Canadian Government Executive - Volume 26 - Issue 02

TECHNOLOGY 12 / Canadian Government Executive // March/April 2020 in Public-Private Partnerships A dd in limited resources and the need to balance citizen privacy on top of such endeavours and the challenge to achieve digital overhauls becomes that much more. By 2023, 65 per cent of the world’s popu- lation will have its personal data covered under modern privacy regulations, up from 10 per cent today. Public-private partnerships (P3s) can help alleviate some of the pressure that government CIOs are facing in this arena. While P3s have historically focused on infrastruc- ture-type projects, for instance transpor- tation initiatives, they are increasingly being sought for funding digital trans- formations, like smart city projects. In Canada, for example, the privacy issues surrounding P3s have been thrust into the spotlight with projects like Sidewalk Labs’ Quayside development, which was only recently given limited approval after two years of debate. An important consideration in a P3 is the varying privacy landscape in which governments and private sector organiza- tions operate. To that end, accountability for citizens’ personal information is not always clear. Citizens often lack visibility and control when P3s process personal information on their behalf. When things go wrong, citizens turn to their govern- ments first, as they hold public-sector in- stitutions to a higher standard. After all, By Bernard Woo Governments around the world are actively pursuing digital strategies that improve citizens’ experiences. In Canada, though, CIOs – government and otherwise – indicated in the 2019 Gartner CIO Agenda that they are not as far along in their digital journey compared with their global peers. Citizen Trust How to Build