Helen Wylie, the current Chief Technology Officer at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), will be stepping into the role of Chief Digital and Information Officer when her predecessor, Rich Corbridge, departs from the civil service in November. Effective November 1st, Wylie will be taking over from Corbridge, who is set to leave on November 15th. She will be leading a digital team with a budget of £1.4bn within an organization that handles £170bn in transactions annually, manages 50 million lines of code, and operates one of Europe's largest IT estates. Her new responsibilities at DWP include overseeing high-profile public services such as Universal Credit and the state pension. Corbridge is leaving to assume the role of Chief Information Officer at industrial property developer Segro. Although he only joined DWP in April 2023, his departure is reportedly due to personal reasons and not related to his current role. Wylie has been with DWP since September 2018, starting as the Digital Delivery Director before being promoted to the CTO position in March of this year. Prior to her time at DWP, she spent over four years at the Bank of England, eventually becoming the Head of Technology Delivery. Corbridge expressed his confidence in Wylie's capabilities in a LinkedIn post, highlighting her inclusive leadership style, stakeholder management skills, expertise, and passion for delivering results. He emphasized their collaboration for a smooth transition. Wylie's appointment comes at a crucial time as the new Labour administration focuses on enhancing government IT capabilities to drive efficiency and productivity in public services. In the recent Autumn Budget, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves announced a 2% productivity, efficiency, and savings target for all departments, emphasizing the strategic use of technology and service integration across government. The government is committed to developing a strategic plan to enhance productivity and efficiency in the civil service through skill improvement and digital technology utilization, as outlined in the Budget documentation. During a panel discussion moderated by Computer Weekly in September, Corbridge discussed the challenges of digital transformation at DWP, highlighting the complexities of modernizing legacy IT systems within large government organizations.