The Association of Professional Executives of the Public Service of Canada (APEX) is talking the talk and walking the walk of continuous improvement.

While not a government department, APEX continues to do its part to bring to life the vision of a modern, high calibre public service. One of the ways we are stepping up to the plate is through both the content and delivery of this year’s Symposium, May 26-27.

“In addition to our own internal motivations to shake things up a little, we listened to feedback from a variety of sources – in particular our members and board of directors, as well as the deputy minister community,” said Lisanne Lacroix, APEX Chief Executive Officer.

The APEX Symposium is the only annual event of its type, where public service executives come together to learn, share and network. Part of APEX’s mandate is to support the government in implementing its agenda to better serve Canadians.

The theme of the 2015 Symposium – “From Ideas to Action: Leading Continuous Renewal” – is based on the need to sustain a high performing and productive public service leadership capable of working differently in a fast-moving and hyper-complex world.

So what makes this year’s event different? In a word: telepresence.

“This year, innovation is part of our DNA,” Lacroix said.

Working in partnership with Cisco and Shared Services Canada, APEX has adopted a delivery model designed to connect as many executives as possible through telepresence technology. For the first time, the Symposium will be held in four different locations simultaneously – Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver, the four cities with the largest executive populations.

Executives will have the choice of attending the Symposium in Ottawa or in one of the other three cities. Attendees in the regional locations will benefit from both a shared and a customized experience.

The look and feel of the Symposium will be similar in all four locations. Many elements will be “live” across all cities, or captured on video and replayed. Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver will benefit from customized programming for breakout sessions on both days.

To further enhance the regional experience, keynote speakers will present from each regional city. In Montréal, Eric Noël from Oxford Analytica and initiator of the Canada Towards 2030 Project, will address global trends challenging governance and reshaping our organizations.

Dr. Hugh Drouin, researcher in the area of nurturing workplaces and their impact on the stress and morale of employees, will speak from the Symposium’s Toronto location about the inspired workplace and how building community at work unlocks organizational potential.

And, from our Vancouver location, Dr. Marie-Hélène Pelletier, Director of Workplace Mental Health at Sun Life Financial, will address how to build resilience to bring our best to both our personal and professional lives.

In addition to these remarkable regional speakers, we are thrilled that John Manzoni, Chief Executive of the Civil Service in the United Kingdom, will join us from London, UK, in “virtual conversation” about reforming the public service with Symposium co-chair Marie Lemay, who will be in our Ottawa venue.

Symposium co-chair Bill Pentney will also have a very active role on top of his chairing responsibilities, as a panelist with provincial and private sector colleagues exploring what innovation looks like in government and how it can flourish in an environment that has multiple levels of checks and balances and an aversion to risk. These panelists firmly believe that innovation in government is possible and will share their views on creating the right conditions for success.

In addition, we are pleased to showcase the only two female Clerks of the Privy Council in the history of the public service: our current Clerk Janice Charette will open the Symposium to frame the discussion about continuous renewal; and Jocelyne Bourgon will close the Symposium by weaving together the common threads running through the topics and key messages featured over the two days as well as providing her own perspective on preparing government for the challenges ahead.

“The Symposium Advisory Committee members were immensely helpful in shaping the Symposium and in both challenging and validating our ideas,” Lacroix said, recognizing the important contributions of the Symposium co-chairs, APEX board of directors and the representatives from Deloitte, Ernst & Young, Cisco and Conversart Consulting.

 
For information about the Symposium, speakers or register, please see: www.apex.gc.ca