CGI in Northern Ireland

CGI was founded in 1976 in Canada and now stands as one of the largest IT and business consulting services firms in the world. We have 400 locations across the globe, including 21 in the UK where we have built a trusted reputation across central, local, and devolved government for doing complex things well.

Our aim is to build up our presence in Northern Ireland in phases. Right now, we’re focusing on recruiting our first 50 members. These members will focus initially on delivering services for CGI’s client base both in Great Britain and globally, but over the next 12 months, we will also look to build a public sector business in Northern Ireland. Through the power of technology, we have an enviable track record of success, delivering efficient citizen-centric services which protect the vulnerable and help keep society safe, whether managing secure satellite missions, or advancing the digital journeys of government, judicial and health services, and commercial enterprises.

We have built this success on our client-proximity operating model, whereby local teams are empowered to build strong, trusted, in-person relationships and ensure accountability for delivering client success.

At CGI, we view our professionals as company owners or ‘members’; our aim is for every member to reap the benefits of ownership by providing shares in all our remuneration packages. This helps us to attract and retain the best talent.

Areas of expertise

CGI is an expert in land management, offering a comprehensive suite of solutions built specifically to manage assets. In Wales, we have delivered a single electronic register to help maintain records of all common land, towns and village greens in its 22 local authorities. The register, which replaced the previous 50-year-old paper-based maps and records system, now provides a service that integrates a geospatial portal with back-office administration for the Welsh Government.

For more than 20 years, we have been at the forefront of helping the UK criminal justice system to adopt new technology and employ modern ways of working to transform the way justice is administered across the nation.

CGI’s contribution in this field is significant. Case management is at the very heart of the services we provide; we developed the first case management system nearly 20 years ago, and our experts continue to develop, deploy, and maintain these systems, enabling courts and prisons to operate effectively and efficiently today.

With 70,000 front-line justice users relying on our systems, these citizen-facing digital services are designed around the public who need them.

With our deep justice domain expertise, we continue to enhance citizens’ services online and increase the efficiency of justice agencies dealing with complex, sensitive, and high-profile legal cases. Every day, more than 10,000 new cases and 3,000 new claims are processed online. This electronic access to, and submission of, case information is rapidly and securely driving UK justice digitisation.

We also work with local authorities – including City of Edinburgh Council in Scotland – to increase efficiency, improve decision-making, and achieve better outcomes for citizens and communities by delivering innovative, sustainable smart places.

Benefits include more proactive estate management, better services and neighbourhoods for citizens, healthier and safer social housing with increased sustainability and regulatory compliance, improved waste management through the utilisation of smart bins, sustainable recycling and route optimisation, and the ongoing use of data to drive ‘real world’ efficiencies.

Our global expertise is fed into our local business, which in Northern Ireland is delivered from our newest UK office in Belfast, providing for local resources to deliver the right skills from the right location.

Inclusive and sustainable

In every area we work, including Northern Ireland, we are committed to a more inclusive and sustainable world, for future generations. Part of our heritage is to build relationships with the communities in which we live and work. We do this through activities such as volunteering and fundraising, helping our members to engage within our local communities.

During COP26 in Glasgow in 2021, we also set out our own roadmap for achieving net zero by 2030 for its global operations, 20 years earlier than the target date set by the Paris Agreement in 2015. In the UK, we are going even further, aiming to achieve net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from our own operations by 2026.

As part of this commitment, our UK business has received validation for our science-based targets (SBTs) from the Science Based Target Initiative (SBTi). These will reduce GHG emissions, in absolute terms, by 46 per cent for our own operations and by 46 per cent for business travel by 2026, from a 2019 base year.

Alongside this, CGI UK has set a supply chain engagement target and committed to a ‘starting point’ of ensuring 50 per cent of our suppliers by spend have set science-based targets by year end 2026. Our commitment to climate change was further recognised after we were selected as the partner to 2022 host nation Egypt to support COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh.

	Chris Shorthouse Vice President, Client Engagement – Scotland and Northern Ireland Shorthouse joined CGI in April 2018 and has more than 17 years of experience working in IT including many years working with the UK Government. Since joining CGI, Shorthouse has played a key role in securing high-profile competitive contracts. In his current role as Vice President, Client Engagement at CGI, he has overall responsibility for the growth of CGI in Scotland and Northern Ireland, leading the growth team, client engagement and marketing. Shorthouse brings a wealth of experience and knowledge of the UK public sector including justice. He aims to create a vibrant partner ecosystem, that will extend our market presence in Northern Ireland.
	Michelle Sherrard Director, Consulting Services – Northern Ireland Sherrard joined CGI in February 2022, following a successful 25-year career as an IT sales professional within the ICT industry. She began her career as a software developer before moving into sales and account management 20 years ago. In her current role as Director, Consulting Services, Sherrard is leading the growth of CGI’s business in Northern Ireland, helping the public sector deliver digital first services for all citizens of Northern Ireland. She brings to this role her successful track record, in-depth experience, and knowledge of government procurement within the public sector along with her strengths in networking and in identifying and creating new opportunities.
	Connor Walsh Director of Consulting Delivery – Northern Ireland Walsh joined CGI in June 2022 and has more than 25 years’ experience working in digital transformation, ICT integration, IT outsourcing and managed services. Having begun his career with IBM in 1995 as Technical Lead/Project Manager, Walsh has gone on to work in senior management roles at BT, EY and Kainos, specialising in public sector, finance, insurance, shared services and telecommunications. Walsh now brings his wealth of experience to CGI where, as Director of Consulting Delivery, he will lead the client engagement strategy for the CGI justice sector.
	Phil Hanvey Programme Director – Justice Hanvey has worked for more than 40 years in the ICT industry, much of which was in the Justice sector, and has a proven track record of delivering complex, multi-million pound digital strategies and change programmes. Career highlights involved leading NIO’s technical delivery of the Northern Ireland Causeway Programme. Previous roles include Senior Strategist at the University of Ulster, Director of Technology at Protection Group International (PGI), after it bought out Olton where he was Lead Architect and Technical Delivery for Digital Transformational Change, and Technical Lead at the Northern Ireland Office.

Belfast
323 – 3rd Floor Scottish Provident Building
7 Donegall Square West
Belfast BT1 6JH

T: +44 (0)75 1370 9012
E: Michelle.Sherrard@cgi.com
W: www.cgi.com