City of Toronto announces first-ever Chief Transformation Officer

itbusiness.ca
By Eric Emin Wood
May 16, 2017

Canada’s largest city has officially appointed its first-ever CTO - Chief Transformation Officer.

After an extensive search, the city of Toronto has announced that veteran digital transformation consultant Michael Kolm will join the municipality’s newly-formed Transformation Office on May 29.

As Chief Transformation Officer, Kolm will be responsible for guiding the Transformation Office’s strategic direction, fulfilling a mandate to establish digital transformation-led initiatives that, Toronto Mayor John Tory said when announcing the position and office late last year, are ultimately expected to save the city between $4 million and $6 million per year.

In a May 12 statement, Tory said that he was “very pleased” with the city’s appointment of Kolm, who during the past 18 years has advised and supported executives in their digital transformation efforts through his work with consulting firms Ernst & Young LLP (now known as EY), PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and BDO Watson Ltd.

“I am confident that [Kolm’s] vast experience and expertise in business transformation will lead us to become a more modern and innovative public service that delivers maximum value for the public’s tax dollars,” Tory said.

In a statement of his own, Kolm said that he was honoured to be joining the City of Toronto’s Public Service department, and looked forward to collaborating with city staff and council alike to streamline and improve public service delivery.

“I am excited to be joining a highly skilled team of leaders, who are all focused on making Toronto an even better place to live,” Kolm, a longtime Toronto resident, said.

Kolm’s appointment as Chief Transformation Officer, along with the establishment of its accompanying office, represents Toronto’s first step in fulfilling a promise made last December at ITBusiness.ca parent company ITWC’s Technicity conference, in which Tory emphasized the importance of digital transformation to the city’s future.

Last November, a working group established by the city concluded that implementing a smart city strategy could eventually save the city $1.2 billion over 10 years and create at least 19,000 new jobs.