Canadian Government Executive - Volume 27 - 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 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 4 / Canadian Government Executive // March/April 2021 WEB Digital transformation has been talked about for many years within government, but today it is in hyper-drive mode due to pandemic. Governments around the world are grappling with remote work, while providing to some degree services, digitally. As digital transformation con- tinues its upward trend, we are seeing the impact in government agencies and departments as to how operations are implemented, conducted, and executed to achieve intended results. This dramatic transition across public sector is impacting how work gets done, where work takes place, and even what technologies and infrastructure are needed to provide online services to citizens. It also involves the collection and use of data, how it is shared, and what can be taken away to help improve processes. Where is Canada in the digital transformation process and how can it be embraced to become a part of the fabric of every department and agency? To get there requires organizational change, starting with leadership fully embracing digital transformation. This the topic up for discussion at DX Summit , a new two-day virtual event taking place on May 27-28. Brought to you by Canadian Government Executive and Vanguard, DX Summit is about understanding that need for organizational change and how to apply technology to de- velop a digital workplace that supports best practices, customer and citizen experience, and value through intelligent information gathering and management. To learn more or to register to attend this conference, go to https://canadiangovernmentexecutive.ca/dxsummit2021/. An integral part of this transformation is cloud. It enables organizations to securely access the latest data, digital and cyber technologies without having to build expensive and complex physi- cal infrastructure. With the ongoing pandemic, many programs that the Government of Canada has developed to respond to the COVID-19 were cloud-based. It provides unprecedented speed and scale in the setup and execution of critical new services. But yet, as Joel Marchildon from Accenture writes in this issue, when it comes to embracing the cloud, we still see many public sector organizations hesitant to take the leap. During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, there were shortages of critical medical supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE). Personnel at the Ministry of Innovation, Science, and Economic Development (ISED) realized they could use the relationships with the business sector to help solve this problem. Deputy Minister of Innovation, Science, and Eco- nomic Development Simon Kennedy helped to orchestrate this pivot. Besides boosting Canada’s PPE production, Kennedy’s ministry has supported businesses under extreme stress and ac- celerated a program to roll out broadband access amid an unprecedented surge in demand. Kennedy and his team are also looking to the future in leading initiatives that will fuel Canada’s recovery by building an inclusive digital economy and embracing decarbonization. We are ex- cited to share an interview done by strategy+business with Deputy Minister Kennedy on the role government can play in creating the environment and facilitating the collaboration needed for innovation to flourish. As we continue up the path of digital transformation, John Wilkins, regular columnist of CGE writes that the future of work in the public service comes with expectations of agility, change/ risk management, collaboration, communication, community, digitization, empathy, engage- ment, inclusion, innovation, mental/physical health, motivation, privacy, productivity, purpose, recognition, remote/online delivery, resilience, satisfaction, security, shared values, telework- ing, thriving, and workplace modernization. These are all needed to ensure that digital transfor- mation is a success and that we are ready to embrace the new world of digital. Thanks for reading this issue. Stay safe. Marcello Sukhdeo Managing Editor, Canadian Government Executive marcello@promotivemedia.ca EDITOR’S NOTE