Registers of Scotland’s digital director Tom Meade has been recognised as chief information officer (CIO) of the year at the UK IT Industry Awards in London.
The awards focus on the contribution of individuals, projects, organisations and technologies that have excelled in the use, development and deployment of IT in the past 12 months. They are awarded by Computing and BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT.
Meade received the award for his work in driving forward RoS’s digital transformation since joining the organisation in September 2014. He has been instrumental in delivering a far-reaching digital transformation throughout the organisation.
“Tom introduced innovative digital thinking while leading the way in changing how we think of ourselves as an organisation and how we deliver land and property services for Scotland,” RoS said in a statement. “Agile working practices, a digital-first approach and improved customer engagement are just some of the practices that have been driven by Tom.”
His initiative to move RoS to open source systems has saved the organisation £750,000 in licensing fees, and £1.5m on outsourced support contracts. These more effective systems have delivered an additional £1.5m saving in lost operation time.
“[With] Tom’s digital ‘big picture’, these efficiencies look set to grow over the coming year – thanks to new online services, digital case and document management systems, and improved digital products such as APIs,” said the statement.
Keeper of the Registers of Scotland, Sheenagh Adams, commented: “Tom’s contribution to our digital transformation has been pivotal. In just a short time, his vision for RoS has changed how we think across the organisation.
“It has been a pleasure to watch as he has improved our capability, brought a previously unknown confidence in digital delivery to our working practices, and improved services to deliver real improvements for our customers, savings for our organisation, and a better working environment for our hard working staff.
“His work is paving the way for RoS’ future, as we continue on modernise, innovate and take bold steps towards becoming a fully digital business by 2020.”
Last month, the organisation launched ScotLIS – an online, map-based land information service, which allows citizens, communities, professionals and business to access comprehensive information about any piece of land or property in Scotland.