Digital Government: From Jam Session to Orchestra

Jam Session \ ‘jamˈseSHən \
an amateur rock band typically holding its rehearsals in a garage
and usually having only a local audience

Orchestra \ˈȯr-kəs-trə \
a group of musicians organized to perform ensemble music
and who are led by a conductor

(Source: Merriam-Webster)

Let’s be honest. Who doesn’t love a good jam session? A bunch of talented individuals coming together with their instruments in an attempt to create great music, or even a new sound. Sometimes it works, often it doesn’t. Beyond the romantic notion of perfect harmony is the piercing reality that sometimes the whole can simply be less than the sum of its parts.

This is what has been bothering me on this journey toward Digital Government in Canada. There are a lot of great examples where public sector organizations have created useful digital outputs that contribute to public value. So much so that there is a prevailing attitude that “digital is happening and happening well”. I hear positions such as “We don’t need a Pan-Canadian Digital Government Strategy, every jurisdiction is doing their own thing and it will all work out”, or “We are moving toward Open Government, so this will catapult us into the digital age.” Really? So all we do is allow this digital jam session to happen across Canada’s public sector and maybe, just maybe, we’ll hit a few harmonies and call ourselves rock stars?

One of the best lines I’ve heard from a senior bureaucrat was, “As the younger generation become government employees, they have the skills required to make us digital.” Last I checked, large waves of talented youth weren’t beating down the door for government jobs.

Other countries have taken a different tact, and for good reason. If you take a look at strategies from the UK, USA, Denmark, Finland, South Korea, Singapore and several others, this ad hoc approach to Digital Government was a road not taken. Why? Because, apart from the sporadic instances of the notes actually aligning, jam sessions tend to be full of noise.

This is what we now have in the governments of Canada: Noisy innovation. Don’t get me wrong. This isn’t such a bad thing, because exploration and experimentation are at the heart of positive disruption. As a result, every jurisdiction has its share of innovation and/or transformation hubs. There is some great work being done by smart people. However, there lacks a horizontal framework against which each of these hubs can align their work. While within the agenda of these groups there exist localized frameworks and roadmaps, the aggregate effort of the collection of hubs would undoubtedly reveal duplication, overlap and gaps; in other words, noise. There comes a time when the noise needs to mature toward harmony in order to truly capture the attention of our collective audience. Easier said than done. So where do we need to go from here?

Consider an orchestra. Its sound is completely by design. From the clustering of instruments, to the position of the players, to the acoustic surroundings, every facet of an orchestra is carefully considered so that it can be enjoyed by all.

All of these players come together with a single purpose: one voice, whose language is written in notes, chord progression, and rhythms. Helping to orchestrate this voice is a very important role: The Conductor. To the uninitiated, the conductor is simply a person at a pedestal waving what seems to be a magic wand, resulting in beautiful music. For those in the know, this individual is at the core of the orchestra’s value, responsible for making the whole truly greater than the sum of its parts.

Digital Government in Canada will not happen with the wave of a magic wand, or simply waiting for it to reveal itself. It must not only be designed, but orchestrated as well. This is what becomes the scary proposition because it is truly a wicked problem. One that is often underserved because the coalition of the willing across this Great Nation are trying to chip away at the issues off the corner of their desks, through governance committees, councils and working groups. They have not been ordered to do this — they come together in these jam sessions because they know it is needed. Digital Government shouldn’t be a volunteer job.

So if we want to take a page from how other countries are paving their road toward Digital Government, we need to break out of our old habits and disrupt the system. We need to design and evolve toward orchestration, if we really want to get serious. But who will be our conductor? One could argue that it’s not one person, but a coordinated collaboration of existing and renewed players that represent all levels of government in Canada. There are several of these active bodies across the country, so we are not starting from square one. These bodies could act in the capacity of a collective orchestration unit, with leadership and proper air cover provided by not just politicians, but key political leaders. Equip this virtual unit with effective policy, authority, instruments and levers — add a health dose of open dialogue with the public — and we then have the foundation for an adaptable Pan-Canadian Digital Government that is optimized to deliver public value for Canadians, Canadian Business and international stakeholders.

Now I’m a realist. Having a fully orchestrated Digital Government transcending jurisdictional boundaries within Canada is no more than a dream at this point, but not one that unattainable. Let’s consider it a North Star. One that shines light on a path to a greater public value than what can be achieved in today’s fledgling Digital Government ecosystem. If within the next two to three years we had the foundation upon which we could build a coherent, seamless system of public value enabled through digital, that would be music to my ears.

This blog was written by Stephen Karam, Partner at Systemscope, Digital Government Thought Leader and Enterprise Architect.

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For more details on the current state of Canada’s Digital Government approach, read The Road to a Pan-Canadian Digital Government Strategy. Or learn more about how international digital government models relate to the Canadian context by reading How can Canada learn from the digital experiences of international governments?

The Pan-Canadian Digital Government conversation has begun and we invite you to participate. Join the Digital Government Canada LinkedIn group.