Patrick Pichette speaking at the Web Summit 2022 at the Altice Arena in Lisbon, Portugal. Photo by Eóin Noonan/Web Summit via Sportsfile, reproduced under Creative Commons
Canadian prime minister Mark Carney has launched the long-anticipated Digital Transformation Canada, a federal organisation focused on delivering better, faster, more reliable government services.
The agency was first promised by Carney’s Liberal Party in their manifesto ahead of last year’s elections, and it has now been created with a mission to embed digital solutions to make it easier for Canadians to access the support and services they need from government.
The digital transformation agency has also been formed to provide government with the tools to implement Canada’s national AI strategy, which commits the federal government to lead by example in the responsible adoption of artificial intelligence and to support Canadian AI companies and digital sovereignty through public procurement.
The organisation will bring together key elements of digital government from across the Government of Canada – Shared Services Canada and selected functions from the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, Public Services and Procurement Canada, and the Canadian Digital Service from Employment and Social Development Canada.
The unit is under the responsibility of Joël Lightbound, the minister of government transformation, public works and procurement, and will be led by chief executive Patrick Pichette, a business leader whose previous roles include working as chief financial officer of Google from 2008 to 2015, as well as previous senior roles at Bell Canada, McKinsey, and Sprint Canada.
This year’s AccelerateGOV conference, co-hosted by the Government of Canada, will take place on December 16 and 17, and will share insights from governments around the world on how to deliver better, more efficient and resilient digitally-enabled public services with public servants from Canada and beyond.
This event is an opportunity to learn from government innovators, and will explore real-world transformation use cases in an increasingly complex and fast-changing world.
Find out more about the event and register to attend here.
Priorities for Digital Transformation Canada
By combining digital expertise and delivery capacity from across government, Digital Transformation Canada aims to improve how government develops, buys, and uses technology, according to Carney.
“Canada’s future prosperity will be built by those who innovate, adopt new technologies, and move quickly to seize new opportunities,” he said. “Digital Transformation Canada will ensure the federal government leads by example. By modernising public service delivery, reducing duplication, and supporting the growth of Canadian technology firms, we will strengthen our economy, improve outcomes for Canadians, and position Canada to lead in the digital age.”
The agency has been given three key priorities to focus on. These are to:
- Better scale shared solutions across government to reduce duplication and make better use of emerging technologies such as AI to strengthen Canada’s digital sovereignty and security and improve Canadians’ experiences of federal services.
- Equip public servants with more modern, secure tools to improve efficiency, and help departments focus on delivering their core programmes and services.
- Use the government’s procurement spending to help Canadian digital and AI companies scale.
Digital Transformation Canada will also establish a fellowship employment model to bring specialised private-sector expertise into government for short-term assignments, including in advanced AI and other fast-moving digital fields.
This model will focus on knowledge transfer from these specialists to help build the public service’s own technical capacity, commercial expertise, and ability to evaluate, procure, and deploy new technologies responsibly.
“Digital Transformation Canada marks a new chapter in how government delivers results for Canadians,” Lightbound said. “By embracing digital innovation, investing in people, and leveraging Canada’s world-class AI ecosystem, we will improve services, strengthen digital sovereignty, and create new opportunities for Canadian companies to grow and compete globally. Our goal is clear: bring together the country’s brightest technologists to work with the public service to build a stronger, more effective federal government.”
Read in full: Making Government Work: Five pillars of a modern, effective civil service