Energy efficiency tool wins Canada’s second Public Service Data Challenge
A plan to assess the best ways to cut domestic energy bills and greenhouse gas emissions has triumphed in Canada’s second Public Service Data Challenge, winning the backing of top officials and putting it on the road to implementation.
“Congratulations to the winning team,” said Canadian government chief data officer Stephen Burt after the announcement on Monday. “Your work demonstrates the incredible potential of data to solve real-world problems. I’m looking forward to working with you on how this moves into reality.”
At the Data Challenge Final, held at Global Government Forum’s (GGF’s) AccelerateGOV conference in Ottawa, four teams of public service volunteers pitched their ideas for how to make better use of data – then tackled questions from a judging panel comprising senior data leaders from across government.
With support from the programme’s partners – Statistics Canada, Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) and GGF – the team members had been working up their ideas since December 2023, when nearly 100 public servants submitted ideas to the programme. The initial nine-strong longlist had been slimmed down at the semi-final in May, leaving four strong contenders to pitch their updated concepts to the judges.
Merging datasets
The winning team will now take their project forward – combining data held in two separate NRCan datasets to understand how money spent under the Green Homes programme has improved domestic energy efficiency.
“NRCan is the custodian of the best data available. Our idea for the Public Service Data Challenge is to optimise home energy retrofits by combining enhanced energy savings data and costings data,” team member Lucas Coletta, a senior engineer at NRCan, explained. “A way to accurately connect each dollar spent to emissions saved does not yet exist. These challenges contribute to a lack of information about cost effectiveness, both for the government and for the public.”
Coletta set out a four-stage plan to realising the potential of these datasets: new calculations will be embedded in NRCan systems to gather energy savings information; the team will use AI and machine learning tools to extract data on project costs from submitted invoices; the two datasets will be merged, revealing the impact and cost-effectiveness of different interventions; and the data will be published, helping energy advisers, built environment professionals and public bodies to decide how best to improve the energy efficiency of individual homes.
The team has already built a proof of concept to test the invoice data extraction process, Coletta explained, and demonstrated that combining the data will produce valuable insights that can help shape future investments. “Winning the Public Service Data Challenge will help us implement our idea and move NRCan forward with supporting Canada’s goal of achieving sustainable development,” he said. “Our idea aims to accelerate affordable home energy retrofits, improve the efficacy of government programmes and policies, and ultimately reduce Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions in the residential sector.”
Read more: How Canada is using data to turn good intentions into climate action
Support from the top
Pledging to help the team implement their idea, Canada’s chief statistician André Loranger told them that “you have our continued commitment as champions and judges who, alongside the programme partners, will provide guidance and support you as you continue to develop your idea to reality. This collective commitment will be critical in helping your project progress and achieve meaningful outcomes.”
One key strength of the Data Challenge programme, he added, is its ability to bring together interdisciplinary, cross-departmental teams to take forward promising ideas. “Data alone is not enough. Collaboration across departments is essential for turning information into impactful actions,” said Loranger. “When we bring together diverse expertise and perspectives, we can craft innovative solutions to the complex, challenging problems that we face. By breaking down silos, we ensure that our human and financial resources are efficiently used – leading to better outcomes for Canadians. That is why the Public Service Data Challenge is so vital: it provides a platform for public servants to work together, share ideas and to push the boundaries of what is possible.”
Runners-up to move forward
Loranger also praised the other three finalists, noting that “all four presentations were fantastic. The level of thoughtfulness and creativity that each team brought to their work was truly impressive.” These three teams pitched ideas to: build a machine learning tool to optimise the use of beds and improve service provision in homeless shelters; apply ‘process mining’ techniques to improve transactional government services; and create a collaborative data arena providing standardised terms, useful tools and an experimentation space.
“Every one of you should be incredibly proud of what you’ve accomplished. Today, we will celebrate not only the winning team, but also the spirit of innovation, collaboration and data-driven decision-making,” commented Loranger.
Meanwhile, Burt promised to help all the finalists to move their ideas forward, saying: “I’m going to be reaching out to you through my office for some meetings with myself, as well as with André Loranger, the chief statistician, to have a bit of a discussion about how we help you bring your ideas into reality as well – because they were all great. I think there’s lots in there that we can continue to push all the way through.”
Read more: Next steps for government transformation: Canada’s digital leaders issue a call to action
Year three launching soon
Summarising the strengths of the Data Challenge programme, Daniel Dufour, NRCan’s director general of innovation, explained that “it’s about breaking down the barriers to innovation and experimentation. It’s about tapping into expertise and grassroots ideas from frontline staff across the public service. It’s about working with public servants across all disciplines, across all organisations.”
As he explained, “everybody’s invited to submit their ideas and then to join interdisciplinary teams, working across departments towards the most promising proposals”. These teams – which are open to any interested Canadian public servant, no matter their role, seniority or employer – receive support and guidance from data scientists, judges, and a network of ‘advocates’ among departmental digital leaders as they develop their ideas, providing participants with new skills, experience and contacts in digital technologies and project development.
The final held at AccelerateGOV capped the second Public Service Data Challenge. The first was won by a team from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada who, building on an idea submitted by policy analyst Jay Conte, suggested replacing the department’s ageing support services search function with an AI-powered chatbot. Agpal Chat is now up and running – and will soon be followed by NRCan’s new energy efficiency investments tool.
The Public Service Data Challenge will soon begin accepting entries for the 2024-25 period. See the website for more information on the programme.
About Matt Ross
Matt is Global Government Forum's Contributing Editor, providing direction and support on topics, products and audience interests across GGF’s editorial, events and research operations. He has been a journalist and editor since 1995, beginning in motoring and travel journalism – and combining the two in a 30-month, 30-country 4x4 expedition funded by magazine photo-journalism. Between 2002 and 2008 he was Features Editor of Haymarket news magazine Regeneration & Renewal, covering urban regeneration, economic growth and community development; and from 2008 to 2014 he was the Editor of UK magazine and website Civil Service World, then Editorial Director for Public Sector – both at political publishing house Dods. He has also worked as Director of Communications at think tank the Institute for Government.
