#OntarioDigital looks back on 2019
Editor’s Note: As we approach the end of 2019, we wanted to celebrate the people behind digital, and the creative individuality that makes our teams tick. In honour of a strong, borderless digital community that spans ministries, communities and levels of government, we re-cap the year with a poem to the tune of “Twas the Night Before Christmas.” Scroll down for a personal highlights reel from team members across our growing community.
Bonus reading: Learn how 2020 is the decade of digital government from our Chief Digital and Data Officer, Hillary Hartley.
When a direct message came through,
From Anna to my delight!
She suggested we get creative
With our “2019 blog highlight”.
In truth this was easy,
Because what a year it has been.
We were NBA Champions!
Still hasn’t totally sunk in.
To passing legislation,
take a look up on the screen.
From data strategy consultations across the province,
and all the donut stops in between.
Towards simpler, faster, better, services for all,
From beta catalogues, API guidelines…The list goes on…
Our accomplishments stand tall.
In the words of Shannah Segal,
our UX Chapter Lead,
There’s no such thing as drivers-licences-r-us.com.
The onus is on us,
To provide the best services for Ontarians,
To put users first,
To ultimately succeed.
It’s all about the people,
the teams that make it work.
From wall of sames, to People Board,
And all of our quirks.
So as you take a moment to reflect,
On a truly magnificent year…
Bring it on 2020,
We’ve made sure our cache is clear. ;)
A highlights reel, in no particular order… Enjoy!
This was our beta phase year for the People Board, which you can learn more about in our previous blog post here. Governance in hand, years of testing and iterating on how to support our mission, which is to build a more caring, compassionate and equitable workplace for everyone. People Board was able to support and unpack issues with colleagues, and we talked through problems with hours of office hours.
It became a regular meeting to find compassion and strength for each other. We were able to take that compassion back to our teams & colleagues. Integral to the success of this year of People Board was knowing and feeling the trust of the staff and leadership. Through regular office hours and countless direct messages, we had a true reflection of issues that the staff faced, and were able to make solid recommendations up to leadership.
The word of 2019 was “change.” The Ontario Digital Service hallways across the Ontario Public Service look dramatically different, but as we stormed, normed and found our footing as a team, we grew to trust and build great things, together. Here is to the next decade of People Board.
-Kelsey Merkley, People Board Chair, 2019
The Ontario User Research Lab is a space where I spent a significant portion of my time. Public servants from across the Ontario government would come to us with their questions. The peer-to-peer, conversational nature of the drop-ins allowed for collaborative problem solving. I learned so much about the work of the broader Ontario Public Service during these sessions and was challenged to consider different ways of solving user-focused problems.
-Priyaa Sathiyaseelan, UX Chapter Co-op Student, 2019
What a year it’s been for the Ontario.ca team! Our biggest achievements of 2019? There are too many to count! In 422 tickets, we’ve enhanced search, optimized accessibility, completed countless security patches, moved our map services from Google to ArcGIS, began migrating to Drupal 8, and let’s not forget BREADCRUMBS (so big it deserves ALL CAPS), which was a huge undertaking with ups and downs, but ultimately was a great success.
Thank you to the whole Ontario.ca past and present for your dedication to the work you do every day. You are the team that keeps the Ontario.ca ship afloat, and the ODS could not be luckier to have this crew aboard.
- Emily Tamfo, Ontario.ca Product Manager
This year has been so full for me personally, that it’s hard to pinpoint just one thing. So, I’ll highlight the top 3!
1. Learning more about lean. The methodology, strategies and techniques are so applicable to every part of life.
2. The people. The ODS is a community made up of diverse talent. I learn something new from my colleagues every day.
3. Helping grow the lean community. When I joined the Lean Office it was just in its infancy stage. By calendar close, we will have trained over 1,000 Ontario public servants in lean White belt certification, engaged with 23 different ministries and have oversight into 28 different lean projects.
-Jennifer Hatvani, Lean Office
What are we most proud of?
How much a small team can accomplish in a short amount of time. We went from a team of 1, to a team of 3 and now 6 people.
The spirit of collaboration in the ODS, and in digital government overall. We couldn’t have done any of this work without so many partners. We are delivering training, designed to help learners build both understanding and confidence in working in a digital way.
-Digital Services Training Team
Launching the Digital First Assessment process has given my team the rewarding opportunity to interact with so many change-makers across the Ontario Public Service who are doing great work in the digital space. They are dedicated to solving problems for the people of Ontario and are eager to try new approaches, share their knowledge with other teams and learn new skills. I learn something new through every assessment and am inspired by the teams working so very hard to make services simpler, faster and better for everyone.
-Ebony Sager, Digital First Assessments Lead
I was part of the team that transitioned into the Ontario Digital Service this year. Having already been in the OPS for some time (I joined as an intern in 2004) it was a major shift for me, at first. Moving our team into the ODS was natural in some ways. For example, we were already working together on so many things and we were building capacity and skills in service design and user experience, which are common practice in the ODS. But in other ways, the transition was hard. All the virtual work and reporting to so few managers. I kept wondering what I would be working on and whether my skills would be of value to my new team. I had to remind myself that change is hard and a positive “How can I help?” mindset would go a long way.
Happy to report that the Ontario Digital Service is where management, senior leadership and employees really ‘walk the walk.’ This is a great place to work and I’m grateful to enter the new decade with this wonderful team!
- Jennifer Snyder, UX Chapter and Training Team
This blog post on Reclaiming our names with a special paragraph dedicated to ServiceOntario’s online registration reminds me of the huge difference the improvement of our services can make in the lives of Ontarians.
-Katy Lalonde, Director, Digital First Team
At the FWD50 Conference this year, David Eaves, a public policy entrepreneur and expert in information technology and government, was talking about the standout and unique characteristics each digital service around the world is known for.
At the ODS, he said our unique characteristic was “inclusion” and that Hillary Hartley “has been totally amazing at creating a culture of inclusivity at the ODS.”
This is a perfect encapsulation of why working at the ODS is great: we put a priority in making sure everyone — users, partners and our colleagues here in the organization — feel included, feel valued, and feel part of a broader mission to make things better for the people of Ontario. That’s something I’m proud of, and so proud that others around the world are noticing that, too.
- Sameer Vasta, Digital First Resident and Talent Team member
Working on a distributed team can be tough. Our team started out in one office, and now we are scattered across southern Ontario, most days working from homes, libraries, cafes and yes, maybe even an official office location. An inside joke and shorthand that transcends physical and virtual worlds proved that our team could change the way we work, and banter, to maintain what matters most to us.
We work inside government as champions of change which requires us to bring a lot of energy and passion that needs constant recharging. We accomplish this by being very, very silly at times. Making space for this silliness virtually is part of how we maintain a strong sense of team even if our team no longer gathers each day in a single place in space and time.”
-Amy Bihari, Open Government Team Member
What a year it has been… bring it on 2020!
