As we enter the third year of this global pandemic, Canadian government organizations are contending with what is likely a permanent shift to a hybrid workplace. Meanwhile, the demand for modern digital solutions to better serve Canadians continues to soar. Amidst these challenges, Canada’s public service is facing ever-changing workforce dynamics.

Never has there been a more crucial time to leverage industry partnerships to convert a digital ambition into a roadmap – one that addresses citizen and workforce demands while meeting stringent standards for security, privacy, confidentiality, and compliance. 

It is no secret that many legacy government systems are falling short with their inability to support information sharing across an extended ecosystem, AI-powered processes, or intelligent workflows.

In response, the Canadian government is accelerating its cloud-first mandate. IT decision-makers agree that the scalability and agility of cloud-based, interoperable operating environments – with security and compliance at their core – can equip governments with the agility, flexibility, security, and speed to rapidly respond to change.

The benefits of moving to an open, hybrid multicloud infrastructure are clear. Yet, due to security, compliance, and privacy concerns, only a small percentage of mission-critical, regulated government workloads have shifted to cloud.

Overcoming hurdles with confidential computing

According to a recent IBV report called “Government on open hybrid multicloud,” most government organizations understand the benefits of an open, hybrid multicloud approach. In the face of stringent regulatory, privacy and security concerns, their focus is shifting from “why” to the more complicated issue of “how.”

An open, hybrid multicloud environment based on confidential computing is ideally suited for the government ecosystem, enabling digital transformation alongside high security, privacy, data protection, and compliance requirements. It gives governments the freedom to securely extend beyond their data centers and into cloud services without restricting them to a single technical solution platform or provider.

Confidential computing makes secure information sharing possible

As data spreads to the edge – thanks to mobile devices — combatting data breaches is only becoming more complex. According to a report from IBM Security, the average cost of a data breach in Canada was $6.75 million per incident in 2021.

Confidential computing protects highly sensitive data while removing barriers to information sharing. Data is isolated in a protected enclave during processing where it is only accessible to authorized code and invisible to anyone else, even the cloud provider. Confidential computing is like conducting data processing in a bank vault, where sensitive, unencrypted data is protected from malicious attack, even while in use.

Adoption of confidential computing across all clouds allows governments to confidently move sensitive data sets from on-premises IT infrastructure into a modern cloud platform.

Reap the benefits with the right roadmap and industry partners

In a government services landscape marked by data proliferation and security threats, choosing the right path forward can be challenging. Legacy systems often don’t support extended ecosystem engagement, AI-powered systems and processes, and intelligent workflows.

Pragmatic leaders are choosing an open confidential computing hybrid multicloud approach, embracing multiple interoperable platforms that offer the combined security, reduced cost of ownership and flexibility required.

As government leaders consider which workloads are mature enough to move, they are looking for cloud providers that can deliver on industry-specific operational requirements and allow for interoperable platforms.

With the right roadmap and industry partnerships, Canadian government organizations can reap the many benefits of an open, hybrid multicloud environment – flexibility, scalability, security and agility – and successfully transform themselves into agile organizations fueled by data, guided by AI insights, and built for change.

IBM CIC in Ottawa-Gatineau now open for business, providing:

  • Hybrid, multi cloud solutions, infrastructure and application modernization
  • A full lifecycle partner who can help create an open, secure platform while maintaining Canadian data sovereignty
  • IBM Cloud Protected-B status for secure management of sensitive data and applications
  • Services for Federal, Provincial, Municipal, and Crown corporations