However, our survey found that only 50 per cent of Canadians trust the government to protect their information used in online services, and only 48 per cent said they would be comfortable with government agencies sharing information with each other to create more integrated and streamlined experiences. Digital Ambition 2022 and the way ahead With the release of Digital Ambition 2022, the Government of Canada has the stated ambition “To enable delivery of government in the digital age for all Canadians. This will be done by providing modernized and accessible tools to support service delivery that expresses the best of Canada in the digital space.” The Digital Ambition plan sets government‑wide priorities and lists key activities for departments and agencies, including those that serve other government organizations, by working to modernize service delivery, improve sustainability and promote digital stewardship. These priorities and activities will help departments move toward the digital delivery of programs and services for users. There is a lot to digest in this ambitious document, but when I think of VMware’s decades-long experience working with governments, as well as what we heard from Canadians on our survey, a couple of things stand out: • The first is the urgent need to modernize the overall health of the government’s application portfolio. Consumers expect streamlined services that are easy to use and access – but the thousands of software applications that are used to deliver government programs can be complicated and difficult to navigate. • The second is the importance of trust and security. The lack of trust in government security presents real challenges to implementing the priorities in Digital Ambition 2022. When government security is compromised, it sets back the ability to implement many of the needed reforms. • The third is the importance of engaging citizens to understand their needs and expectations as governments develop digital services. While our survey found that the major issues were relatively uniform across the country, there were important nuances across geography, age and ethnicity that would help inform government decisions. Overall, our survey shows that Canadians have clearly embraced digital government and are looking for even better and more accessible services from all levels of government going forward. This is a huge opportunity for Canada, and VMware looks forward to working with our government partners to meet those ambitions in 2022 and beyond. About the VMware Canada Survey VMware commissioned Hill+Knowlton Strategies to conduct a survey of 1,500 Canadians over the period of May 4 to 9, 2022. Sampling was done within age, gender, and region quotas. The length of survey was approximately five minutes, and data was weighted on age, gender, and region according to 2016 census figures. An associated margin of error for a randomly selected sample of n=1,000 would be ±3.1 per cent, 19 times out of 20. Spring 2023 // Canadian Government Executive / 19 Sponsored Content PERSPECTIVE
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