Wanted: New government CIO

The promotion of English government CIO Ian Watmore to advisor to the Prime Minister will boost the profile of IT across the public sector, says ZDNet UK.

Watmore has stepped up the career ladder to head the Prime Minister`s Delivery Unit, and will advise Tony Blair on public services, but will still oversee a large part of work he mapped out to unify government IT.

"I will still sit on this council, working closely with other council members and the new e-government unit head who will replace me as chair, to ensure we continue to make progress. I will maintain overall responsibility for the work of the e-government unit in my new role at the Prime Minister`s Delivery Unit," Watmore said.

Engineering News reports that South Africa`s biggest Internet service provider (ISP), Internet Solutions, a unit of IT firm Dimension Data, has appointed Dharmesh Rama as its new financial director.

Internet Solutions said in a statement Rama would become financial executive, with a seat on the executive committee, with immediate effect and would replace Dean Suchard as CFO from February 1.

Data networking equipment maker 3Com`s CEO Bruce Claflin will retire when a new CEO is named, consistent with a succession plan already in place.

Reuters says Claflin is active in the search for a new CEO, which is being run by a committee of independent directors of the company`s board.

3Com also said it "reconfirmed its plan to reach a break-even model, before restructuring and amortisation expenses, in its fiscal quarter ending February 2007.

Reuters reports that computer virus software maker McAfee`s president, Gene Hodges, had resigned to become CEO of Websense, a provider of employee Internet management software.