Liam Maxwell (born June 1968)[1] is a British technology executive and public servant. From April 2016 to August 2018, he was the UK's first National Technology Adviser,[2] having been the UK's first Chief Technology Officer (CTO), as part of the Government Digital Service.
Government career
Maxwell was a technology policy adviser to the Conservative Party in the run-up to the general election in 2010, helping write their manifesto, and following the election he started advising the new coalition administration. In June 2011, Maxwell formally joined the government, taking an apolitical civil service position as Director of "ICT futures" in the Cabinet Office under John Suffolk as Government Chief Information Officer and Ian Watmore as Chief Operating Officer of the Efficiency and Reform Group.[3]
In 2012, Maxwell was appointed the new deputy government CIO, following Bill McCluggage's departure, and is now working under Andy Nelson.[4] In December 2012, the remaining IT functions in the ERG were merged with the parallel Government Digital Service. As part of this, Maxwell became the UK Government's Chief Technology Officer; the role of Government Chief Information Officer was not transferred.[5]
During his time in GDS, Maxwell established the Digital 5 group of the world's five leading digitally advanced governments, reformed technology spending controls under the "Technology Code of Practice"[1], and led the Public Services Network, Crown Hosting Service and Digital Marketplace programmes.[6] In 2014, he committed to staying in the role of CTO until at least 2018.[7]
Maxwell currently serves as the head of government transformation at Amazon Web Services, where he has, among other projects, been working with the Ukrainian government to help them download and move data out of the country.[10]
References
^"Liam Maxwell, Esq". Debrett's, Debrett's Limited, 2015; online edn. Archived from the original on 10 March 2015. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
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