London now has a Chief Digital Officer: Theo Blackwell.
Blackwell brings more than 20 years of experience in technology and digital transformation in both the public and private sector.
In his role as cabinet member for finance, technology and growth at Camden Council, Blackwell has established Camden as London’s leading digital borough through its use of public data – and this year they received national recognition as Digital Leaders ‘Council of the year’.
Blackwell also sits on the Advisory Board of Digital Leaders and is a director of Camden Town Unlimited, a Business Improvement District which pioneered new start-up incubation in ‘meanwhile’ space.
London’s first CDO
As London’s first CDO, Blackwell will play a leading role in realizing 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. The appointment fulfils a key manifesto commitment made by Mayor Sadiq Khan.
“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,” says Blackwell. “The pace of change over the next decade requires public services to develop a stronger relationship with the tech sector. Our purpose is to fully harness London’s world-class potential to make our public services faster and more reliable at doing things we expect online, but also adaptable enough to overcome the capital’s most complex challenges.”
Blackwell joins the Mayor’s team following work at GovTech accelerator Public Group, advising start-ups on the growing market in local public services, and was previously Head of Policy & Public Affairs for the video games industry’s trade body, Ukie – where he ran a ‘Next Gen Skills’ campaign to get coding back on the curriculum.
London is already the leading European city in digital technology
London is already rated at Number 1 in the European Digital City Index 2016. There are 40,000 digital technology companies, employing approximately 250,000 people of which more than a third have been set up in the last five years. Additionally, in the past few years, London has attracted more venture capital and created more companies valued at over $1 billion than any other European city.
England’s financial capital is now more successful than at any time in its history, according to London First. With a population nearing 10 million people, this rapid growth has created a number of challenges — with housing and transportation being a particular focus of the city’s government.
A key issue for London and Mayor Khan is how digital transformation and the use of new technology (data analytics, mobile and embedded devices) can help the city’s government to better manage some of its growth challenges, improve efficiency and support economic development.
