Department of Defence CIO Patrick Hannan will trade his fatigues for a Demons jersey after scoring the plum job of Victoria's first ever CIO after a rigorous executive search.

"I felt that the Victorian government's intentions in relation to the CIO role and my own views were pretty well aligned," Hannan told Computerworld, saying that he made the decision "over the last few weeks".

"It is daunting, but that's not to say that the CIO role or indeed the role I had formerly, which was setting up the common services area within Defence, is a walk in the park. I've been watching the Victorian government for a number of years and I've been very impressed. It's got its act together and I think it is very good, " Hannan said.

Victorian government has allocated $33.3 million in funding from the current budget for the creation of the Office of the CIO.

In terms of an IT vision for Victoria, the man lovingly dubbed by Defence insiders as the "godfather of Network-Centric Warfare" believes there is still as much innovation as there are savings to be achieved in his new role.

"What [the government] wants is enhanced support for Victoria. They want to make some savings-but it is not economic rationalism. It's about getting more outcome. That's what I have always been on about. It's not necessarily all about savings, but making sure the taxpayer's money is well invested and makes those major improvements that I firmly believe that information and communications technology can make, " Hannan said.

Hannan's ascendancy to the role of the state's first government CIO comes after three notable tenures at Defence where he was first CFO, on to the sharp end as CTO, eventually becoming the Defence's first CIO where he was instrumental in establishing a unified service delivery model.

Most recently, Hannan was instrumental in the preparation of the Network Centric Warfare roadmap, the document that defines Australia's technological position and capabilities within the global military context. The document was delivered to government in early November for consideration in the Defence Capability Plan to be funded from next year's budget.

Hannan's deputy Air Vice Marshall Julie Hammer will step in as acting CIO, while Boston Consulting-the same firm that persuaded Hannan to jump ship, has been retained by Defence Department secretary Rick Smith to find a replacement in a move that Hannan described as "totally coincidental but quite useful".

Victorian CIO's Office:

Budget $33 million.

The CIO's role straddles e-government, internal and external ICT policy and architecture and has a mandate to implement whole-of-government IT strategy.

Tony Aitkenhead has been appointed Victorian CTO, head of Victorian Department of Human Services information services, to be based in the Department of Infrastructure. Both roles commence within the four weeks.