I am desperately sad to hear of the passing of Charles Agnew.

During my time in Government, Charles was the CTO, CIO and continuous presence pushing digital Government at the Department for International Development (DfID)

An exemplary public servant, Charles was one of the biggest supporters of digital transformation, and developed an excellent team, often shielding them from bureaucratic interference while leading on pioneering partnerships.

His work pre-dated GDS. He was one of the Government leaders who got the possibilities of the Internet and its power to improve the lives of everyone using Government services.

In recent times, Charles led the DfID team behind some outstanding work and partnerships, including the DfID aid information platform and pioneering use of open data. Charles was always ready to work with Internet-era experts and readily embraced digital change. He was also wise counsel on many occasions, and understood that cross government collaboration and sharing were the most important behaviour in providing great public services.

In my time in Government, the DfID team including John Adams and Julia Chandler were able, largely through his support, to be one of the most pioneering in Government. He was an outstanding colleague, and Government is a poorer place without him. He will be sadly missed, and all my thoughts are with his wife Sarah and family.