Government appoints former Guardian CIO Andy Beale as deputy chief technology officer

Beale will move from director of common technology services at the GDS to become Liam Maxwell's deputy

The government has appointed former CIO of the Guardian News and Media Group Andy Beale (pictured) as its deputy chief technology officer (CTO).

Beale, who joined the government in November 2012 after five years as a technology director at The Guardian, will move from his current role as director of common technology services at the Government Digital Service (GDS) to take up a new post as deputy to government CTO Liam Maxwell.

According to a government blog post, Beale's new role will bring together a number of government technology teams within GDS for the first time, including the architecture, policy and standards, service assurance and controls, and strategic change teams.

Beale's LinkedIn page states that he will have primary responsibility for the government technology function within GDS and the Cabinet Office, while also being lead director on the government's technology strategy and policy including information security.

Beale has moved up the ranks since he was hired in a strategic change role at the Cabinet Office back in 2012.

He was appointed director of common technology services in December 2013, where he started the common technology services offering. The blog post claims that he "built the firm foundations for technology reform that we see today".

It added that Beale had provided hands-on advice and strategic direction to a huge number of departmental colleagues and projects across Whitehall, and has also been pivotal to much of the reform in central-government technology, which the government claims has delivered £3.5bn in savings.

He has since handed over the common technology services offering to former DVLA CTO Iain Patterson.

On the appointment, Beale said it was a "fantastic opportunity to better support CTOs by joining up IT reform efforts and the great teams we have across the Cabinet Office".