Ministry concludes search for Mike Stone’s replacement with appointment of external candidate
The Ministry of Defence, whose London headquarters are pictured above, has been without a full-time CIO since April 2017 Credit: PA Images
The Ministry of Defence has appointed former BP and Thames Water executive Charles Forte as its new chief information officer.
Forte, who will start work later this month, joins “following an open competition to both internal military and civilian candidates, and to candidates from outside the MoD”, the ministry said. He replaces predecessor Mike Stone, who left Whitehall about nine months ago, and has since taken a role at KPMG.
The new IT leader arrives from a post as interim CIO of Thames Water, a role he has held since last summer. Prior to that he served as CEO of group IT services at insurer and savings provider Prudential and, earlier in his career, spent more than two decades at BP, rising to a post as deputy group CIO, according to his LinkedIn profile.
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“Charles has 36 years industry experience gained from leading information technology companies globally,” the MoD said. “As part of his new role, Charles will be responsible for the development of MoD strategy and policy on the operation and protection of all MoD information and communications technology, including cybersecurity.”
Since Stone’s departure last year, Lieutenant General Ivan Hooper has served as both the departmental CIO and chief executive of the MoD’s subsidiary IT and communications agency Information Systems and Services. Following Forte’s arrival, he will retain the latter role.
