Competition calls for Canadian public servants to submit ideas for data and AI innovation
Public servants from across the Government of Canada are invited to share their ideas to harness the potential of data and artificial intelligence to improve government.
Now in its fourth year, the Public Service Data/AI Challenge invites public servants to submit their ideas on how to improve government services, user experience and tools through the use of data and AI.
It then builds interdisciplinary cross-departmental teams of public servants around the most promising ones – providing the time, skills, technical capabilities and high-level support required to put the best ideas into action, with the winning ideas put on a path to implementation.
The Challenge is organised by Global Government Forum in partnership with the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, Statistics Canada, and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, and knowledge partner, IBM. The judging panel comprises senior public service leaders from a range of departments.
It is open to all serving federal public service employees no matter their role, discipline, seniority or department. They can submit an idea, apply to join one of the teams to help develop shortlisted ideas, or both.
Find out more about the Challenge and enter here
As well as the chance to have their ideas recognised by the judges, developed and helped along the road to delivery, taking part in the Challenge is also an opportunity for public servants to gain new skills and experience in areas such as project management, business planning, digital technologies and partnership working, and to make contacts across government.
Robert Conlin, managing director, Canadian federal government, IBM Canada, said: “For over a hundred years, IBM Canada has been a dedicated partner to the Government of Canada, pioneering the technological foundations that power our nation’s progress. Our continued support of the Public Sector Data/AI Challenge underscores this enduring commitment, serving as a catalyst for federal departments to harness the power of secure, responsible AI. By putting enterprise-grade innovation into the hands of public servants, we are helping to streamline back-office productivity, optimize service delivery, and solve the challenges of modern governance.
“We are proud to bring our global expertise and trusted AI platforms to this Challenge, collaborating across ecosystems to build a digital-first public service that delivers meaningful outcomes for all Canadians.”
The judges and the criteria
The six judges of the Public Service Data/AI Challenge are:
- Elise Legendre, director general, data policy and transformation and chief data officer, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
- Gabrielle FitzGerald,senior director, analytics and systems division, Justice Canada
- Erica Ren, chief data officer, Shared Services Canada
- Steve Matthews, acting director general, modern statistical methods and data science branch, Statistics Canada
- Pierre Pelletier, chief information officer, Natural Resources Canada
- Robert Conlin, managing director, Canadian federal government, IBM Canada
The judges will assess submitted ideas based on whether they’re likely to improve the experience of public service users or the tools used by public servants; whether they’re likely to generate high return on investment, with the benefits for citizens and/or taxpayers substantially greater than the costs; and whether they are deliverable, with likely obstacles assessed and addressed, amongst other criteria.
Ideas could be relatively minor technical improvements or the development of new services and systems. For example, they might focus on improving public servants’ tools, departmental systems, operational efficiency, the provision of services to the public, or the quality of policymaking and evaluation.
Find out more about the Challenge and enter here
Previous winners and ideas
Previous winning ideas have included a specially trained version of ChatGPT designed to help employees, citizens and businesses find relevant services at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada; and a project to combine data held in two separate datasets at Natural Resources Canada to help understand how money spent under the Green Homes programme has improved domestic energy efficiency.
A diverse range of submissions have made the longlist in previous years of the Challenge, including ideas have included an application processing tool to support Indigenous children, digital twins for smarter infrastructure management, and a ‘tell-us-once’ approach for national trade corridors.
The closing date for applications to the fourth Public Service Data/AI Challenge is June 30 2026. The longlist will be announced in September, and the shortlist in January 2027. The winner will be revealed at an event in February 2027.
Read more: Data Challenge serves as an engine of innovation for Canada’s public services
About Mia Hunt
Mia has been editor of globalgovernmentforum.com since 2019. She has 15 years’ experience as a journalist and editor and specialises in writing for civil and public servants worldwide, including covering sustainability policy and related issues. She has led the Global Government Women’s Network since it launched in 2023. Previously, she covered commercial property having been market reports and supplements editor at Property Week and deputy editor at Retail Destination. She graduated from Kingston University London with a first-class honours degree in journalism and was part of the team that produced The River newspaper, which won Publication of the Year at the Guardian Student Media Awards in 2010.
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