This year’s CIO of the Year in the Public Sector category is Mohammad Qureshi, Corporate CIO and Associate Deputy Minister for the Government of Ontario.
Within Government Information Technology Ontario (GovTechON), he leads an organization of 4,000+ technologists to power the Government of Ontario’s goal to be the leading digital jurisdiction. With over 20 years in public service, his mission has remained the same: enable the public sector to harness the benefits of transformative technology and deliver better outcomes for people.
He was named Ontario’s first Chief Security Officer in 2018 before becoming the Chief Information Officer for Infrastructure Technology Services (ITS) in 2019. At the beginning of the pandemic, and at the time leading roughly 1,000+ staff, the CIO role changed completely. Working across the Ontario Government, partnering with ministries and program areas, Mohammad led ITS to provide the technological solutions critical to powering the enterprise and supporting the pandemic response.
His organization went above and beyond expectation supporting the Ontario Public Service to lead the shift to remote work, without any pause or service outages. ITS effectively kept over 60,000 Ontario public servants connected to essential applications, their teams, and programs. To support the people of Ontario, Mohammad led a team that implemented the development and stood up several contact centres within days, like the “Stop the Spread” hotline, the Vaccine booking line and the “Ontario Together” portal.
Throughout the pandemic and in times of uncertainty, he became increasingly aware of the adverse impacts of the pandemic on staff. With Mohammad’s leadership, staff were empowered to give their best, remaining resilient to deliver high quality work. His people-centred approach was conveyed in many ways, implementing measures that have made ITS a better workplace during the pandemic and will have a lasting impact on its future.
The Deputy Minister of Government and Consumer Services, Renu Kulendran credits Mohammad with much of Ontario’s capacity to successfully weather the pandemic. She wrote, “Mohammad’s leadership enabled the uninterrupted delivery of OPS services to both employees and the people of Ontario as it grappled with a global pandemic.”
Congratulations to Mohammad Qureshi, the 2022 CIO of the Year in the Public Sector category!