Canadian Government Executive - Volume 26 - Issue 02

Our mission is to contribute to excellence in public service management EDITORIAL EXECUTIVE EDITOR | J. RICHARD JONES john@promotivemedia.ca DEPUTY EDITOR | LORI TURNBULL lori@promotivemedia.ca MANAGING Editor | Marcello Sukhdeo marcello@promotivemedia.ca COPY EDITOR | James Brandon COLUMNISTS | JEFFREY ROY HARVEY SCHACHTER JOHN WILKINS EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD DENISE AMYOT, PENNY BALLANTYNE, Jim Connell, Michael Fenn, Lana Lougheed, John Milloy, Vic Pakalnis, Robert Shepherd, Andrew Treusch, David Zussman Sales & Events Vice President, Sales | Terri Pavelic 905-727-3875 x2 terri@promotivemedia.ca Director, Content & Business Development | David Blondeau 905-727-3875 david@promotivemedia.ca ART & PRODUCTION ART DIRECTOR | Elena Pankova elena@promotivemedia.ca Subscriptions and Address Changes Circulation Services | circulation@promotivemedia.ca General Inquiries 21374, 2nd Concession Rd, East Gwillimbury, ON, L9N 0H7 Phone 905-727-3875 Fax 905-727-4428 www.canadiangovernmentexecutive.ca corporate Group Publisher | J. RICHARD JONES john@promotivemedia.ca Publisher’s Mail Agreement: 40052410 ISSN 1203-7893 Canadian Government Executive magazine is published 6 times per year by Navatar Press. All opinions expressed herein are those of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher or any person or organization associated with the magazine. Letters, submissions, comments and suggested topics are welcome, and should be sent to lori@promotivemedia.ca Reprint Information Reproduction or photocopying is prohibited without the publisher’s prior written consent. High quality reprints of articles and additional copies of the magazine are available through circulation@promotivemedia.ca . Privacy Policy: We do not sell our mailing list or share any confidential information on our subscribers. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund (CPF) for our publishing activities. www.canadiangovernmentexecutive.ca 6 / Canadian Government Executive // March/April 2020 web Life, as we know it, has changed drastically over the past few weeks. The coronavirus has put a halt to social interactions, the economy, school, and even work. Today, as we are locked away in our dwelling places and trying to manage work, schooling our children, and worrying about our incomes, we are faced with a dismal future that we hope will turn on the dime – just the same way it all started. But will it? Many experts are predicting that we will never be able to return to a pre-coronavirus state. Things have changed and will continue to evolve. The future of work, which has been discussed for years, is now here. We are living amid a revolution that will change the way we work. Tech companies are seeing an increase in the usage of their apps and products for online collaboration and meetings. Microsoft, for example, is predicting that the COVID-19 pan- demic will be the turning point in how we work and learn in the future. In this issue, we have devoted some space to address this emerging trend. A regular con- tributor to CGE, Jeffrey Roy, pens a thought-provoking column on Coronavirus and the Fu- ture of Work . As we try to ride through the pandemic, digitization is facilitating virtual work environments resulting in cost and time savings benefits for both employees and employ- ers. Governments are also trying to move this process along by leading from the front with virtual work teams and online meeting platforms. Providing e-learning courses is another way to keep services open during this time. With the advent of 5G technology, we can pre- pare for greater acceleration of online services. And as governments around the world focus on containing COVID-19, the next strategy should be about embracing a workplace that is more virtual in nature. It’s no secret that we were not prepared for the current pandemic. Kevin Grauman pro- vides three things that can be done right now to help flatten the curve and address the global health crisis. He points out by adopting these, Canada stands a fighting chance of minimizing casualties and improving health outcomes for everyone. The abrupt closing of businesses in March due to the coronavirus has resulted in the loss of more than a million jobs in Canada. The closure resulted in two categories of workers, those that shifted their work environments to home and those who cannot convert to an on- line format. Lori Turnbull writes about this in the Last Word pointing out that the pandemic has uprooted and transformed all our routines. Now to redefine what qualifies as “normal” opens up all kinds of possibilities for work. Continuing on the trend of virtual and online services, Bernard Woo writes about how governments around the world are actively pursuing digital strategies to improve citizens’ experiences. But CIOs in Canada are not far along in their digital journey as compared with their global peers. With limited resources and the need to balance citizen privacy, the chal- lenge to achieve digital overhauls becomes more difficult. Other articles in this issue focus on maximizing the value of data analytics in your data management strategy, flexible work, and productivity by transparency. Thanks for taking the time to read this issue. From the CGE team, we would like to extend thanks to all frontline staff who have bravely served over the past weeks in battling and containing the coronavirus. Marcello Sukhdeo Managing Editor, Canadian Government Executive marcello@promotivemedia.ca editor’s note