Queensland’s chief customer and digital officer of nearly three years Chris McLaren will step down at the end of this week, as a machinery-of-government change takes effect following the state election in October.
Queensland government’s outgoing chief customer and digital officer Chris McLaren
McLaren led the Queensland government’s customer and digital group, responsible for IT architecture, shared services, cyber security customer service, data and AI, among priorities.
The group is being combined with small and family business to create a new Department of Customer Services, Open Data and Small and Family Business.
The Minister of the portfolio, Steve Minniken, told iTnews in a statement that “Andrew Spina will be acting chief customer and digital officer” and that a “new permanent Director-General of the department, Chris Lamont will commence on January 6 2025.”
The new department was created to “streamline government services for Queenslanders and small and family businesses, allowing customer service to stretch across every arm of government and deliver Australia’s most customer service focused government,” he added.
Speaking to iTnews, McLaren said he plans to take a break and “find my next exciting journey where I can make an impact”.
McLaren said he’s “excited to see what’s next for me” and hopes the new state government continues to push forward on things that Queensland has told us are important” such as digital inclusion, regional connectivity, jobs and digital skills.
He praised the customer digital group’s “incredible team that delivered relentlessly and focused on outcomes and delivering results for Queenslanders and the public service, often without any real recognition.”
Listing some achievements via a LinkedIn post, McLaren said these achievements included developing an AI risk assessment framework, AI guidelines and policies, growing AI assistant QChat across the public service and deploying Starlink LEO services to all 16 Queensland First Nations Communities.
Other achievements included upskilling Queenslanders in digital skills, a major data centre relocation, and building a digital service platform and digital design system.
McLaren said the new digital services platform is set to “come to life next year with a new range of new digital products and services”.