New appointment: Howard Dickson has been appointed the Government Chief Information Officer.

The Government has appointed Howard Dickson as the Government Chief Information Officer. Mr Dickson will take up the post on February 1.

Secretary for the Civil Service Joseph Wong said Mr Dickson possesses sound professional skills, solid working experience, and proven administrative abilities.

Mr Wong is confident that Mr Dickson will provide the recently established Office of the Government Chief Information Officer with the necessary leadership.

Welcoming Mr Dickson's appointment, Secretary for Commerce, Industry & Technology John Tsang said the breadth and depth of Mr Dickson's experience and expertise, both in the public and private sectors, make him an ideal candidate for the job.

Both secretaries thanked Alan Wong for his dedicated service as the Director of the then Information Technology Services Department before its merger with the IT-related divisions of the Communications & Technology Branch of the Commerce, Industry & Technology Bureau, and for leading the office since its establishment on July 1, 2004.

Extensive experience in gov't, private sector

Mr Dickson has had an extensive career in information technology and business transformation, having served some of Canada's leading organisations in transportation, financial services, as well as the public sector.

He was born in the United Kingdom and graduated from Imperial College, University of London in 1966, in electrical engineering. Emigrating to Canada in 1967, Mr Dickson served as a design engineer in the power generation industry in Edmonton, Alberta.

Following a master's degree in computer science in the United Kingdom in 1970, Mr Dickson took up a management appointment with the Canadian National Railways which was undertaking a substantial business transformation of its operations.

He has also worked with the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Guaranty Trust and Ernst & Young Management Consultants.

His most recent private-sector engagement was with National Trust (1992-1997) where his initial role as vice-president responsible for a range of change initiatives led to his appointment as senior vice-president of operations and technology in 1994.

In 1997, Mr Dickson was selected to be the first chief information officer of Canada's Department of National Defence. He served as Assistant Deputy Minister, Information Management from 1999-2004.

As the first executive to be invited from outside both the public service and the military, Mr Dickson had the challenge of establishing the role of CIO within the Department of National Defence, reporting to the Deputy Minister and also the Chief of Defence Staff.