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.

Liam Maxwell
UK Chief Technology Officer,
Government Digital Service
In office
December 2012 – April 2016
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
MinisterFrancis Maude (until 2015)
Oliver Letwin (from 2015)
UK National Technology Adviser
In office
April 2016 – 9 August 2018
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
Theresa May
MinisterMatt Hancock (Minister for the Cabinet Office) & Ed Vaizey (Minister for the Digital Economy)
Personal details
BornJune 1968
CitizenshipUnited Kingdom
Alma materUniversity of Oxford (MA)

Government career

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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]

In April 2016, it was announced by the Cabinet Office that Maxwell would take on the new position of National Technology Adviser to Matt Hancock, Minister for the Cabinet Office and Ed Vaizey, Minister for the Digital Economy at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.[2] He left the post in August 2018 to take a job at Amazon[8] [9]

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

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  1. ^ "Liam Maxwell, Esq". Debrett's, Debrett's Limited, 2015; online edn. Archived from the original on 10 March 2015. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
  2. ^ a b "UK government appoints first National Technology Adviser - Press releases - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  3. ^ "Tory technology advisor Liam Maxwell appointed to government IT advisory post". ComputerWeekly. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  4. ^ Best, Jo (5 April 2012). "Liam Maxwell appointed new deputy government CIO". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  5. ^ "Government IT leadership team sees major reshuffle". ComputerWeekly. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  6. ^ "Thank you Liam | Government Digital Service". Government Digital Service. 18 April 2016. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  7. ^ Glick, Bryan (26 September 2014). "Government CTO Liam Maxwell commits to GDS until 2018". Computer Weekly. Retrieved 24 December 2014.
  8. ^ "Off down the Amazon: DCMS confirms UK national tech advisor Maxwell has resigned". The Register. 9 August 2018. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  9. ^ Kunert, Paul. "UK taxman spent six times more with AWS last year than cloud firm paid in corporation tax". www.theregister.com. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
  10. ^ "How Amazon put Ukraine's 'government in a box' — and saved its economy from Russia". The Seattle Times. 26 December 2022. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
Government offices
Preceded by
Bill McCluggage
Deputy Chief Information Officer,
UK Government

June–December 2012
Post abolished
New title UK Chief Technology Officer,
Government Digital Service

2012–2016
Succeeded by
Andy Beale (acting)
National Technology Adviser,
Cabinet Office

2016–2018
Post abolished