Second senior civil servant to leave post

Monday 20 September 2021

The States of Guernsey’s Chief Information Officer will be leaving his position, just short of a month after the Chief Executive left for unknown reasons.

Colin Vaudin has been leading a multi-million-pound restructuring of States’ IT legacy systems, after facilitating a 10-year agreement with IT firm Agilisys.

As of March this year, Agilisys and the States were half way through the project, despite the challenges raised by the pandemic and a forced move to ‘home-working’.

“I joined the States with a clear objective; stabilise our deteriorating IT infrastructure in the short term and plan for the long-term when IT capability would be at the centre of everything government needs to deliver for the community,” said Mr Vaudin. 

“The IT partnership agreement with Agilisys puts the States in a secure position to deliver significant improvements into the future. 

“While my primary role was to deliver this change, like many colleagues during the last two years I have focused on our response to the pandemic,” he said.

Mr Vaudin had served as a Lieutenant-Colonel in the armed forces before taking the role of CIO in 2014.

Pictured: “Now that we are all moving towards living responsibly with COVID-19, the time is right for me to move on to new challenges,” said Mr Vaudin.

Mr Vaudin has decided to move on after “delivering what was asked of him”.

“I have worked closely with Colin throughout his seven years in the States and he has led the delivery of significant change which not only improves how we operate now, but also puts us in great shape for a future where we know that IT infrastructure and capability will be key to all that we do,” said States of Guernsey Interim Chief Executive, Mark de Garis.

“In addition to his expertise in IT, Colin was also asked to lead and build other teams including Data Protection, Communications and Data & Analysis, and he leaves the organisation with all functions under his mandate delivering high-quality services. 

“He has delivered what was asked of him and while we’re sad to see him go, we wish him well for the future.”

The news follows Policy & Resources Vice-President Heidi Soulsby announcing a significant “restructuring” of the public service.

The States’ hopes to reduce costs and “create a more modern and efficient public service”.

The Interim Chief-Executive, Mark de Garis, will not be replacing Mr Vaudin as Strategic Lead for Digital, Communications and Transformation. In line with the Public Service Reform Programme, a handover is now taking place to make sure Mr Vaudins' responsibilities within the States continue to be met and his role will be re-absorbed.