CIO interview, Mike Zammit

As part of our on-going discussions with CIOs, I recently caught up with experienced public sector CIO Mike Zammit and asked him for his views on the role of today’s CIO and the disruption digital transformation is causing.

Did you always want to have a career in technology?

No! I didn’t at all. I went to boarding school, didn’t enjoy it, and when I got to 16 and approaching my O-Levels, I said that I wanted to go to a local 6th form college then on to university. My Dad said that if you want to do A-Levels then you need to stay at school, which I did not want to do.

So, I went down to the youth labour office, got an apprenticeship as a trainee electronics technician, really enjoyed it, and after four years I left and joined IBM. The rest as they say is history. 

What do you see as the CIO's top priority?

The CIO is ultimately responsible for anything to do with information, whether it is the technology or ensuring that key information is available, it is everything from technology through to the exploitation of it. The CIO role is essentially non-technical. The CIO should act as a critical friend and advisor to the chief executive and other C-Suite execs however, it helps if the CIO has a background in technology and is able to envision what new benefits new or emergent technologies might give to front line service colleagues.

How do you think digital transformation has disrupted the world of IT Service Delivery, and what needs to change?

In my recent public sector experience, it has not caused much disruption. The IT departments I know have all got their act together and are providing the best technology services they can within budgetary constraints.

For me, the biggest transformations have been as a reaction to the pandemic. Organisations were all moving to SaaS and other cloud solutions before it happened and were able to quickly flick the switch and make the change. One of the organisations I was working with had adopted Office365 and had started to use Teams in small chunks but ended up flicking the switch and informed people to start using it as the norm. No training was offered (or needed as it turned out) and now no one would thank you if you said you were going to switch it off.

Finally, have you enjoyed the 40 degree temperatures we have recently been having?!

The lack of air con certainly made it trying! I lived in the Middle East for 13 years, but life over there was moving from one air-conditioned bubble to another, so it was different. We are going to have to get used to it somehow, as it is going to take decades to overturn the damage that has been done, if ever. 

A big thanks to Mike, and I hope you have a great holiday.