Greg Georgeff says he constantly faces two challenges.
“Funding and people,” Ontario’s corporate chief information officer stressed. “Governments are traditionally under-funded. There is never enough tax money to go around. There are always many more ideas, more outcomes and more things that we should be doing than we could ever find funding for.”
But the funding problem isn’t just restricted to programs, services and delivery. It spills over into the human resources side of the government, Georgeff said. With limited funds for salaries, and competition from the private sector, the government often has a hard time recruiting people into IT departments.
“The government is never going to be the premier payer,” Georgeff said. “On the other hand, we do offer a very exciting, interesting and opportunistic environment. It’s a great place to work.”
In terms of work currently under way, Georgeff is spearheading a number of transformation projects. One major initiative is the province’s new Integrated Financial Information System (IFIS). The system, which is to be completely implemented within the next 30 months, is to be the sole financial platform for the entire government.
“We have 23 different accounting systems under way now,” Georgeff said. “IFIS will save the government millions and millions of dollars over time as well as give us a better way to be able to handle our cash on a daily basis.”