Chief Secretary's Office

E-Commerce Division
Chief Secretary's Office
Isle of Man Government
Prospect House
27-29 Prospect Hill
Douglas
Isle of Man
IM1 1ET

Date: 19^th March 2003

TIM CRAINE THE DIRECTOR OF E-COMMERCE WILL TRANSFER FROM THE CHIEF SECRETARY’S OFFICE TO THE TREASURY - E-Commerce Division news release

The Treasury has today announced that with effect from 1st April 2003 Tim Craine the Director of E-Commerce will transfer from the Chief Secretary's Office to the Treasury.

The position of Director of E-Commerce arose out of the Charteris Report published in 2000 and Tim Craine was appointed in October of that year to take lead responsibility for all aspects of maintaining, promoting and implementing an E-Commerce Strategy for the Isle of Man. Because of the importance of the position and it's responsibility for developing e-commerce, it was attached to the Chief Secretary's Office and the Director was required to report directly to the Chief Minister.

In early 2000 E-Commerce was very much regarded as a new business sector in its own right, since then and with the ending of the .com boom, E-Commerce - ease of information, computer and information communications technology (ICT) - has developed into part of business mainstream. Increasingly E-Commerce has become simply another way of doing business, a new channel to market and the new economy continues to thrive under the banner of E-Business. In order to reflect this change the Council of Ministers E-Commerce Committee decided to "mainstream" the E-Commerce initiative and to move responsibility for future development out of the Chief Secretary's Office and into the Treasury, which has a lead responsibility for developing the economy. The Director will be reporting directly to the Treasury Minister and the Chief Financial Officer.

With the move to the Treasury the Director of E-Commerce will continue to provide a focus within Government and between the private sector and Government on E-Commerce/E-Business needs and developments, however the role is also expected to broaden to include other areas of economic activity which are also embracing or which will need to embrace technology as part of a developing business model.

Tim is no stranger to the Treasury having first worked in the Customs and Excise Division as a VAT Inspector and later a Fraud Investigator. Tim has also worked in the Economic Affairs Division as a Policy Planner and in the International Services Division of the Treasury, working to raise the profile of the Finance Sector and to attract new business to the Island. Immediately prior to becoming Director of E-Commerce Tim was Secretary to the Council of Ministers.

In making the announcement Treasury Minister Allan Bell commented that, "We are pleased that Tim will be joining us on 1st April and bringing with him knowledge, contacts and skills which will be important to assist the Treasury in achieving its goal of continued economic growth." Chief Financial Officer Mark Shimmin also commented that, "I have worked closely with Tim for over ten years and look forward to continuing that working relationship to grow the Island's economic base."

The changing responsibility and positioning within Government of the Director of E-Commerce is expected to be supported by the findings and recommendations of Charteris who are due to deliver their Report on the Island's E-Commerce and E-Society Strategy at the beginning of April.