The Road to a Pan-Canadian Digital Government Strategy
Somewhere between 1990 and today the world experienced a quantum leap. The proliferation of digital infrastructure, devices, and content have turned us into a connected knowledge society with high expectations for on-demand services, information and support. As society works through concepts such as Big Data and the Internet of Things (IoT), we are recognizing the potential impact of digital on our citizens and our economy. Which then begs the question, is Canada well positioned to take advantage of digital opportunities?
From a Federal perspective, we were once recognized globally as a digital leader in serving clients. Today, the Government of Canada (GC) is trailing behind other governments, both domestic and internationally, in taking a whole of government approach to leverage digital opportunities in support of policy, program and client service goals. Previous web-focused efforts, such as Government On-Line (GOL) represented a collaborative means by which it could explore the use of digital approaches and technologies to better serve clients and stakeholders. However, since GOL sunset 10 years ago, there has been no next generation GC-wide innovative thrust for transformed services. Our stall-out could be attributed to the fact that there has been no severe issue with the status quo, no burning platform. As such, clients’ expectations of interactions with their government have evolved beyond the capability to meet them, and the gap is growing.
While there are innovative examples of digitally enabled projects within governments across Canada, when viewed from an enterprise-perspective, they could be characterized as ad hoc investments that are duplicative. The lack of an enterprise-level vision, mission and subsequent program prohibits us from evolving strategically, to grow our digital capabilities, to flourish in a demand-driven environment or to take full advantage of the opportunities afforded by digital advances in the digital economy. However, there is an evident appetite within the public service to move in this direction. Take by way of examples, Vancouver’s own Digital Strategy, or Deb Matthew’s appointment as Ontario’s first Digital Government Minister, or, federally, the launch of a Digital Transformation Hub within Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada.
The OECD has created a set of recommendations for the development and implementation of digital government strategies. As we review examples from abroad, it is clear that leading countries (e.g. US, UK, Australia, Denmark, Singapore, Estonia, etc.) have committed leadership with articulated enterprise-wide strategies. These countries have been evolving their strategies over many years and we can see trends, like a shift away from client-centric to demand-driven approaches and away from being focused on technology enablers and guidelines to a broader scope that considers the digital economy.
Meanwhile, Canada has yet to consider the creation of a government(s)-wide Digital Strategy. Internationally “Digital Canada 150”, with a scope of improving broadband connectivity, is perceived as Canada’s digital strategy. In 2013, Blueprint 2020 created an energy across the GC, where executives and employees felt a sense of ownership in shaping the future of the public service. Today we need to re-ignite this energy with all tiers of government, industry, clients and academics. Together, through leveraging our digital savvy talent, we can make new inroads into creating a stronger and connected Canada in a world without borders.
–Paul Wagner, CIO within the Government of Canada
