‘Let’s push forward together to address public service challenges’: Canada CIO sets out how to make most of tech at AccelerateGOV conference
Dominic Rochon, the deputy minister and chief information officer of the Government of Canada has urged public servants to use technology to address the challenges facing the public service as he opened this year’s AccelerateGOV conference.
Providing the opening keynote of the conference, which brought together public servants from around the world with an interest in digital government transformation on 9 December, Rochon urged delegates to focus on the broad challenges facing the public service – and how to navigate them.
“We have to concentrate on what matters most – reduce unnecessary steps that slow us down and take accountability for results. If we do that, we’ll deliver systems and services for Canadians and other clients,” he said.
‘Challenges facing governments are too complex to tackle in isolation’
While technology plays a critical role in enabling these priorities, it is only a tool set Rochon said. “Digital transformation isn’t about replacing people, it’s about looking at the nature of the work itself.
“Simply adding new technology to old systems won’t deliver better programmes and services. Meaningful progress requires strong foundations, modern technology, secure infrastructure and reliable high quality data – and an honest re-evaluation of the processes and business models we rely on. That is what ultimately allows us to move faster, innovate and deliver better services and outcomes for those we serve.”
Rochon added that success in transformation is a team sport as he urged delegates to speak with colleagues – and knowledge partners – throughout the day.
The challenges facing governments are too complex to tackle in isolation, Rochon said, and by working together public servants “can create solutions none of us could build on our own”.
He added: “Innovation often comes from outside our immediate surface. External perspectives help us think differently, challenge assumptions and experiment with new models. That’s how we improve – not by staying comfortable, but by pushing ourselves to approach things in a different way.”
AccelerateGOV brought together Canadian public servants and international experts, with keynote and panel discussions from inspiring innovators, and impact sessions and roundtables that provided in-depth insight on government transformation.
Rochon said “AcclerateGOV exists to spark those connections and those ideas, so let’s take full advantage of today to learn from one another, exchange insights and keep driving change forward”.
Read more: AccelerateGOV showcases how to make transformation happen in government
Public Service Data/AI Challenge winners announced
Also at AccelerateGOV, the winner of the Public Service Data/AI Challenge was announced.
The challenge seeks ideas from federal public servants on how government can improve its use of data and artificial intelligence, with plans developed over a series of rounds. This year’s winning project, announced by program champion Debbie Scharf, assistant deputy minister, strategic policy and innovation, Natural Resources Canada, is an AI-enabled job classification for the federal public service, to quicken the process of determining salary level and occupational group for public service jobs.
The AI Classification Enabler is an AI tool that leverages a repository of over 30,000 job descriptions and classification documents, streamlining key elements of the job classification process while maintaining expert human oversight. The system is intended to enable faster hiring and reorganisation so the public service can work more effectively for Canadians.
The Public Service Data/AI Challenge is organised by Statistics Canada, Natural Resources Canada and Global Government Forum, and supported by Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat and knowledge partners IBM, Dell and Nvidia.
Bob Conlin, managing director, federal government, IBM Canada, said: “Congratulations to this year’s Public Service Data/AI Challenge winners. These projects demonstrate how thoughtfully applied AI can drive meaningful gains in productivity and deliver tangible benefits for Canadians. IBM Canada is proud to support Canadian innovation and to collaborate with the Government of Canada and our partners as these winning ideas progress toward real-world implementation and impact.”
Read more: Projects shortlisted for Canada Public Service Data/AI Challenge
AccelerateGOV speakers share insights
On the eve of this year’s AccelerateGOV conference, we asked the event’s speakers to tell us what digital transformation topics they were most looking forward to discussing, and the insights that will help drive their priorities forward in the months ahead.
Read these exclusive GGF articles to get inspiration from those who spoke at the conference:
The first AccelerateGOV Bitesize Insights article ‘Advancing transformation is a team sport’ focused on interoperability, shared services, and digital sovereignty.
The second AccelerateGOV Bitesize Insights article ‘Leveraging collective expertise’ covered artificial intelligence, focusing on how to navigate the complexities of rapidly evolving technology, bake in ethics and responsible use, and ensure that AI delivers measurable value.
The third article, ‘Avoiding failure of imagination is critical’ pulled together responses from 10 of the speakers from Canada and other countries on a range of topics – from people, change management and collaboration, to AI, digital wallets, cybersecurity, the reimagining of government services of the future, and more.
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