02 February 2001
Pinder has been interim e-envoy since October following the departure of Alex Allan after just nine months in the role. His appointment comes as no surprise, despite initial assurances that he would not be applying for the post.
The Cabinet Office maintains that the four-month selection process had been conducted through open competition. The initial salary was increased from £120,000 to between £145,000 and £155,000 to tempt an 'exceptional' candidate.
As former head of European Operations and Technology at investment bank Citibank, Pinder is unlikely to have accepted the salary of his predecessor, believed to be in the region of £85,000.
Pinder, described as popular but 'hands on' by his Whitehall colleagues, will be charged with ensuring that all public services are available on-line by 2005. He will oversee a rapidly expanding department, which will also monitor the standards of IT projects in the public sector.
He is understood to have been the Prime Minister Tony Blair's favoured candidate as an efficient but steady hand with combined experience in the public sector – as director of IT at the Inland Revenue -– and in the private sector.
Pinder has also acted as a consultant to the government, reviewing its citizens' portal during Allan's tenure in July last year.
'We are determined to meet the goals of our UK online campaign, putting this country at the forefront of the knowledge economy,' said Blair. 'Andrew can play a leading role in achieving that.'
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