and innovations)

Team Management and Development:

• Manage IT and development team personnel for the department and coaching the members of the IT teams.
• Set, measure, and report IT department's KPIs on a regular basis

Enterprise IT Governance and Risk Management:

• Develop, operate and maintain the Enterprise IT architecture and adoption of innovation.
• Oversee IT risk management and align it with enterprise-wide risk management.
• Ensure the Sector's data remains secure by keeping up to date on the latest cyber security threats and finding ways to guard against them on an organization-wide scale as well as ensuring good Data Governance.

Vendor Management and Financial Oversight:

• Review and approve department purchases, vendor proposals, negotiate contracts with vendors, and service providers in accordance with the proper guidelines from relevant institutions including MINECOFIN, MINICT, and RISA
• Prepare cost-benefit analyses for every change.

Communication and Collaboration:

Communicate with other executive members, employees and end-users to make sure all parts of the Sector use technology in the best ways possible.