Industry experts provide advice to Digital Government Minister Jane Philpott in new role

Manufacture critics detail ways newly minted Minister of Digital Regime Jane Philpott can be successful in her role, including having "courageous leadership," "looking to Westminster comparators," agreement the civilization in the innovation industry and seizing opportunities.

Amanda Clarke, banana professor and Public Affairs Enquiry Excellence chair at Carleton Academy, and Jonathan Craft, banana professor at the University of Toronto, both penned the letter to Philpott on February 8th in the Policy Options publication.

Philpott was named the new Treasury Board President, as well every bit the new minister for digital government in January during a cabinet shuffle in Ottawa. Every bit part of her role, the Ontario MP who was previously the Health Government minister and Indigenous Services Minister is responsible for refining the federal government'due south digital service offerings, while simultaneously making them more accessible for Canadian citizens and immigrants.

Clarke and Arts and crafts write that in her new role digital government "hinges on leadership from their government minister'due south role."

"Ministers need to exist vocal and public near moving the digital transformation agenda forrard through concrete deliverables: real projects and programs, not just buzzwords," they write, adding the minister should educate fellow ministers well-nigh the importance of digital reforms and policy initiatives.

Clarke and Arts and crafts say that if Canada wants to be on the same level playing equally other countries so Philpott needs to wait at Canada's "Westminster comparators."

"Successful digital government will be driven by a federal public service with the right mix of skills in its ranks and volition specially depend on the authorities attracting staff who are proficient in areas such as design, agile software development and data scientific discipline," they write.

The two too note that the new minister should keep in mind that digital government is "less about engineering science" and more than nearly the culture. The two note that public servants need to see how engineering science is approached by interacting with a service before it is launched.

"Remember digital approach, not digital tools," they write.

"Research into users' experiences with a service could reveal the need for dissimilar opening hours at a service centre, or a language alter in a program's description," they write. "These small changes might pay dividends in improving the uptake and impact of a government program."

Finally, Clarke and Craft write that the minister should take on opportunities that take been "partly overlooked by Canada'due south Westminster counterparts – to better integrate digital into broader policy renewal work already underway."

Image Credit: YouTube (screenshot)

Source: Policy Options