Nadira Hussain, One Oracle programme manager at oneSource, the shared service created by London boroughs of Newham and Havering has been appointed as the new president of Socitm.

Socitm, the representative body for public sector professionals, confirmed the appointment at its Spring conference held in London this morning.

Hussain replaces Nick Roberts, who was recently appointed as head of ICT at London Borough of Croydon.

Speaking to PubliTechnology.net, Hussain said that one of her main focuses during her year in office would be to promote the role of women within the ICT profession.

She said: “‘Socitm is a great platform for creating a network through which the interests and visibility of women can be advanced in both public and private sectors.

“I will be reaching out to a range of groups to explore what we can do to drive this forward. It is vital to the future of our profession and will benefit everyone.”

Hussain began her career in ICT at Redbridge by supporting frontline operational projects before joining the corporate team.

She was then head of customer services ICT at London Borough of Tower Hamlets, and is currently on secondment from that borough.

Another key theme of her year in office will be to improve service delivery and value for money through sharing services.

She said that local government has for too long been repeating common activity, instead of focusing on achieving economies of scale.