North America News

Trump proposes 1% federal pay rise as US budget published

President Trump has submitted a plan to Congress for all federal workers to receive a 1% pay rise, effective from 1 January 2021. While this is an improvement on the […]

New claims process for staff affected by Phoenix pay failure

A new claims process for federal employees affected by the troubled Phoenix payroll system has been launched by the Canadian government.  The new compensation scheme is being implemented “in recognition of […]

US government urged to spend $25bn a year on AI or risk falling behind

Congress and the White House should work together to increase annual federal spending on artificial intelligence (AI) research and development to US$25bn (€19.2bn), according to a national security think tank. […]

Canadian federal IT systems are on brink of collapse, government docs reveal

The IT systems serving Canada’s federal services are at risk of “critical failure” after years of under-investment, according to a memo obtained by The Canadian Press. Briefing notes for prime […]

US State Department inspector excoriates IT and staffing weaknesses

The US Department of State continues to face major management and performance challenges, many of which overlap and cause “unique vulnerabilities”, according to a report by the Office of Inspector […]

US lawmakers “extremely concerned” about proposed official time policy

Two members of Congress have written to the chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to express concern about a proposal that could make it harder for federal employees […]

US Digital Service recruitment reforms set for roll-out

A pilot programme that streamlines the US government’s federal hiring process is to be expanded, according to an update to the President’s Management Agenda published last month.   The US […]

Statistics Canada to adopt “hybrid” cloud strategy

Statistics Canada is to migrate its data to the cloud. The agency believes working with private sector cloud specialists will bring numerous benefits, such as affordable access to new technologies, […]

New US AI principles urge light-touch approach to regulation

The White House has proposed a set of principles that aim to prevent US government agencies from “over-regulating” private sector development of artificial intelligence (AI) and stifling innovation. It has […]

Creation of data council among new US data plan actions

The USA is set to establish a national data council, having announced its launch in the final version of the country’s Federal Data Strategy 2020 Action Plan. The final action […]