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Victoria Higgin became Highways England’s chief information officer in September 2019, bringing more than 13 years of experience at National Grid to a technology role spanning business IT, roadside systems and 24/7 control rooms. Her central ambition was to make digital capability part of how the strategic road network is designed, built, operated and used—not simply a back-office service.
Who is Victoria Higgin?
Higgin joined Highways England in September 2019 after more than 13 years at National Grid, according to CIO UK’s profile published on 22 May 2020. Her National Grid career crossed technology and business roles, including project management, business relationship management, testing, customer service, process excellence and IT transformation. That mix shaped her view that technology teams need to understand the work they support, not just deliver systems on request.
Her career also included a six-month secondment to EngineeringUK in 2014–2015 to help establish the Tomorrow’s Engineers programme. She has spoken about encouraging young people, particularly girls, to consider STEM and technology-related subjects.
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The remit covered both conventional business technology and the operational technology embedded in the road network. Higgin was responsible for business IT, roadside operational technology and systems used in control rooms that support the strategic road network around the clock.
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That breadth matters: a road operator’s technology is not limited to office applications. It also includes systems that help staff monitor traffic, manage incidents and communicate with road users. Changes to those systems must support day-to-day operations as well as longer-term service improvements.
What did Higgin mean by “Digital Roads”?
Higgin described Digital Roads as a way to use digital connectivity, data and technology to improve how the network is “designed, built, operated and used.” The aim was to connect technology investment to practical outcomes: better-informed customers, more effective use of road capacity, innovative construction and better value for taxpayers.
Examples she discussed included repeatable digital approaches to design and construction, digital communications, reliable customer information and decisions informed by traffic data. The vision also looked ahead to connected and, eventually, autonomous vehicles. These were elements of an agenda, not a claim that every capability was already deployed across England’s roads.
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How was the Digital Roads work organised?
In a technical interview published on 17 August 2021, Higgin grouped the work into three connected areas. Each depends on technology and data, but each addresses a different part of operating a national road network.
Asset management and safety
Digital information can help the organisation understand the condition of road assets and support safer, better-informed maintenance. Higgin discussed predictive analytics for roadside-asset maintenance as a potential application, rather than presenting it as a fully established capability.
Traffic-management operations
Roadside technology and real-time data can help staff manage traffic, incidents and roadworks. Higgin also described exploring in-vehicle signage, exchanges of data with vehicle manufacturers, and ways to optimise traffic flow and manage disruption.
Digital services for customers
Digital channels and dependable customer data can help road users make informed decisions. The broader opportunity is to share useful information across the transport system, including with local authorities and other transport organisations.
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Higgin described an architecture intended to let teams create or improve services by reusing existing services. The goals were to reduce complexity, increase standardisation and make technology stacks more open to automation, orchestration and change. Reuse can make delivery more flexible, while standardisation can help manage the complexity of a large operational estate.
How did data, digital twins and AI fit in?
Data was central to the plan: it could inform traffic-flow decisions, support incident and roadworks management, and help coordinate information with other transport bodies. Higgin also said major motorway work could be planned and rehearsed using digital-twin simulations. In that context, a digital twin is a digital representation used to explore or simulate a project before work takes place; the interview does not establish that every major project used one.
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Higgin presented AI as an opportunity with governance obligations. Possible uses included assistance for control-room staff and predictive analysis for roadside-asset maintenance. She said the organisation wanted to address ethical questions before deployment, including bias and effects on customers and employees. The distinction is important: these were opportunities under consideration, not evidence of widespread AI use.
How did Higgin approach technology leadership?
Higgin described moving the technology function from an “order taker” towards a business partner. The change included renaming IT as digital services and building business-partnership capability, so technology teams could work more closely with the functions responsible for roads and services.
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She also emphasised developing skills within the organisation. The approaches she described included recruitment, a Digital Academy, graduate and apprentice routes, and strengthening expertise in enterprise architecture, data science and cyber security. In a contemporaneous BAE Systems interview, she spoke of the importance of public-service purpose and working with people who felt a duty to the UK.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How did the organisation maintain operations during the first COVID-19 lockdown?
In her 2020 interview, Higgin said continuity preparation enabled office employees to work remotely and allowed the 24/7/365 call centre to operate from home using supplied phones and laptops. She described a 6,000-person workforce, with about 4,000 working from home during that lockdown; the rest included operational traffic officers.
Her later explanation of the leadership priority was direct: “What you have to do is make sure the business can operate. That’s your license and your credibility. Because if the basics don’t work, then nobody’s ever going to trust you around the strategic work.” The point is particularly relevant to a safety-critical operator: transformation depends on maintaining essential services.
What was the scale of the work reported at the time?
Computer Weekly’s 2021 coverage reported the following Highways England figures. They describe the organisation at that time and should not be read as current 2026 workforce or procurement totals.
| Reported measure | Figure | Context |
|---|---|---|
| Strategic-road-network investment | £27.4 billion | Highways England investment for 2020–2025, as reported by Computer Weekly in 2021. |
| Information and Technology Commercial Framework | £1.5 billion | Highways England framework value reported by Computer Weekly in 2021. |
| Operational Technology Commercial Framework | £500 million | Highways England framework value reported by Computer Weekly in 2021. |
| Digital-services team | 277 people | Highways England team size reported by Computer Weekly in 2021. |
What happened to Highways England and Higgin’s role?
By December 2021, Highways England had been renamed National Highways, and Higgin was described as its chief digital and information officer. CIO reported that her expanded remit covered information and operational technology, roadside maintenance, delivery, service operations and business partnership.
A later CIO appointments roundup reported that she left National Highways after three years to take a CDIO and executive role at CityFibre. That is the latest career transition established here; her employer and title in 2026 are unverified.
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