AccelerateGov the public sector digital transformation conference

Equipping public servants to succeed

Theme: Staff tools

“Public servants face ongoing challenges accessing the tools necessary to do their jobs,” says Canada’s data strategy for the federal public service. While governments have invested in public-facing services, many internal systems still rely on outdated technology: as former Clerk of the Privy Council Michael Wernick noted on leaving government, “the plumbing and wiring of the public service is very difficult to get attention and investment for, and that’s why we’ve had terrible rust-out problems”. To bolster cyber-security, enhance efficiency and improve services for citizens, public servants need modern tools and systems – enabling them to realise the potential of data, streamline organisational management, bolster collaboration and cut the time spent on repetitive, low-value tasks. During this session, panellists will discuss how to secure investment for staff tools, prioritise spending, and give public servants the skills to take advantage of new capabilities.

Panel discussion followed by audience Q&A

Speakers:

Karl Hoods
Group Chief Digital and Information Officer, Department for Energy Security & Net Zero and Department for Science, Innovation & Technology, United Kingdom
Meagan Collins
Chief, Enterprise Information Management, Corporate Services Sector, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, Canada
Erica Ren
Chief Data Officer, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada

Erica Ren

Chief Data Officer, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada

Erica Ren currently serves as the Chief Data Officer (CDO) at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), where she is responsible for guiding data transformation initiatives to enhance decision-making processes through data analysis, research, data literacy, and effective data governance practices. Before assuming her current role, Erica held leadership positions in various departments in the Government of Canada, including Director General of Modernization at Canadian Heritage and Senior Director at Correctional Services Canada.

With nearly two decades of experience in the Federal Public Service, Erica Ren has cultivated expertise in data analytics, digital service delivery, and business transformation. She holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Electrical Engineering, a Master of Engineering, and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Ottawa.

Incentivising alignment: Forging a united leadership team

Theme: Open policymaking and shared service delivery

Cross-government initiatives can fall flat when organisational leaders have diverging priorities, so some governments are introducing reforms to align their goals. New Zealand, for example, has introduced reforms to create a single public service leadership team – adjusting performance management systems so that agency chief executives are incentivized to work together in the pursuit of shared objectives. The UK’s ‘Digital Roadmap’ was developed alongside departmental leaders, who are collectively responsible for delivery. And in Canada, the CIO’s office is expanding its role in appointing and managing digital leaders across government. At this workshop, a senior official will lead a discussion on how best to get top officials across government pulling in the same direction.

Discussion followed by audience Q&A

Speakers:

Liz McKeown
Executive Director, Digital Talent and Leadership Sector, Treasury Board Canada Secretariat, Canada
Honey Dacanay
Director General, Digital Policy, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat
Chris Thorn
Chief Digital Officer, Digital, Data & Technology Services, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), United Kingdom

Planning for uncertainty: A new approach to project management

Theme: Smarter procurement and project management

Traditional public service business planning, spending approval and project management processes typically require planners to define at the outset exactly how new services will operate. This ‘Waterfall’ approach to project management is fine when building a bridge – but digital services both require and catalyse behaviour change among users, and this is hard to predict. So digital best practice involves ‘Agile’ project management, under which developers test and iterate their way towards the best solution. The tension between these approaches puts obstacles in the way of digital programs; but some governments have found ways to square the circle. At this workshop, a senior digital leader will discuss how governments can combine elements of Waterfall and Agile – offering flexibility to digital leaders, while providing finance leaders with certainty over costs and timescales.

Discussion followed by audience Q&A

Speakers:

Scott McNaughton
Director, Digital Investment Office, Government of British Columbia
Mehnaz Tabassum
IT Project Manager, Corporate Services Sector, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat
Len Bastien
Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

Len Bastien

Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

Len grew up in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island and received a Bachelor of Science from the University of Prince Edward Island in 1991. After a short stop in Halifax Nova Scotia, he moved to Ottawa to begin graduate studies at Carleton University, met his wife and settled in the National Capital Region. Most of his professional career has been spent in the information and telecommunication technology field. In the private sector, as Director of Consulting Services for Enterprise Outsourcing at CGI Ottawa, he was responsible for the overall management, growth and profitability of the Enterprise Outsourcing program. In April 2007, Mr. Bastien joined the Federal Public Service, serving initially at National Defence as Director of the Information Management Service Transformation and then as Director General (DGIMST), leading the division in the strategy and planning for further discovery and alignment of a rationalized Defence IM/IT Program. After a brief term as the Executive Director IT Infrastructure, Operations and Security, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Mr. Bastien returned to National Defence in March 2011, where he was appointed Director General Information Management Technology (DGIMT). A year later he assumed the role of Assistant Deputy Minister (Information Management) and Chief Information Officer. Len Bastien was the Defence Champion for Persons with Disabilities, a role he took very seriously. He’s also volunteered for several years on the Board of Directors for Valoris, a Family Resources Organization in Eastern Ontario. He has two kids and many hours invested in the local arenas during the winter months. He recently built a beach house in PEI where he plans to spend more time in the coming years with friends and family.

Angel Martin

Deputy Head, Planning and Governance of Digital Administration, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation, Spain

Angel Martín Bautista is the Deputy Head of the Planning and Governance Department of Digital Administration in the general Secretariat for Digital Administration, part of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation.

Regarding his duties, he focuses on aspects such as the supervision of the work carried out in the department, with a special focus on the monitoring and execution of the Digitalization Plan for Public Administrations; having special involvement in new digital identity models. In this area, he represents Spain in the technical meetings of the new eIDAS2 Regulation during the Spanish presidency of the European Council or actively works in the coordination of Large Scale Pilots. He has previously held positions of responsibility in relation to emerging technologies, particularly highlighting Robotic Process Automation or blockchain technology, where he has been representing Spain in the European Blockchain Partnership since 2019. He has also carried out tasks related to the evaluation and analysis of the digital transformation in the Public Administration at the local, regional and central levels.

Born in Madrid he carried out simultaneously a degree in Physics and a degree in Philosophy, both at Universidad Autonoma de Madrid.

Previously to his public sector experience, he worked 17 years in the private sector in areas such as Business Consulting, Strategy, energy sector, telecommunications, automotive Industry and ICT Technologies until he started working as a civil servant.

Regarding his duties, he focuses on aspects such as the supervision of the work carried out in the department, with a special focus on the monitoring and execution of the Digitalization Plan for Public Administrations; having special involvement in new digital identity models. In this area, he represents Spain in the technical meetings of the new eIDAS2 Regulation during the Spanish presidency of the European Council or actively works in the coordination of Large Scale Pilots. He has previously held positions of responsibility in relation to emerging technologies, particularly highlighting Robotic Process Automation or blockchain technology, where he has been representing Spain in the European Blockchain Partnership since 2019. He has also carried out tasks related to the evaluation and analysis of the digital transformation in the Public Administration at the local, regional and central levels

Mark Vermeer

Director, Digital Government, Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, the Netherlands

As the director of Digital Government, Mr Mark Vermeer is responsible for a digital government that works on a value-driven and open basis for all citizens and businesses. This work includes the promotion of a transparent and open government, a digital identity, the control of citizens over their digital lives, and the accessibility and innovation of digital public services.

Mark Vermeer previously worked in diverse positions at the Municipality of Rotterdam, including as the Director of innovation, information and research and as the Chief Information Officer. Mark Vermeer holds a Master of Science in Econometrics from Erasmus University Rotterdam, and a PhD from the Faculty of Computer Science of the University of Twente.

Transforming together: Managing and commissioning digital projects

Theme: Smarter procurement and project management

Public servants working in fields such as finance, procurement and project management play as critical a role in transformation programmes as their digital colleagues; but in many cases, their systems and working practices have not been updated to reflect changes in technology – leaving a mismatch between government-wide business processes and best practice in digital transformation. Existing approaches to business planning and spending approval, for example, often lack the flexibility central to ‘Agile’ project management. Governance frameworks may mitigate against the cross-departmental collaboration required to realise the benefits of digital transformation. Tendering rules designed for major outsourcing programs can squeeze out small suppliers, while making it expensive and time-consuming to buy simple tools and services. And long-established procurement rules may not address emerging priorities, such as reducing energy use and recycling old IT equipment. At this session, panellists from a range of disciplines will discuss how government-wide systems can be improved to strengthen transformation programs.

Panel discussion followed by audience Q&A

Speakers:

Marc Brouillard
Chief Digital Officer, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Canada
Sylvain Bélanger
Executive Director and Chief Information Officer, Information Management and Technology Directorate, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat
Angel Martin
Deputy Head, Planning and Governance of Digital Administration, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation, Spain
Anthony Sheehan
Chief Digital Officer, Courts Administration Service Canada, Canada

Angel Martin

Data and you: What Canada’s new Data Strategy means for public servants

Theme: Data technologies and management

Canada’s data strategy for the federal public service envisages a data-powered future, with implications for most public servants. It explains, for example, that individuals with data management responsibilities will provide input into programs and policies throughout their development, with data requirements and outputs considered from the off. And it promotes close partnership working between data specialists and other public professionals, arguing that “it is imperative to close the gap between data experts and those developing and delivering policy, services, research, projects, and initiatives.” At this workshop, you’ll explore the data strategy’s goals and requirements with a senior Canadian public service leader.

Discussion followed by audience Q&A

Speakers:

Stephen Burt
Chief Data Officer of Canada
Todd Dufour
Director General, Strategic Data Management, Statistics Canada
Kara Beckles
Chief Data Officer, Privy Council Office, Canada
Robb Sinclair
VP Analytics, Converge Technology Solutions

Knowledge Partner

Kara Beckles

Chief Data Officer, Privy Council Office, Canada

Chris Thorn

Chief Digital Officer, Digital, Data & Technology Services, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), United Kingdom

Chris been bringing together customer experience, organisational/business needs and technology for over 30 years. He worked in digital before it was called digital and was championing customers before the term customer experience was coined. Today there is name for what he does – Digital Transformation. Today he is working on a digital transformation programme at the UK’s Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Prior to this he was working on one of the biggest digital transformation programmes in UK government; developing the Universal Credit service within the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). The service forms the backbone of the UK welfare system.

Prior to DWP, he instigated the digital transformation at British Heart Foundation, one of the UK’s largest charities that operates the largest commercial Furniture & Electrical retail chain in the UK. At BHF his role spanned customer experience, customer service, digital product development and more. He introduced Agile, Cloud Hosting and Data Science to an organisation that had been described as a digital dinosaur when he joined.

Chris’ experience includes working at a Lloyd’s of London underwriters, Disney’s European Headquarters, Virgin Management, he co-ran a full service London based digital agency and was CTO at a scale-up in Berlin.

Chris has BSc Honours degree is Computer Science and an MBA.

Mehnaz Tabassum

IT Project Manager, Corporate Services Sector, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

Mehnaz Tabassum is a true embodiment of multipotentiality. With over 6 years of full-time work experience as a certified Project Management Professional (PMP), Mehnaz possesses a unique blend of business acumen and social awareness. She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) and a Certificate in Public Policy from Memorial University of Newfoundland.

Currently serving as the IT Project Manager at the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat’s Corporate Services Sector, Mehnaz excels in agile project management practices and promotes agile leadership through her work. Mehnaz has a track record of leading digital transformation initiatives across various branches, including the Canada Revenue Agency’s Security Branch (ASB), Human Resources Branch (HRB), and Assessment, Benefits, and Services Branch (ABSB).

Mehnaz is also the co-founder and Director of NL Eats Community Outreach Inc., a rapidly growing social enterprise dedicated to addressing food insecurity for individuals facing barriers. Her leadership has created project opportunities for 165 youth and benefited over 1500 community members.

In addition to her professional work, Mehnaz is deeply committed to people development and servant leadership. She runs her own consultancy, where she coaches individuals to achieve their career development goals and mentors’ new immigrants in partnership with Ottawa Community Immigrant Services Organization – OCISO.

Her extensive experience also includes serving as a board member in the Food Policy Council, Government of Newfoundland’s Premier’s Youth Policy council, and Global Vision. Mehnaz’s expertise extends to digital content creation and social media strategy, providing consultative services to small and medium-sized businesses.

Mehnaz’s outstanding contributions have earned her numerous awards and recognitions, including the CRA Award of Excellence (2022), Women of Distinction (2020), Young Entrepreneur Award (2019), Chancellor’s Undergraduate Leadership Award (2021), and the Feeding 9 Billion Award (2018). She has also received nominations for prestigious honors such as The IPAC Award for Emerging Leader (2022), Atlantic Top 50 CEOs (2022), and the prestigious Diana Award (2023).

With her diverse skills set encompassing business analytics, financial analysis, information technology, customer relations, data & trend analytics and agile leadership, Mehnaz Tabassum is a valued leader in any industry.

Serving every citizen: Adoption and accessibility in online services

Theme: Public adoption of digital services

Digital technologies have the potential to improve service delivery for everyone. But if careful attention is not paid to inclusiveness, they can remain inaccessible to society’s most vulnerable. And where a significant proportion of users don’t take up new digital services, public bodies can miss out on planned cost savings and public benefits. At this session, panellists will explore how best to encourage the adoption of digital services, and to remove the barriers that can constrain access. Topics will include citizen benefits and user-focused design; effective communications and marketing; and the provision of direct support to help on-board marginalised communities and those with limited digital skills and tools.

Panel discussion followed by audience Q&A

Speakers:

Vigdís Jóhannsdóttir
Chief Marketing Officer for Digital Iceland, Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, Iceland
Peter Kimaile
Director, ICT, Ministry of Information Communication & The Digital Economy, Kenya
Pirthipal Singh
Chief Information Officer, Financial Consumer Agency of Canada
Mark Vermeer
Director Digital Government, Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, Netherlands

Pirthipal Singh

Chief Information Officer, Financial Consumer Agency of Canada

Pirth has recently joined the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada as their first Chief Information Officer. He has over 20 years of experience leading digital and service delivery initiatives in various federal departments in the Government of Canada. He is currently the Executive Director for the Digital Credentials Program at the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat where he is responsible for establishing a federal approach to enable the use of digital credentials for accessing services across Canada. Pirth holds a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering and an M.B.A from McMaster University. He lives in Nepean, Ontario with his wife and two children.

Automation for the People: Using robots in public service

Theme: Artificial Intelligence and automation

While Artificial Intelligence algorithms evolve over time – making their operation unpredictable and sometimes opaque – robotic process automation (RPA) is a much more straightforward technology. Taking on repetitive, highly codified administrative tasks, RPA can speed up service delivery while producing efficiency savings. Nonetheless, it must be applied carefully – ensuring the algorithm isn’t generating discriminatory outcomes, for example, and protecting public servants’ ability to oversee decision-making. At this workshop participants will examine international case studies of the use of RPA in public services, and consider the policy, regulatory, skills and technical issues around deployment.

Discussion followed by audience Q&A

Speakers:

Kathleen Butler
Director General, Digital Services Directorate, Assessment, Benefit, and Service Branch, Canada Revenue Agency
Kyle Thomas
Global Industry Leader, Public Sector Regulatory Agencies, Appian

Knowledge Partner

Kyle Thomas

Global Industry Leader, Public Sector Regulatory Agencies, Appian

Kyle Thomas is the Appian Global Industry Leader for public sector regulatory agencies with a special focus on financial services regulation. He provides thought leadership around reg-tech innovation globally and drives customer and partner success by drawing on his years of experience in the financial regulatory sector. Kyle brings not only experience as a prudential regulator, but also led the development of a suite of solutions for the Conference of State Bank Supervisors, a nationwide trade group of state financial regulators. While there he developed and deployed a first-in-class solution that transformed state-based financial regulation. The platform is now in use by over 50 state agencies and thousands of financial services firms. Kyle is a graduate of the University of Northern Iowa, holds a master’s degree from the Darla Moore School of Business of the University of South Carolina and is an alumnus of the Graduate School of Banking at Colorado. Find him on LinkedIn.

Alexandra Dykes

Director, Performance and Oversight, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, Canada

Alexandra is the Director of Performance and Oversight within the Information and Data Governance team at the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat. She and her team are responsible for leading the implementation of the Data Strategy for the Federal Public Service (2023-2026).

Alexandra is passionate about “telling the data story” and has spent most of her public service career in the area of performance measurement. She has previously held various leadership positions with Employment and Social Development Canada, the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.

Mehnaz Tabassum

Robb Sinclair

VP Analytics, Converge Technology Solutions

Adapt to serve: Supporting public sector innovation

Theme: Skills for innovation

In today’s turbulent, fast-changing world, organisations thrive when they draw on the expertise and enthusiasm of every staff member, empowering people to recreate policies and systems in response to new challenges. This demand sits awkwardly with rigid public service hierarchies and rules – but governments must develop ways to experiment, innovate and adapt, or risk finding themselves increasingly unable to meet the public’s needs. Reforming the approach to risk management and value for money, for example, can create more space for the experimentation and iterative development central to innovation. Improving the understanding of technologies across the workforce can accelerate digitally-enabled reforms, as can training digital leaders in the softer skills around organisational change. Dedicated innovation programs can capture and promote great ideas from the workforce; and leaders can show the way forward, pushing for change in public service cultures. During this session, panellists will debate how to create more responsive and adaptable organisations and services.

Panel discussion followed by audience Q&A

Speakers:

Thomas Beautyman
Deputy Director, Government Digital, Data and Technology Capability, Cabinet Office, United Kingdom
Franco Chirichella
President and Chief Executive Officer, Innovapost Inc., and Chief Digital Officer, Canada Post
Innocent Muhizi
Chief Executive Officer, Rwanda Information Society Authority, Rwanda

A helping hand: Access for all

Theme: Public adoption of digital services

Many of those most dependent on the public sector face particular barriers to accessing digital services, with older, poorer and more remote communities often lacking the necessary skills, confidence or tools. To help these heavy users of public services to get online, governments must provide active, personal support – or risk exacerbating inequalities, while failing to achieve the ‘channel shift’ essential to recouping investments in digital services. At this workshop a senior digital public servant from one of the world’s leading nations will explain how they provide face-to-face support to assist commonly-excluded groups into the digital world.

Discussion followed by audience Q&A

Speakers

Angela Copeland
Chief Information Officer and Assistant Deputy Minister, Ontario Ministry of Health and Ministry of Long-Term Care, Canada
Dr Inshan Meahjohn
Chief Executive Officer, National Information and Communication Technology Company Limited (iGovTT), Trinidad and Tobago
Fernando de Pablo Martín
Director Digital Office, Madrid City, Spain
Luyanda Ndlovu
Chief Information Officer, Department of Communications and Digital Technology, South Africa

Dr Inshan Meahjohn

Chief Executive Officer, National Information and Communication Technology Company Limited (iGovTT), Trinidad and Tobago

Inshan Meahjohn is currently the CEO of iGovTT and has over twenty-three years of international experience in multiple industries including insurance, information technology, higher education, finance, entrepreneurship and banking. In addition to his professional experience, Inshan holds a Bachelor of Administration (Hons) from the University of Glamorgan in the United Kingdom, a Master of Business Administration from the Australian Institute of Business and is currently a PhD Candidate.

Dr Inshan Meahjohn

Président-directeur général, National Information and Communication Technology Company Limited (iGovTT), Trinité-et-Tobago

Inshan Meahjohn est actuellement le PDG d’iGovTT et possède plus de vingt-trois ans d’expérience internationale dans de multiples secteurs, notamment l’assurance, les technologies de l’information, l’enseignement supérieur, les finances, l’entrepreneuriat et les services bancaires. Outre son expérience professionnelle, Inshan est titulaire d’un baccalauréat en administration (avec mention) de l’Université de Glamorgan au Royaume-Uni, d’une maîtrise en administration des affaires de l’Australian Institute of Business et est actuellement candidat au doctorat.

Brian Epley

Principal Deputy Chief Information Officer, Department of Energy, United States of America

Brian Epley joined the Department of Energy as the Principal Deputy Chief Information Officer (PDCIO) in September 2022. As PDCIO, Brian leads the day-to-day operations of the Office of the CIO, and also partners with the CIO on strategic direction to protect and modernize DOE’s information technology, information resources, data, and cybersecurity across the DOE enterprise.

Before joining DOE, Brian held several roles at the Environmental Protection Agency. He served in roles including Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator for Administration & Resources Management, Chief (IT) Operations Officer, and Deputy Chief Technology Officer. His responsibilities covered enterprise information systems management and operations management, including desktop, enterprise hosting, service and business management, endpoint and collaboration solutions, and network and security operations.

Brian is a seasoned professional with more than 25 years’ experience across federal and state government and the commercial sector. Throughout his career, he has distinguished himself as an innovative change leader with the unique ability to deliver strategically aligned and mission-focused services. His experience in building coalitions, creating a shared vision, and actively partnering with customers will be immensely helpful as he joins the CIO to help lead DOE’s remarkable organization.

Applying AI intelligently: Use cases and risk management

Theme: Artificial Intelligence and automation

Artificial Intelligence technologies have huge potential to assist public servants – guiding decision-making, supporting analysis and targeting enforcement work, for example – but they also present a unique set of risks. Where ‘learning’ algorithms evolve autonomously, for example, public servants may struggle to explain how decisions have been made; and where AI systems are ‘trained’ on historic case management data, they may learn to ape the discriminatory behaviours of their human predecessors. To address such challenges, great care is required – both in the tasks allocated to AI, and in how AI systems are developed and managed. This workshop will explore where and how best to introduce AI technologies, and consider how emerging systems of standards and regulation could assist officials and build public confidence.

Discussion followed by audience Q&A

Speakers:

CHANG Sau Sheong
Deputy Chief Executive, Government Technology Agency, SingaporeDeputy Chief Executive, Government Technology Agency, Singapore
Benoit Deshaies
Director, Responsible Data and Artificial Intelligence, Office of the Chief Information Officer, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, Canada
Brian Epley
Principal Deputy Chief Information Officer, Department of Energy, United States of America
Ima Okonny
Assistant Deputy Minister and Chief Data Officer, Employment and Social Development Canada
Trent Gray-Donald
Distinguished Engineer, IBM Data and AI

Knowledge Partner:

Simon Llewellyn

Director, Security Architecture, Canadian Cyber Security Centre

Simon is the Director of Security Architecture at the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (CCCS). Simon has held various leadership positions across government, within the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), Department of National Defence (DND) and Communication Security Establishment’s Cyber Centre. He has worked in the fields of Information Technology (IT) service delivery, Information Management (IM), Cyber Threat Assessment Reporting, Defensive Cyber Planning and most recently as director of Security Architecture where he leads a diverse team responsible for the development and production of IT and Cyber security advice and guidance and Cyber security best practices.

Tom Dufour

Director General, Strategic Data Management Statistics, Canada

Tom Dufour is Director General for Statistics Canada’s Strategic Data Management Branch, home of the Office of the Chief Data Officer, where he brings together experts in data standards and stewardship, statistical infrastructure and geomatics and privacy management to support initiatives across the Agency and with key government partners. He has helped drive advancements in program areas at Statistics Canada for over 30 years ranging from social statistics to macroeconomics.

Too clever by half? Deploying AI in the public sector

Theme: Artificial Intelligence and automation

Over recent years, public service leaders and technologists have been considering whether and how to deploy Artificial Intelligence in policymaking and service delivery – wrestling with the challenges it presents around transparency, accountability, equity and ethics. Meanwhile, many public bodies have begun using robotic process automation (RPA), a less risky and complex technology. With the emergence of advanced, readily-available tools such as ChatGPT, these issues become more pressing: there are obvious opportunities in fields such as research, evidence-gathering and text production – but should public servants be pursuing them? In this session, panellists will debate how best to take advantage of AI and RPA technologies, both within digital operations and – more informally – by non-IT professionals accessing ChatGPT and similar services.

Panel discussion followed by audience Q&A

Speakers:

João Dias
President, Administrative Modernisation Agency, Portugal
Joel Martin
Chief Digital Research Officer, National Research Council Canada
Vidya ShankarNarayan
Assistant Deputy Minister and Chief Information Officer, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Eileen Vidrine
Chief Data and Artificial Intelligence Officer, Department of the Air Force, United States of America

Tom Dufour

Pirthipal Singh

Matt Davies

Chief Technology Officer, Shared Services Canada

Matt Davies, Chief Technology Officer for Shared Services Canada, is a well-respected visionary leader and a corporate director who understands the importance of developing business strategies that support growth and innovation objectives while driving digital transformation and managing cybersecurity risk. Strong business acumen coupled with experience is reflected in Matt’s versatility and vision.

Matt has shared his insight and expertise to help educate board members and executives on strategy, digital transformation and cyber security risk. He recently shared his perspective in an Institute of Corporate Directors webinar on “Ransomware – Is your board prepared?” following up from earlier webinars on “Cyber Security Risk: What Every Director Needs to Know” and “Cyber security governance: Roadmap for Directors and Cyber Security Leaders”. Matt currently serves on the Hydro Ottawa and the University of Ottawa Heart Institute boards and volunteers as a Chartered Public Accountant/Certified Management Accountant panel member.

He recently received the Certified Chief Information Security Officer Award, which recognizes an individual’s outstanding work in information security, at the Chief Information Security Officer Forum Canada 2020 and in 2023 was recognized as a global CCISO Hall of Fame Runner-up. Matt recently obtained his certificate in Sustainability Leadership from the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management.

Matt Davies

Dirigeant principal de la technologie pour Services partagés Canada

Matt Davies, dirigeant principal de la technologie pour Services partagés Canada, est un chef de file visionnaire très respecté et un directeur d’entreprise qui comprend l’importance de mettre au point des stratégies d’affaires qui soutiennent les objectifs de croissance et d’innovation tout en assurant la transformation numérique et en gérant le risque de cybersécurité. Le sens aigu des affaires, associé à l’expérience, se reflète dans la polyvalence et la vision de Matt.

Matt a communiqué son point de vue et son expertise pour aider à former les membres du conseil d’administration et les dirigeants sur la stratégie, la transformation numérique et les risques de cybersécurité.

Récemment, il a fait part de son point de vue dans un webinaire de l’Institut des administrateurs de sociétés intitulé « Votre conseil est-il préparé à faire face aux rançongiciels? », qui fait suite à des webinaires précédents intitulés « Risque pour la cybersécurité : ce que chaque directeur doit savoir » et « Gouvernance de la cybersécurité : feuille de route pour les directeurs et les dirigeants de la cybersécurité ». Matt siège actuellement aux conseils d’administration d’Hydro Ottawa et de l’Institut de cardiologie de l’Université d’Ottawa et fait du bénévolat en tant que membre du panel Expert-comptable/Comptable en management accrédité.

Matt est diplômé de l’Université d’Ottawa et a suivi des programmes de formation pour les cadres à Tuck School of Business et à Wharton School de l’Université de Pennsylvanie. Il a également suivi le programme de surveillance des cyber-risques de l’Association nationale des administrateurs de sociétés et obtenu le certificat d’équipe d’intervention d’urgence informatique de surveillance de la cybersécurité délivré par l’institut Software Engineering Institute de l’Université Carnegie Mellon.

Il a récemment reçu le prix de chefs de sécurité de l’information certifiés, qui reconnaît le travail exceptionnel d’une personne en matière de sécurité de l’information, lors du Forum de chefs de la sécurité de l’information du Canada 2020 et en 2023, il a été reconnu comme l’un des finalistes du CCISO Hall of Fame à l’échelle mondiale. Matt a récemment obtenu un certificat dans le domaine du leadership en durabilité à Rotman School of Management de l’Université de Toronto

Joel Martin

Dirigeant principal de la recherche numérique, Conseil national de recherches du Canada

Joel Martin (Ph. D.) est le dirigeant principal de la recherche numérique et le premier dirigeant scientifique du CNRC. Il est titulaire d’un doctorat en informatique (apprentissage automatique) du Georgia Institute of Technology et a effectué des études postdoctorales à l’Université de Pittsburgh. Il a reçu des prix pour son leadership exceptionnel et pour ses approches novatrices en matière de transfert de technologie. Il a publié des dizaines d’articles de recherche évalués par des pairs et a donné des cours d’informatique à l’Université d’Ottawa et à l’Université Carleton.

Depuis qu’il s’est joint au CNRC en 1994, M. Martin a été chercheur et a occupé plusieurs postes de direction au Centre de recherche en technologies numériques, notamment directeur général par intérim, directeur principal, directeur de la recherche et du développement, responsable du programme Outils d’analyse multimédias pour la sécurité, chef d’équipe et chef de projet.

Son leadership stratégique a permis d’accroître les retombées de la recherche en technologies numériques tant au CNRC qu’ailleurs dans le monde. M. Martin a notamment contribué à des avancées et à la mise au point d’applications dans le domaine comme les sciences, l’analyse des données, l’intelligence artificielle, l’apprentissage automatique, la traduction automatique, la visionique, le graphisme informatique, la cybersécurité, les interfaces personne-machine, le traitement du langage naturel, la médecine, la bio-informatique, et l’Internet des objets (IdO). Sous sa direction, le Centre de recherche a pu introduire des technologies numériques pour détecter les épidémies, dont plusieurs sont maintenant utilisées dans le monde entier, ainsi que des technologies numériques qui promeuvent les langues autochtones au Canada. M. Martin a aussi mis sur pied des programmes de recherche-développement qui non seulement suscitent l’intérêt des universités et d’autres ministères, mais aussi les invitent à y collaborer. Ces initiatives comprennent le Centre d’analyse des données du CNRC, le programme Outils d’analyse multimédias pour la sécurité et le programme Défi « L’intelligence artificielle au service de la conception ». Elles ont permis d’accroître la production scientifique et l’impact du Centre de recherche pour le Canada et la population canadienne.

Dr Joel Martin

Chief Digital Research Officer, National Research Council Canada

Dr. Joel Martin is the NRC’s Chief Digital Research Officer and Chief Science Officer. He holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science, Machine Learning, from the Georgia Institute of Technology and completed post-doctoral studies at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Martin has received awards for exceptional leadership and for innovative approaches to technology transfer. He has published dozens of peer-reviewed research articles and taught Computer Science courses at both the University of Ottawa and Carleton University.

Since joining the NRC in 1994, he has been a researcher and served in multiple leadership roles in the Digital Technologies Research Centre, including Acting Director General, Senior Director, Director of Research and Development, Program Lead of the Multimedia Analytic Tools for Security program, Team Leader, and project lead.

His strategic leadership has resulted in an increase in the impact of digital technology research at the NRC and beyond, including advances and applications in data science and analytics, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, machine translation, computer vision and graphics, cybersecurity, human-computer interfaces, natural language processing, medical and bioinformatics, and the Internet of Things (IoT). For example, under his leadership, the Research Centre has been successful in introducing digital technologies to detect disease outbreaks, some of which are now used worldwide, and digital technologies that promote Indigenous languages in Canada. In addition, Dr. Martin has established research and development programs drawing interest and collaboration from universities and other government departments. These initiatives include the NRC’s Data Analytics Centre, the Multimedia Analytic Tools for Security program, and the AI for Design Challenge program. They have increased both scientific output and impact of the NRC’s Digital Technologies Research Centre to Canada and Canadians.

Scott McNaughton

Director, Digital Investment Office, Government of British Columbia

Scott serves as the Director of the Digital Advisory Service within the Digital Investment Office of the BC Public Service. Scott leads a team of digital experts who support the development of digital funding proposals, evaluates their alignment with digital best practices, and provides recommendations for funding approval to senior decision-makers. Once funding is secured, Scott’s team conducts ongoing assurance activities to support the realization of investment outcomes.

Before this role, he held positions within the Federal Public Service, primarily in Ottawa. His roles included Senior Project Lead at the Canada School of Public Service, Manager at Transport Canada, Policy Analyst at the Community of Federal Regulators and Health Canada (Indigenous Services Canada), and Administrative Support at the Department of National Defence. Scott possesses extensive experience in IT project management, product management, program delivery, strategic policy, user experience design, service design, client relationship management, and artificial intelligence.

In 2014, Scott founded the charity “Suits his Style,” which provides professional clothing to individuals in need for their job interviews. This initiative not only bolsters confidence but also enhances the ability to create a positive first impression.

Beyond work commitments, Scott cherishes quality time with his partner and toddler daughter. He loves immersing himself in nature through hiking, biking, or unwinding with a book on the deck. Recently, Scott got back into ball hockey as a goalie after a 7-year hiatus. Currently residing in Victoria, Scott loves the city’s favorable climate, abundant green spaces, and numerous hiking opportunities.

He holds an undergraduate degree with joint honors in Political Science and Public Administration from the University of Ottawa.

Benoit Deshaies

Director, Responsible Data and Artificial Intelligence, Office of the Chief Information Officer, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

Benoit Deshaies is the Director of Responsible Data and Artificial Intelligence for the Office of the Chief Data Officer of Canada, located within the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS). In this role, he oversees the development of the Directive on Automated Decision-Making and the Algorithmic Impact Assessment (AIA). These policy tools aim to ensure that the use of automated decision systems by the federal government prioritizes transparency, accountability and fairness, leading to more efficient, accurate, consistent, and interpretable decisions.

Attracting an audience: The power of user-centred design

Theme: Public adoption of digital services

Digital services become popular and widely-adopted when they are easy to use, save citizens time, and improve the quality of service delivery. Singapore, for example, has been highly effective here, building online services that are highly-rated by users and offer clear benefits: its Singpass digital ID app, for example, has a 4.7 star rating on Google Play, and eases people’s interactions with businesses as well as government bodies. Among the most important tools in realising these goals is user-centred design, a methodology that forces designers and developers to build services around the needs and interests of users rather than providers. At this workshop a senior digital leader will discuss the concept, and explore how public servants are putting the theory into practice.

Discussion followed by audience Q&A

Speakers:

Christine Bellamy
Director, GOV.UK, Government Digital Services, United Kingdom
Ryan Hum
Chief Client Experience Officer and Associate Assistant Deputy Minister, Citizen Service Branch, Employment and Social Development Canada
Aaron Jaffery
Director General, Service Experience Design and Delivery, Service Canada
Katja Väänänen
Head, Digitalization Unit, Public Sector ICT Department, Ministry of Finance, Finland
Mark Sullivan
Strategic Lead, Digital Identity, Canadian Bank Note Company

Knowledge Partner:

Mark Sullivan

Strategic Lead, Digital Identity, Canadian Bank Note Company

Mr. Sullivan is the strategic lead in the digital identity space for CBN, a secure identification solutions provider with experience implementing systems in over 80 countries around the world and a longstanding contributor to international standards. With over a decade of experience developing identification systems, Mr. Sullivan manages CBN’s digital identity solutions and serves on the Standards Council of Canada as an accredited expert contributing to digital identity standards, models, governance, and implementation strategies.

Vigdís Jóhannsdóttir

Chief Marketing Officer for Digital Iceland, Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, Iceland

Chief Marketing Officer for Digital Iceland, Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs.

Vigdís is the Chief Marketing Officer of Digital Iceland where she leads internal and external communication, branding, culture, education and strategy.

Vigdís began her career in media where her focus was on branding and communication for both television and radio, as well as producing and hosting tv shows. A decade in media life led her into advertising where she was a senior adviser and Chief Operation Officer at one of Iceland‘s top advertising agencies. In 2016 Vigdís was the campaign mangager for Halla tómasdóttir, presidential candidate, who grew from inital following of 1% to becoming the runner-up with nearly 30% of the vote.

Vigdís has been with Digital Iceland since spring of 2020 taking part in building the strategy and being instrumental in growing the impact of Digital Iceland with special focus on the change management needed for the project to succeed.

Vigdís has over 25 years of experience in communication, marketing, and branding. Experienced strategist and in change management, project management, human resource management, service management and company culture.

Vigdís holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree with specialization in management from the University of Reykjavík, jointly finishing her master’s in international Relations from the University of Iceland.

Vigdís is married with two children plus two stepchildren from the age of 16-31.

Luyanda Ndlovu

Chief Information Officer, Department of Communications and Digital Technology

Across and beyond government: Working in partnership for the public

Theme: Open policymaking and shared service delivery

The era of stand-alone, ‘vertical’ public services, provided by organisations operating in glorious isolation, is coming to an end. To meet people’s needs in the round – and to squeeze out the vast inefficiencies in traditional delivery models – public servants are working together ‘horizontally’ across organizational, hierarchical and disciplinary boundaries, building services around the interests of citizens rather than providers; many are also finding new ways to work with provincial and territorial administrations, businesses, charities and community organizations. Digital technologies have huge potential to support this shift – but the agenda faces challenges in fields such as skills, culture, and systems of financial and political accountability. At this session, panellists will explore how best to support collaboration and partnership working across and beyond government’s traditional boundaries.

Panel discussion followed by audience Q&A

Speakers

Dorothy Eng
Executive Director, Code for Canada
Isabelle Tanguay
Chief Information Officer and Director General, Information Management and Technology Directorate, Department of Finance Canada
Paul N. Wagner
Deputy Chief Information Officer, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

Anthony Sheehan

Chief Digital Officer, Courts Administration Service Canada, Canada

After 10+ years in the private sector, including working as a producer in the video game industry (Ubisoft), Anthony joined the public service in 2014. Ever since, he’s been focused on driving digital transformation and a culture shift within the public service to leverage novel policy and digital practices to deliver better services faster to Canadians. He published an article in 2017 on this topic, which made the cover page of the Canadian Government Executive magazine.

Currently the Chief Digital Officer of the Courts Administration Service of Canada, Anthony is on a digital business transformation journey to improve access to justice, as well as improve services to members of the Courts, and those who appear before them. Prior to this role, Anthony was the Director General of the Transformation, Strategy & Results directorate at Transport Canada where he focused on departmental transformation and branch enablement services, including the Future of Work. Prior to joining TC, Anthony was Sr. Director of Digital Delivery and one of the leaders driving the Government of Canada’s innovative Agile Procurement Process to procure a new HR & Pay system. Anthony holds an undergraduate degree from the Université de Sherbrooke, an Executive MBA from the Ottawa Telfer School of Management and recently participated in the 2022 Governor General Canadian Leadership Conference.

Outside of work, Anthony is a suicide prevention volunteer, serves on the board of the Association of Professional Executives of the Public Service of Canada (APEX) as well as his local school board. Originally from Québec city, Anthony now lives in Canada’s national capital region with his wife and 2 young boys. – LinkedIn

Paul N. Wagner

Deputy Chief Information Officer, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

Paul N. Wagner is the Deputy Chief Information Officer of Canada within the Office of the Chief Information Officer. In this role, Paul is responsible for the Oversight and Enterprise Risk Management of the Government of Canada Digital Portfolio, with a focus on the largest and highest risk programmes and transformations, to ensure services to Canadians not only remain available, but are delivered in a digitally supported manner that reflects the Digital Standards. Paul is also responsible for the Digital Credentials program, where he will lead the mandate to advance the work required to provide an identity and access management solution for Government of Canada services. Paul brings 3 decades of private and public sector experience in Information and Digital Technologies to the executive table.

Prior to this, Paul took on responsibilities relating to horizontal strategy and planning management for the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat’s Digital Portfolio and additional accountabilities in representing Digital priorities globally for Canada.
Paul has served as Chief Information Officer for Justice Canada, Library and Archives Canada and the National Research Council of Canada. He has overseen operations and innovations in the areas of digital service delivery, information technology, information and data management and partnership management.

A pioneer and supporter of enterprise systems for government, Paul joined Shared Services Canada at inception and led the creation of the first enterprise Partnership Management function for technology in the Government of Canada.

With over 20 years experience in the Canadian Federal Public Service, Paul has held executive leadership roles since 2004. Paul remains very active in the national and international councils and boards related to technology and data management.

In addition to almost a decade in the private sector working implementing Enterprise Resource Planning systems in the Retail Industry, Paul has also held several leadership positions at Service Canada, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada and the Department of Public Works and Government Services Canada in the areas of Business Planning, Relationship Management and IT Product/Service Management.

Paul holds a B.A. with a major in Economics from McGill University and an MBA from the University of Ottawa’s Executive MBA program.

When not focused on the business of Government, Paul is very active in the Ottawa sailing community and enjoys racing and cruising sailboats on the Ottawa River and beyond.

Knowledge is power: Deploying data

Theme: Data technologies and management

Today’s information management technologies offer huge opportunities in government. Data has enormous potential to improve the analysis of social, economic and environmental challenges; inform policymaking and service design; strengthen public administration and operations; and appraise the public service’s impact and effectiveness. The ability to gather and process vast amounts of data can enhance evidence-based policymaking, for example, while information gathered in real time can be used to adjust business processes and working practices – continuously improving existing services. This session will consider how government can realise these opportunities, exploring key topics such as workforce skills, staff tools, common standards, and the issues around connecting federal, provincial, territorial and municipal services.

Panel discussion followed by audience Q&A

Speakers:

Alexandra Dykes
Director of Performance and Oversight, Information and Data Governance, Data and Digital Policy Sector, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, Canada
Nadia Ahmad
Director General, Evaluation, Data and Results, Global Affairs Canada
Gayan Peiris
Head of Data and Technology, Chief Digital Office, United Nations Development Programme
Alison Pritchard
Deputy National Statistician and Director General for Data Capability, Office for National Statistics, United Kingdom

Cyber-security: A task for every public servant

Theme: Cyber-Security

Governments are experiencing a rapid rise in cyber attacks, with one report finding a 95% increase during 2022. Many are designed to extract money – either via infesting public systems with ‘ransomware’, or by stealing and selling information. Others are mounted by governments, with countries such as Russia and China seeking to disrupt national infrastructures, access secret material, and flood social media with misinformation. Public sector suppliers are also targeted: earlier this year, UK outsourcing firm Capita admitted that hackers had accessed data on its clients and staff. Meanwhile, nations are becoming ever more vulnerable: as the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security points out, rapid growth in the use of digital technologies means that “the threat surface available to malicious cyber actors has expanded since 2020.” Faced with such a wide range of threats, public servants must respond on an equally broad front: this panel discussion will explore how staff in all roles and disciplines can act to protect their organizations, colleagues and citizens.

Panel discussion followed by audience Q&A

Speaker:

Nadine Boudreau-Brown
Director General, IT Transformation and Modernization Services, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Simon Llewellyn
Director, Security Architecture, Canadian Cyber Security Centre

Simon Llewellyn

Safe investments: Cyber-security as a catalyst of business transformation

Theme: Cyber-Security

Public servants often struggle to secure capital investment to improve staff tools, strengthen back office systems and bolster service delivery. Elected leaders and service managers are, however, acutely aware both of the cyber threat, and of the reputational damage caused by service outages – making cyber-security and operational resilience potent elements of any investment strategy. As national digital leaders explained in Ottawa last year, cyber-security can become “the point of our spear, carrying behind it customer experience and IT modernisation.” At this workshop, the participants will consider how transformation programs can best be used to guarantee services’ security and continuity in these turbulent times, and explore the implications for business planning and service design.

Discussion followed by audience Q&A

Speakers:

Matt Davies
Chief Technology Officer, Shared Services Canada
Ann Dunkin
Chief Information Officer, Department of Energy, United States of America

Knowledge Partner

Stephen Burt

Chief Data Officer of Canada

In March 2022, Stephen Burt was appointed Chief Data Officer for the Government of Canada, at the Treasury Board Secretariat. His mandate is to provide leadership across government on information and data governance and integration, privacy modernization, and data-enabled digital services and programs.

Prior to this appointment, Mr. Burt was the functional authority for data governance and analytics capability for the Department of National Defence and Canadian Armed Forces (DND/CAF). He drove the analytics adoption and maturity throughout DND/CAF, and led the department-wide initiative to establish analytics and data governance.

Mr. Burt began his career in the Government of Canada in 1997 with Revenue Canada. In 1999, he joined DND, where he worked in a variety of policy, operational and defence intelligence roles, including two years as Executive Assistant to the Deputy Minister.

Mr. Burt moved to the Privy Council Office (PCO) in 2007 to work in the Security and Intelligence Secretariat as Senior Advisor on National Security. In that role, he was secretary for the committees of the National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister. In 2009, he joined the Intelligence Assessment Secretariat (IAS) at PCO, and held positions as Director for Afghanistan and, later, for Asia. Mr. Burt was appointed Director of Operations for the IAS in January 2012, and took on the position of Assistant Secretary on an acting basis in March 2014.

In April 2015, Mr. Burt assumed the role of Assistant Chief of Defence Intelligence at Canadian Forces Intelligence Command, where he led the federated production of intelligence within DND/CAF, and oversaw defence intelligence policy.

Mr. Burt has an undergraduate degree in history from the University of Ottawa, as well as a Master’s in Public Administration from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario.

Stephen Burt

Dirigeant principal des données du Canada

En mars 2022, Stephen Burt a été nommé dirigeant principal des données pour le gouvernement du Canada, au Secrétariat du Conseil du Trésor du Canada. Il a le mandat d’exercer un leadership à l’échelle du gouvernement en matière de gouvernance et d’intégration de l’information et des données, de la modernisation de la protection de la vie privée et des services et programmes numériques axés sur les données.

Avant cette nomination, M. Burt était l’autorité fonctionnelle pour la gouvernance des données et la capacité analytique au sein du ministère de la Défense nationale et des Forces armées canadiennes (MDN/FAC). Il a encouragé l’adoption et l’évolution de l’analytique dans l’ensemble du MDN et des FAC et dirigé l’initiative ministérielle visant à mettre en place l’analytique et la gouvernance des données.

M. Burt a commencé sa carrière au gouvernement du Canada en 1997 à Revenu Canada. En 1999, il est entré au service du MDN où il a occupé divers postes liés aux stratégies, aux opérations et au renseignement de défense, notamment deux ans comme chef de cabinet du sous-ministre.

En 2007, monsieur Burt a été muté au Bureau du Conseil privé (BCP), où il a assumé les fonctions de conseiller principal en matière de sécurité nationale du Secrétariat de la sécurité et du renseignement. À ce titre, il a été secrétaire des comités du conseiller à la sécurité nationale auprès du premier ministre. En 2009, il est entré au service du Secrétariat de l’évaluation du renseignement (SER) du BCP, où il a occupé les postes de directeur pour l’Afghanistan, puis pour l’Asie. Monsieur Burt a été nommé directeur des opérations du SER en janvier 2012 et a assumé le poste de secrétaire adjoint par intérim en mars 2014.

En avril 2015, monsieur Burt a assumé le rôle de chef adjoint du renseignement de la Défense au Commandement du renseignement des Forces canadiennes, où il a dirigé la production fédérée du renseignement au sein du MDN/des FAC et supervisé la politique du renseignement de défense.

Monsieur Burt est titulaire d’un diplôme universitaire de premier cycle en histoire de l’Université d’Ottawa et d’une maîtrise en administration publique de l’Université Queen’s à Kingston, en Ontario.

Catherine Luelo

Dirigeante principale de l’information du Canada

Catherine Luelo est sous-ministre au Secrétariat du Conseil du Trésor du Canada et dirigeante principale de l’information (DPI) du Canada.

Avant sa nomination au poste de DPI en juillet 2021, Catherine était première vice-présidente et chef des Affaires informatiques à Air Canada, où elle était responsable des systèmes de la technologie de l’information qui appuient et permettent la tenue des activités mondiales d’Air Canada. Dans le cadre de ce rôle, elle a, en outre, dirigé dans le milieu de l’intelligence artificielle, tout en gérant la sécurité et la fiabilité des systèmes mondiaux d’Air Canada dans un paysage opérationnel qui a considérablement évolué pendant la pandémie mondiale.

De 2001 à 2017, Catherine a occupé des postes de direction et de gestion au sein de grandes entreprises canadiennes, notamment chez Enbridge Inc., WestJet Airlines ltée. et TELUS Communications.

Catherine est titulaire d’une maîtrise en administration des affaires de l’Université Athabasca (Alberta) et d’un baccalauréat en sciences de l’Université de l’Alberta.
De 2018 à 2021, elle a servi au sein du conseil d’administration de Scale AI, la supergrappe d’intelligence artificielle (IA) basée à Montréal qui aspire à accroître l’avantage concurrentiel du Canada à l’échelle mondiale en matière d’IA. Elle a également été membre du conseil d’administration de Creative Destruction Labs, ainsi que présidente de la Table ronde consultative de l’industrie sur les tests et le dépistage de la COVID‑19 et sur la gestion des données relatives à la maladie, table ronde mise sur pied par Santé Canada.

Fière mère de deux enfants, Catherine est également une fervente défenseure de la santé mentale. En mars 2020, elle a été nommée au conseil d’administration de la Fondation du Centre de toxicomanie et de santé mentale (CAMH) et, elle participe régulièrement à des tables rondes et donne des exposés sur la santé mentale en milieu de travail.

Catherine Luelo

Chief Information Officer of Canada

Catherine Luelo is a Deputy Minister at the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat and the Chief Information Officer of Canada.

Prior to her appointment as CIO in July 2021, Catherine was the Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Air Canada, where she was responsible for the Information Technology systems that support and enable Air Canada’s global business. In this role, she additionally led innovation in the artificial intelligence space while managing the security and reliability of Air Canada’s worldwide systems in an operational landscape that substantially shifted during the global pandemic.

From 2001-2017, Catherine held senior management and executive roles at major Canadian companies, including Enbridge Inc., WestJet Airlines Ltd., and TELUS Communications.

Catherine holds an MBA from Athabasca University in Alberta and a BSc from the University of Alberta.

From 2018-2021, she served on the Board of Directors for scale ai, the Montreal-based Artificial Intelligence (AI) supercluster that aspires to increase competitive advantage for Canada globally in AI . She has also served as a Board Member for Creative Destruction Labs, as well as serving as Chair for Health Canada’s Industry Advisory Roundtable on COVID-19 Testing, Screening, Tracing and Data Management.

Catherine is a proud mother of two children and is a fierce advocate for mental health. In March 2020, she was appointed to the Board of Directors for the Center for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) Foundation and participates regularly as a panelist and speaker on Mental Health in the workplace.

Anil Arora

Chief Statistician of Canada

Mr. Arora has led significant transformational initiatives throughout his career, with experience and partnerships spanning all three levels of government, the private sector and international organizations, including the UN and the OECD. He has led projects on high-profile policy issues, legislative and regulatory reform, and overseen large national programs.

In 1988, Mr. Arora joined Statistics Canada where he served in several positions, including regional operations, corporate services and the redesign of the dissemination function to provide free access to data for all Canadians. In 2000, he became responsible for all aspects of the Census program, including the 2006 Census. In this role, Mr. Arora led the most comprehensive redesign of the Program, including the introduction of new technologies and the internet response option which subsequently saw 85% of Canadians complete the census questionnaire online in 2021. Following the successful delivery of the 2006 Census he became the Assistant Chief Statistician of Social, Health and Labour Statistics from 2008 to 2010. He has served as the Chief Statistician of Canada since 2016, implementing an ambitious agenda to modernize the agency in a data-driven society.

In 2010, Mr. Arora joined Natural Resources Canada as Assistant Deputy Minister of the Minerals and Metals Sector, and in 2013 was appointed Senior Assistant Deputy Minister of Science and Policy Integration, responsible for a number of high-profile policy files. He moved to Health Canada in 2014, becoming Senior Assistant Deputy Minister of Health Products and Food Branch and leading a complex organization overseeing the safety and regulation of food, drug and health products for Canada. He served as the Chair of the Community of Federal Regulators for the Government of Canada.

Mr. Arora has led a number of international forums, including Chairing the OECD committee on statistics and statistical policy, Interim Chair and Vice Chair of the bureau for the conference of European Statisticians, and the Chair of the High-Level Group on the modernization of official statistics, and the Chair of the International Coalition of Medicines Regulatory Authorities.

Mr. Arora attended the University of Alberta, where he earned a Bachelor of Science, followed by further education in computing science and management, including a graduate certificate in Advanced Public Sector Management at the University of Ottawa, and the Advanced Leadership Program at the Canada School of Public Service.

Mr. Arora has received numerous awards, including the prestigious APEX Leadership Award in recognition of his exceptional leadership skills and management excellence.

He was named top 25 immigrants in Canada in 2022 and is a sought-after speaker and thought leader.

Anil Arora

Statisticien en chef du Canada

Arora a dirigé des initiatives de transformation d’envergure tout au long de sa carrière, ayant acquis une expérience et établi des partenariats auprès des trois ordres de gouvernement, du secteur privé et d’organisations internationales, dont l’ONU et l’OCDE. Il a dirigé des projets portant sur des enjeux stratégiques de premier plan, ainsi qu’une réforme législative et réglementaire, et a supervisé des programmes nationaux d’envergure.

En 1988, M. Arora est entré au service de Statistique Canada, où il a occupé plusieurs postes, ayant notamment exercé des fonctions liées aux opérations régionales, aux services ministériels et à la restructuration de la diffusion, afin d’offrir un accès gratuit aux données à tous les Canadiens. En 2000, il est devenu responsable de tous les aspects liés au programme de recensement, y compris le Recensement de 2006. À ce titre, M. Arora a dirigé le remaniement le plus complet du programme, qui comprenait l’introduction de nouvelles technologies et de l’option de réponse par Internet, ce qui a permis à 85 % des Canadiens de remplir le questionnaire du recensement en ligne en 2021. Après avoir mené à bien le Recensement de 2006, il est devenu statisticien en chef adjoint de la Statistique sociale, de la santé et du travail, fonction qu’il a occupée de 2008 à 2010. Il occupe le poste de statisticien en chef du Canada depuis 2016, mettant en œuvre un programme ambitieux visant à moderniser l’organisme dans une société axée sur les données.

En 2010, M. Arora s’est joint à Ressources naturelles Canada en tant que sous-ministre adjoint du Secteur des minéraux et des métaux. En 2013, il a été nommé sous-ministre adjoint de l’Intégration des sciences et des politiques, responsable d’un certain nombre de dossiers politiques de premier plan. Il est passé à Santé Canada en 2014, où il a occupé le poste de sous-ministre adjoint principal de la Direction générale des produits de santé et des aliments et a dirigé une organisation complexe chargée de superviser la sécurité et la réglementation des aliments, des médicaments et des produits de santé pour le Canada. Il a été président de la Communauté des régulateurs fédéraux pour le gouvernement du Canada.

Arora a dirigé un certain nombre de forums internationaux, notamment en tant que président du comité de l’OCDE sur les statistiques et la politique statistique, président intérimaire et vice-président du Bureau de la Conférence des statisticiens européens, président du Groupe de haut niveau sur la modernisation des statistiques officielles et président de l’International Coalition of Medicines Regulatory Authorities.

Arora a fréquenté l’Université de l’Alberta, où il a obtenu un baccalauréat ès sciences, puis il a poursuivi ses études supérieures en informatique et en gestion, notamment en obtenant un certificat d’études supérieures en gestion avancée dans le secteur public à l’Université d’Ottawa et en suivant le Programme avancé en leadership de l’École de la fonction publique du Canada.

Arora a reçu de nombreux prix, dont le prestigieux Prix de leadership de l’APEX pour ses compétences exceptionnelles en leadership et son excellence en gestion.

Il a été nommé l’un des 25 immigrants les plus remarquables du Canada en 2022 et est un conférencier et un leader d’opinion très recherché.

Isabelle Tanguay

Dirigeante principale de l’information et directrice générale, Direction de la gestion de l’information et de la technologie, Ministère des Finances Canada

Isabelle Tanguay

Chief Information Officer and Director General, Information Management and Technology Directorate, Department of Finance, Canada

With an impressive 28-year tenure in Information Technology (IT) within the Federal Government (GC), Isabelle is a dynamic force who has sculpted a remarkable career marked by innovation, collaboration, and leadership. Beginning her journey at the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Isabelle’s first decade saw her navigate diverse IT roles, an experience enriched by partnerships with influential entities like the Canadian Security Intelligence Services (CSIS), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

Her professional voyage has spanned an array of domains, encompassing programming, customer service, and impactful project management for mission-critical and enterprise systems. In this journey, a fervent devotion to IT security emerged as she continually elevated customer service standards. Notably, she played a pivotal role in devising an innovative threat and risk assessment methodology in collaboration with the esteemed Communications Security Establishment (CSE), which she also taught through evening courses at the Cité Collégiale in Ottawa.

Isabelle’s expertise was further honed through internal IT system audits, propelling her to specialize in identity and access management. Stepping into the leadership realm, she took charge of expansive IT security portfolios, expertly overseeing teams, contracts, finances, and shared services. Remarkably, she spearheaded ambitious initiatives that revamped efficiency, yielding substantial cost savings and impressive returns on investment.

Her leadership acumen found new dimensions as she shouldered the responsibility of operational performance reporting for Shared Services Canada (SSC), an experience that underscored the significance of performance metrics. Notably, she led IT infrastructure, operations, project management, monitoring, and IT security teams at Library and Archives Canada, gaining recognition for transformative endeavors such as establishing a covert network and pioneering secure cloud environments.

At present, Isabelle shines as the Director General and Chief Information Officer at Finance Canada, a role that positions her as an architect of the organization’s digital transformation odyssey. This journey is marked by her active participation in various interdepartmental working groups, a testament to her dedication to shaping cross-government initiatives. Her prominence extends to her role as an engaged and visible member of the DPI advisory council, further underlining her commitment to collaborative ideation and strategic networking.

Embarking on a nearly three-decade journey, Isabelle’s unwavering commitment to excellence, groundbreaking work in IT security, and instrumental contributions to foundational infrastructures set her apart as a visionary leader in the realm of Information Technology. Her trajectory is a testament to the magic of collaboration and networking, and her ongoing mission is to foster collective growth through the fusion of technology and strategic partnerships.

Nadine Boudreau-Brown

Directrice générale, Services de transformation et de modernisation des TI, Agriculture et Agroalimentaire Canada

Mme Boudreau-Brown est directrice générale des services de transformation numérique et de modernisation à Agriculture et Agroalimentaire Canada (AAC). Forte de son expérience de cadre dans les domaines du numérique et de la technologie, des communications, des ressources humaines et de la politique stratégique, elle apporte aux transformations importantes et complexes auxquelles elle contribue une vision globale et un riche bagage de connaissances. Mme Boudreau-Brown a dirigé le groupe de travail de la DG sur l’avenir du travail d’AAC, et plus particulièrement la transformation numérique d’AAC et la mise en œuvre d’initiatives faisant appel à l’innovation et à l’expérimentation d’outils et de technologies émergents.

Nadine Boudreau-Brown

Director General, IT Transformation and Modernization Services, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

Nadine is the Director General of Digital Transformation and Modernization Services at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC). As an executive with experience in digital and technology, communications, human resources and strategic policy, she brings an horizontal perspective and a wealth of knowledge in large and complex transformations. She has been the lead on AAFC’s Future of Work DG Task Force, more specifically leading AAFC’s digital transformation and driving initiatives using innovation and experimentation with emerging tools and technologies.

Franco Chirichella

Président-directeur général, Innovaposte Inc., et dirigeant principal du numérique, Postes Canada

Franco Chirichella est responsable de la stratégie numérique de Postes Canada par l’intermédiaire d’Innovaposte, le fournisseur de services partagés de technologie de l’information pour le Groupe d’entreprises de Postes Canada (Postes Canada, Purolator et Groupe SCI). Il supervise toutes les fonctions technologiques de Postes Canada – y compris les réseaux nationaux, les plateformes de traitement, les centres technologiques, la sécurité de l’information, les opérations technologiques et l’analyse des données, ainsi que les services informatiques pour les utilisateurs finaux de Purolator et de SCI. Le portefeuille de services technologiques de Postes Canada relie environ 68 000 employés de Postes Canada et permet de fournir des services de courrier et de livraison de colis dans tout le Canada, d’un océan à l’autre.

En tant que président-directeur général d’Innovaposte, Franco dirige des initiatives de transformation qui accélèrent la prestation des services de TI, améliorent la souplesse de l’entreprise et aident Postes Canada à prospérer dans l’économie numérique. Sous la direction de Franco, Innovaposte a reçu le prix de la transformation numérique du secteur public décerné par IT World en 2022 (Public Sector Digital Transformation Award) en reconnaissance de la transformation fondamentale de l’entreprise qui se poursuit aujourd’hui. Franco a également joué un rôle déterminant dans l’avancement des initiatives d’Innovaposte en matière de développement durable, pour lesquelles Innovaposte a reçu le prix du développement durable Pure Good en 2023 (Pure Good Sustainability Award).

Au cours des 20 années passées à Postes Canada et à Innovaposte, Franco a dirigé des équipes de professionnels de la technologie et des affaires dans les domaines de l’exploitation, des finances, de l’administration, de la vente au détail, du service à la clientèle et de la TI. Immédiatement avant d’être nommé président-directeur général, Franco a dirigé les équipes de prestation de solutions d’affaires d’Innovaposte qui soutiennent les équipes commerciales, de marketing et d’exploitation de Postes Canada. À ce titre, il a dirigé la prestation de solutions de bout en bout pour des centaines de systèmes de livraison de colis, de marketing direct, d’expérience client, de courrier transactionnel et de systèmes mobiles.

Avant de se joindre à Innovaposte en 2013, Franco a dirigé des initiatives complexes et des équipes géographiquement dispersées au sein de Postes Canada, qui ont permis de réaliser de nouveaux revenus, d’améliorer l’efficacité opérationnelle et de réduire les coûts. Franco a également joué un rôle déterminant dans la croissance et l’évolution de la pratique Agile au sein des groupes numériques de Postes Canada.

Franco est titulaire d’une maîtrise en administration des affaires (innovation) de l’Université de Fredericton et d’un baccalauréat en administration des affaires (gestion) de l’Université Mount Saint Vincent à Halifax. Il est également titulaire d’un titre de gestion de projet et d’une certification Agile. Franco vit à Toronto avec sa femme et ses deux fils.

Aaron Jaffery

Directeur général, Conception et prestation de l’expérience de service, Service Canada

Aaron est directeur général de la Conception et de la prestation de l’expérience de service à Emploi et Développement social Canada. Aaron a s’est joint à Service Canada après avoir travaillé au ministère du Travail et des Pensions du Royaume-Uni, où il a dirigé des équipes chargées de transformer l’expérience des citoyens britanniques dans un certain nombre de services, notamment la retraite, la santé et l’incapacité, ainsi que l’identité numérique.

Aaron est passionné par l’amélioration du fonctionnement des services du gouvernement pour les citoyens qu’il sert. Il est un défenseur de la conception centrée sur la personne et de l’intégration entre l’élaboration des politiques et la prestation de services.

Aaron et sa femme ont quatre enfants et ont déménagé au Canada à l’été 2022.

Angela Copeland

Dirigeante principale de l’information et sous-ministre adjointe, ministère de la Santé et ministère des Soins de longue durée de l’Ontario, Canada

Angela Copeland est dirigeante principale de l’information et sous-ministre adjointe pour le Groupement ITI pour les services de santé. Le portefeuille comprend plus de 230 solutions technologiques qui soutiennent le ministère de la Santé et le ministère des Soins de longue durée. Les systèmes clés permettent de fournir des services essentiels tels que l’assurance-santé de l’Ontario, les services d’urgence, la santé publique, les inspections et les analyses.

Avant de se joindre à la fonction publique de l’Ontario en 2022, Angela a occupé des postes de direction à responsabilités croissantes dans les secteurs de la santé et des services sociaux. Elle a supervisé l’élaboration et la mise en œuvre de nombreuses initiatives, notamment la construction de nouveaux hôpitaux, des programmes de données et d’analyse et des solutions technologiques qui ont permis de moderniser les activités.

Elle est connue pour être une partenaire d’affaires capable de repenser le possible, de prendre des initiatives et de tester les limites afin d’obtenir de meilleurs résultats.

Elle a à cœur de créer un environnement inclusif offrant un accès égal aux données et à la technologie.

Trent Gray-Donald

Ingénieur émérite, IBM Data and AI

Trent est un ingénieur émérite au sein de l’organisation IBM Data and AI. Il est l’architecte en chef de Watson Code Assistant et participe activement à watsonx.ai. Il joue également un rôle très actif dans la fabrique de données d’IBM. Récemment, il s’est surtout concentré sur les tissus et maillages de données, l’intégration, la cohérence et la réutilisation au sein des divisions. Il a passé les 11 dernières années à se concentrer sur l’analytique, en particulier autour des mégadonnées (Spark, Hadoop) et à construire la plateforme IBM Data and AI. Auparavant, il était responsable technique du projet Java 7 d’IBM.

Fernando de Pablo Martín

Directeur du bureau numérique, Madrid, Espagne

Né à Ségovie, il est ingénieur en télécommunications de l’Université polytechnique de Madrid, membre du corps supérieur des systèmes et technologies de l’information, titulaire d’une maîtrise en gestion des systèmes et technologies de l’information et de la communication (INAP et UPM) et d’une maîtrise en gestion d’entreprise pour cadres de l’École d’organisation industrielle (EOI) et du Programme de leadership pour la gestion publique (IESE). Il est titulaire d’un diplôme d’études supérieures en économie appliquée (UAH), et prépare actuellement une thèse de doctorat.

Il a travaillé pendant plus de dix ans dans le secteur privé avant de se joindre à l’administration publique et, depuis 1993, il a travaillé au sein de l’administration fiscale espagnole, dans différents ministères (Informatique, Grands contribuables, Planification et Relations institutionnelles). Il a été directeur général pour la promotion de l’administration électronique de 2009 à 2011 et a travaillé au Bureau pour la mise en œuvre de la réforme de l’administration publique (CORA) de 2013 à 2016.

Entre 2017 et 2018, il a été président de la Société publique pour la gestion de l’innovation et des technologies touristiques (SEGITTUR), où il était responsable des destinations touristiques intelligentes (DTI) et du système d’intelligence touristique (SIT). Entre 2018 et 2020, il a occupé le poste de secrétaire général de l’administration numérique du ministère des Affaires économiques et de la Transformation numérique, où il était responsable de la stratégie, des plateformes nationales communes de cybergouvernement et des initiatives de transformation numérique de l’administration générale de l’État, ainsi que de toutes les infrastructures qui ont soutenu l’administration dans la période de confinement causée par la pandémie de COVID-19.

Il est actuellement directeur général du bureau numérique de Madrid, chargé de piloter le processus de transformation numérique de la ville, l’administration numérique et la stratégie en matière de données.

Il est responsable à l’échelon national de stratégies et de rapports internationaux comme DESI dans l’UE, l’enquête UNPAN sur le cybergouvernement, la gouvernance numérique de l’OCDE, etc. Il a fait partie, à différents moments de sa vie professionnelle, de divers groupes de travail internationaux tels que le Forum sur l’administration fiscale (groupe sur les services en ligne), les e-leaders de l’OCDE (DPI de l’OCDE), le réseau des DPI de l’UE, le GEALC (groupe des DPI d’Amérique) ou Eurocities.

Dorothy Eng

Directrice exécutive, Code for Canada

Mark Vermeer

Directeur du gouvernement numérique, ministère de l’Intérieur et des Relations du Royaume des Pays-Bas

Ima Okonny

Sous-ministre adjointe et dirigeante principale des données, Emploi et Développement social Canada

Ima, sous-ministre adjointe et dirigeante principale des données à Emploi et Développement social Canada (EDSC), a plus de 23 ans d’expérience dans le domaine des données.

En tant que dirigeante principale des données à EDSC, elle s’efforce d’améliorer et de faire progresser la science des données, la gestion des données et le partage des données afin de soutenir les politiques, la prestation de services et la communication des résultats d’EDSC.

Avant de se joindre à EDSC, Ima a occupé un poste de direction au Bureau du surintendant des institutions financières, où elle a dirigé une équipe chargée d’assurer l’efficacité de la collecte, de la gouvernance et de la gestion des données relatives aux institutions financières et aux régimes de retraite sous réglementation fédérale collectées par le Bureau.

Ima a également travaillé à Immigration, Réfugiés et Citoyenneté Canada, où elle a dirigé le développement et la fourniture de données analytiques, de bases de données de recherche, de produits de données et d’outils qui ont soutenu la mesure du rendement, l’élaboration des politiques, le suivi des programmes, la production de rapports sur les résultats et la recherche et l’évaluation. Ima a également occupé des postes à l’Agence du revenu du Canada et à Statistique Canada.

Elle a étudié dans les domaines des mathématiques, de la programmation informatique et de la gestion publique. Durant sa carrière au gouvernement du Canada, elle a reçu de multiples nominations et prix pour son leadership et ses réalisations.

Elle est passionnée par le fait d’aider les organisations à développer les capacités requises pour produire de manière éthique et intentionnelle une valeur ajoutée et concrète à partir des données.

Meagan Collins

(A)Chef, gestion de l’Information entreprise, Secteur des services ministériels, Secrétariat du Conseil du Trésor du Canada

Meagan est actuellement chef par intérim de la gestion de l’information d’entreprise au sein du Secteur des services ministériels du Secrétariat du Conseil du Trésor du Canada. Auparavant, elle était responsable de la stratégie numérique et de la gestion de l’information à Immigration, Réfugiés et Citoyenneté Canada et à l’Agence fédérale de développement économique pour le Sud de l’Ontario. Meagan a également travaillé pour le gouvernement provincial, le Conference Board du Canada et dans le secteur privé, dans le domaine de la technologie. Elle est également présidente du conseil d’administration de la Section de la région de la capitale nationale de l’Association des administrateurs et des gestionnaires des documents (ARMA).

Ryan Hum

Dirigeant principal de l’expérience client et sous‑ministre adjoint associé, Services aux citoyens, Emploi et Développement social Canada

Ryan Hum est dirigeant principal de l’expérience client et sous-ministre adjoint délégué à Emploi et Développement social Canada, et le tout premier dirigeant principal de l’expérience client au sein du gouvernement du Canada.

Au cours des dix dernières années, Ryan a acquis une solide expérience en matière d’emplois « entièrement nouveaux » : concepteur et scientifique des données en chef au Centre d’innovation du gouvernement du Canada, vice-président des données et DPI à la Régie de l’énergie du Canada, et maintenant dirigeant principal de l’expérience client, démontrant à chaque fois le pouvoir de la conception centrée sur la personne, de la science du comportement et de la science des données pour la mise en œuvre des politiques et des programmes.

Il a été nommé DPI de l’année du secteur public canadien (2023) et disrupteur de l’année du secteur public de Technation (2022). Il a également reçu le prix d’excellence de la fonction publique.

La diversité, l’inclusion et la réconciliation sont des éléments importants pour lui, qui se reflètent dans sa vie professionnelle, mais aussi dans sa vie personnelle, en tant que partenaire et père de deux enfants.

Ann Dunkin

Chief Information Officer, Department of Energy, United States of America

Ann Dunkin currently serves as Chief Information Officer at the U.S. Department of Energy, where she manages the Department’s information technology (IT) portfolio and modernization; oversees the Department’s cybersecurity efforts; leads technology innovation and digital transformation; and enables collaboration across the Department. She served in the Obama Administration as CIO of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Prior roles include Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer, Dell Technologies; CIO, County of Santa Clara, CA; CTO, Palo Alto Unified School District, California; and various leadership roles at Hewlett Packard focused on engineering, research and development, IT, manufacturing engineering, software quality, and operations.

Ann is a published author, most recently of the book Industrial Digital Transformation, and a frequent speaker on topics such as government technology modernization, digital transformation, and organizational development. Ann received the 2022 Capital CIO Large Enterprise ORBIE Award, and she has been given a range of previous awards, including DC’s Top 50 Women in Technology for 2015 and 2016, ComputerWorld’s Premier 100 Technology Leaders for 2016, StateScoop’s Top 50 Women in Technology list for 2017, FedScoop’s Golden Gov Executive of the Year in 2016 and 2021, and FedScoop’s Best Bosses in Federal IT 2022.

Ms. Dunkin holds a Master of Science degree and a Bachelor of Industrial Engineering degree, both from the Georgia Institute of Technology. She is a licensed professional engineer in the states of California and Washington. In 2018, she was inducted into Georgia Tech’s Academy of Distinguished Engineering Alumni.

Ann Dunkin

Dirigeante Principale de l’Information, Département de l’Énergie, États-Unis d’Amérique

Alexandra Dykes

Directrice, Rendement et surveillance, Secrétariat du Conseil du Trésor du Canada, Canada

Nadia Ahmad

Directrice générale de l’évaluation, des données et des résultats, Affaires mondiales Canada

En septembre 2022, Nadia Ahmad a été nommée directrice générale de l’évaluation, des données et des résultats à Affaires mondiales Canada. À ce titre, elle est chef de l’évaluation et de la stratégie ministérielle en matière de données. Ce rôle lui permet de contribuer à la base de connaissances du ministère, qui éclaire la prise de décision et favorise la création de politiques, de programmes et de services plus efficaces.

Mme Ahmad a occupé plusieurs postes de direction au sein du ministère. De 2007 à 2009, en tant que directrice du groupe de travail sur l’Afghanistan, elle était responsable des relations bilatérales entre le Canada et l’Afghanistan. En août 2009, Mme Ahmad est devenue directrice des questions environnementales et de la sensibilisation des communautés au sein du Bureau de gestion des sommets, où elle était chargée de veiller à ce que les sommets du G8 et du G20 organisés au Canada soient gérés de manière durable. En 2010, Mme Ahmad obtient le poste de directrice de la Division des partenariats et des opérations en Amérique du Nord, où elle a dirigé les efforts visant à promouvoir les intérêts canadiens aux États-Unis et au

Mexique. En 2013, elle intègre le Secteur de l’Afrique subsaharienne, à titre de responsable des relations bilatérales du Canada avec les pays d’Afrique du Nord, puis elle y occupe le poste de directrice des affaires panafricaines, où elle a assuré le leadership sur des questions thématiques transversales importantes pour le Canada et le continent. Avant d’occuper son poste actuel, Mme Ahmad a été directrice générale de la Coordination géographique et de l’appui aux missions, où elle a apporté cohérence, innovation et une approche axée sur les résultats pour soutenir le travail de l’administration centrale et des missions diplomatiques du Canada à l’étranger.

Mme Ahmad est titulaire d’un baccalauréat ès arts de l’Université de Toronto, d’un Juris Doctor de l’Université du Michigan et d’une maîtrise en droit de l’Université d’Ottawa.

Siobhan Benita

Modératrice de l’événement, Global Government Forum

Mme Benita était haute fonctionnaire au Royaume‑Uni et compte plus de 15 ans d’expérience à Whitehall. Elle a travaillé dans plusieurs grands ministères, notamment ceux des Transports, de l’Environnement, de la Santé et de l’Administration locale. Elle a également occupé des fonctions de haut niveau au cœur du gouvernement, au sein du Bureau du Cabinet et du Trésor britannique, où elle a notamment aidé le secrétaire du Cabinet de l’époque, Lord O’Donnell, à diriger les travaux sur la réforme et la stratégie de la fonction publique. Mme Benita a ensuite été candidate indépendante aux élections pour le poste de maire de Londres. Elle est par la suite retournée à son alma mater, Warwick University, en tant que dirigeante principale de la stratégie de Warwick à Londres et codirectrice du Warwick Policy Lab.

Eileen Vidrine

Dirigeante principale des données et de l’intelligence artificielle, département de l’Armée de l’air, États-Unis d’Amérique

Membre du service de la haute direction, Eileen Vidrine occupe actuellement le poste de dirigeante principale des données et de l’intelligence artificielle au sein du département de l’Armée de l’air. Elle élabore et met en œuvre des stratégies de gestion des données d’entreprise, d’analyse, de transformation numérique et d’intelligence artificielle responsable et éthique afin d’optimiser le rendement et de stimuler l’innovation dans l’ensemble des missions et des opérations.

Liz McKeown

Directrice exécutive, Gestion de la communauté numérique, Secrétariat du Conseil du Trésor du Canada, Canada

Depuis plus de 30 ans, Liz (Elizabeth) McKeown participe à tout ce qui touche au numérique. Elle s’est concentrée sur le développement de l’acuité dans les domaines technique, du changement et du leadership à tous les niveaux, permettant ainsi une modernisation numérique à l’échelle de l’organisation. En août 2022, Mme McKeown a commencé à travailler au Secrétariat du Conseil du Trésor du Canada où on lui a confié le mandat de faire évoluer l’organisation de la gestion de la communauté numérique afin de répondre aux besoins complexes et croissants en matière d’attraction, de développement et de maintien en poste de la communauté numérique de la fonction publique fédérale.

Mme McKeown s’inspire de ses expériences professionnelles et personnelles en tant que cadre, enseignante, dirigeante principale de l’information, mère et bénévole, et les applique à son travail en mettant l’accent sur le développement d’une communauté et d’une culture numériques à l’échelle de la fonction publique.

Christine Bellamy

Directrice de la publication, GOV.UK, Service numérique du gouvernement, Royaume‑Uni

GOV.UK est le site numérique du gouvernement du Royaume-Uni et le meilleur endroit pour accéder aux services et aux renseignements du gouvernement. Mme Bellamy s’est jointe au service numérique après avoir occupé plusieurs postes à la BBC pendant dix ans (2012‑2022) et plus récemment celui de chef de la réalisation pour BBC News and Sport UK and Global. Avant de travailler à la BBC, elle était directrice générale chez Johnston Media (2009‑2012).

Innocent Bagamba Muhizi

Directeur général, Rwanda Information Society Authority, Rwanda

Innocent B. MUHIZI est le directeur général du Rwanda Information Society Authority (RISA) depuis 2017. La mission principale de la RISA est de promouvoir la transformation numérique du Rwanda. Cadre supérieur dans le domaine de la technologie et des affaires comptant plus de 20 ans d’expérience dans les secteurs public et privé, M. MUHIZI a fait ses preuves en matière de création, de direction, de gestion et de fourniture de solutions technologiques et commerciales de classe mondiale pour aider les organisations à accroître leurs parts de marché et leurs revenus. Son expérience dans le secteur des télécommunications, des services financiers, des paiements et du secteur public lui a permis d’acquérir des compétences et des capacités pratiques pour obtenir des résultats commerciaux et maximiser la rentabilité grâce à la fourniture d’un service exceptionnel. Il a fait preuve d’une gestion prudente du personnel, de la technologie et des processus, d’une capacité avérée à gérer des projets complexes, à aligner la technologie sur la stratégie de l’entreprise, à fixer et à atteindre des objectifs commerciaux, et à diriger des équipes pour atteindre les objectifs fixés.

Karl Hoods

Dirigeant principal du groupe sur le numérique et l’information, ministère de la Sécurité énergétique et du Net Zéro et ministère de la Science, de l’Innovation et de la Technologie du Royaume-Uni

Dirigeant principal de l’information (DPI) expérimenté, M. Hoods a travaillé dans les secteurs privé, public et bénévole. Il est actuellement le dirigeant principal du groupe sur le numérique et l’information au sein du ministère de la Sécurité énergétique et du Net Zéro et ministère de la Science, de l’Innovation et de la Technologie, où il est responsable de la prestation des services de base, de la transformation numérique, de l’innovation, de la gestion des connaissances et des services partagés.

Avant de travailler au ministère du Commerce, de l’Énergie et de la Stratégie industrielle, M. Hoods était DPI de l’organisme Save the Children, où il était responsable de la fourniture de services de soutien technologiques et numériques des activités humanitaires, politiques, de défense des droits et de collecte de fonds. Il a également occupé des postes de direction dans le domaine des technologies commerciales au sein de jeunes entreprises spécialisées dans le Web et les médias sportifs,

et a dirigé des programmes majeurs de changement pour des éditeurs de premier plan. Sa carrière dans les jeunes entreprises a stimulé son intérêt pour la manière dont les technologies émergentes peuvent être appliquées aux problèmes des entreprises.

En dehors de son travail, M. Hoods s’intéresse à l’éducation et siège aux conseils d’administration de la Harris Federation, de la Bournemouth University, du Safe & Trusted AI Centre for Doctoral Training et du comité consultatif de l’industrie du département d’informatique du King’s College de Londres. En outre, il fait partie du conseil de direction mondial d’une association internationale de métavers.

M. Hoods est également un passionné de course à pied et a participé à plusieurs marathons.

CHANG Sau Sheong

Directeur général adjoint, Agence gouvernementale de la technologie, Singapour

Sau Sheong est directeur général adjoint, chargé des produits et de l’ingénierie, pour GovTech Singapour.

Avant de travailler pour GovTech, il était partenaire exploitant, numérique, pour Temasek, une société d’investissement mondiale dont le siège est à Singapour, et faisait partie de l’équipe de stratégie et de solutions en matière d’intelligence artificielle.

Auparavant, il a dirigé SP Digital, l’unité de services numériques du groupe SP. Il a également dirigé la transformation des TI, des TO et du numérique pour l’ensemble du groupe SP pendant plus de six ans. Sau Sheong a joué un rôle déterminant dans la transformation du groupe SP, une entreprise de services publics traditionnelle qui est devenue une intervenante régionale dans le domaine de l’énergie.

Au cours de ses 28 années d’expérience dans le secteur, il a créé et dirigé des équipes d’ingénierie de produits chez PayPal, Yahoo et HP, concevant divers produits logiciels pour les entreprises et les consommateurs du monde entier.

Il a également été cofondateur d’une société de logiciels et a participé à la création d’entreprises pendant plus de dix ans. Il est actif et contribue à de nombreuses communautés technologiques à Singapour et en Asie du Sud-Est. Il a écrit quatre livres de programmation et travaille actuellement sur un cinquième livre.

Sau Sheong est titulaire d’un baccalauréat en ingénierie informatique, d’une maîtrise en droit commercial et d’un certificat d’études supérieures en arbitrage international.

João Dias

Président, Agence de modernisation administrative (AMA), Portugal

M. Dias a commencé sa carrière en tant que technicien supérieur au Service de la prospective et de la planification du ministère des Finances, où il était chargé de prévoir les tendances et d’envisager l’avenir.

Il a dirigé la transformation numérique de l’Agence portugaise pour l’investissement et le commerce extérieur à titre de directeur exécutif. Alors qu’il siégeait au conseil d’administration de l’entreprise municipale de Lisbonne pour la mobilité et le stationnement, il a lancé l’application de paiement (ePark) et le système de partage de vélos électriques (Gira). Et lorsqu’il était membre du conseil d’administration de Prio Energy et directeur général de Prio Electric, il a été responsable de l’innovation numérique.

Le 1^er septembre 2022, João Dias a été nommé président du conseil d’administration de l’AMA.

Brian Epley

Ryan Hum

Chief Client Experience Officer and Associate Assistant Deputy Minister, Citizen Service Branch, Employment and Social Development Canada

Ryan Hum is the Chief Client Experience Officer (CCXO) and Associate ADM at Employment and Social Development Canada, and the first ever CCXO in the Government of Canada.

Over the past ten years, Ryan has developed a track record of successful “first ever” type jobs: Chief Designer and Chief Data Scientist at the Government of Canada’s Central Innovation Lab, VP of Data and CIO at the Canadian Energy Regulator, and now CCXO, each time demonstrating the power of human-centered design, behavioural science, and data science to policy and program delivery.

He was named the Canadian Public Sector CIO of the Year (2023) and Technation’sPublic Sector Disruptor of the Year (2022). He is also a recipient of the Public ServiceAward of Excellence.

Diversity, inclusion, and reconciliation are important to him and are reflected in how he works professionally and also in his personal life as a partner, and father of two.

Katja Väänänen

Head, Digitalization Unit, Public Sector ICT Department, Ministry of Finance, Finland

Katja is head of the Digitalization Unit at the Ministry of Finance, Finland. She has worked in diverse positions with strategic steering and public sector digitalization. The Digitalization Unit is responsible for the overall development of the digital services of public administration and steering and implementing of joint development projects. The work includes promoting the priority of public e-services, leading the development of the digital life event based service packages and digital infra (such as digital identity), strategic steering of the Digital and Population Data Services Agency and cross-sectoral cooperation with an interministerial working group. Prior to her current role Katja has led various development projects in public sector organizations and worked in Finnish parliament as a lawyer for several year.

Honey Dacanay

Director General, Digital Policy, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

Honey is a digital transformation leader with significant experience leading public sector renewal and reform initiatives in the Governments of Canada and Ontario. In 2019, she was named one of Apolitical’s “World’s 100 Most Influential People in Digital Government.”

In addition to co-teaching Digital Transformation in the Public Sector at McMaster University, Honey is a Director-General, Digital Policy with the Government of Canada and a member of Public Digital’s global network of experts. Some of her projects include: advancing implementation of Canada’s digital standards and Policy on Service and Digital; designing and overseeing Canada’s first agile governance pilot; developing a data-driven approach to modernizing Canada’s income security programs; leading development of an introductory digital curriculum for 289,000+ Government of Canada public servants; leading teams that developed and enshrined Ontario’s digital service standards in landmark legislation, the Simpler, Faster, Better Services Act, 2019.

Honey Dacanay

Alison Pritchard

Deputy National Statistician and Director General for Data Capability, Office for National Statistics, United Kingdom

Alison is leading the transformation in data usage which will see ever more integrated data put to effective and safe use across the private and public sectors. She ensures ONS has the right technology and skills to meet its ambitious goals in data analytics and data science and champions safe and secure data sharing for the public good in ONS and beyond.

Most recently Alison was Director General of the Government Digital Service leading the organisation through a busy and critical period. And before that, she was Director of Transformation at the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

She began her Civil Service career in 1987. She has worked across a range of departments including the Ministry of Defence, HM Treasury, Cabinet Office, Home Office and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Her career has seen her enjoy a varied and interesting range of roles, including: spending five years in Saudi Arabia with a UK defence programme; leading the independent review of Royal Family and ministerial air travel; and being responsible for gambling and the National Lottery.

Outside government, Alison has experience as Head of Operations for an IT engineering business and on secondment to the third sector as Director of Programmes for a multi-faith research body supporting counter-radicalisation.

Alison Pritchard

Statisticienne Nationale Adjointe pour la Capacité des Données, Office for National Statistics (ONS), Royaume-Uni

M^me Pritchard dirige la transformation de l’utilisation des données, qui permettra d’utiliser de manière efficace et sûre des données toujours plus intégrées dans les secteurs privé et public. Elle s’assure que l’ONS dispose de la technologie et des compétences appropriées pour atteindre ses objectifs ambitieux en matière d’analyse de données et de science des données et défend le partage de données sûr et sécurisé pour le bien public au sein de l’ONS et ailleurs.

Plus récemment, M^me Pritchard était directrice générale du Government Digital Service, qu’elle a dirigé pendant une période chargée et critique. Avant cela, elle était directrice de la transformation au ministère de l’Environnement, de l’Alimentation et des Affaires rurales.

Elle a commencé sa carrière dans la fonction publique en 1987. Elle a travaillé dans divers ministères, notamment le ministère de la Défense, le Trésor de Sa Majesté, le Cabinet Office, le ministère de l’Intérieur et le ministère de la Culture, des Médias et des Sports.

Sa carrière l’a amenée à jouer un éventail de rôles variés et intéressants. Elle a entre autres passé cinq ans en Arabie saoudite au sein d’un programme de défense britannique, a dirigé l’examen indépendant des voyages aériens de la famille royale et des ministres et a été responsable des jeux de hasard et de la Loterie nationale.

À l’extérieur du gouvernement, M^me Pritchard a notamment été responsable des opérations pour une entreprise d’ingénierie de la TI et en détachement dans le secteur tertiaire en tant que directrice des programmes pour un organisme de recherche multiconfessionnel soutenant la lutte contre la radicalisation.

Sylvain Bélanger

Directeur exécutif et dirigeant principal de l’information, Direction générale de la gestion de l’information et de la technologie, Secrétariat du Conseil du Trésor du Canada

Sylvain Bélanger

Executive Director and Chief Information Officer, Information Management and Technology Directorate, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

Sylvain Bélanger is the Chief Information Officer and Executive Director for Information Management and Technology of the Treasury Board Secretariat of Canada. Previously, he served as the Senior Director General, Chief Information Officer, and Chief Data Officer at Library and Archives Canada (LAC) from April 2021 to 2023. Over his 17-year career at LAC, he held several roles, including Chief of Staff, Corporate Secretary, and led the development of LAC’s Vision 2030. He also oversaw digital business operations and preservation of all LAC collections, playing a crucial role in their digital transformation.

With degrees in Political Science and Economics, as well as a Master of Arts in Leadership and Training (MALT) from Royal Roads University, Sylvain brings a strong educational foundation to his leadership positions. He holds the Certified Executive Coach designation and completed the Executive Coaching program at the Royal Roads University Centre for Advanced Management, as well as the University of Windsor Law School Executive Certificate in Conflict Management.

Sylvain’s career spans the private sector, Canadian Forces, and public service, where he held significant roles, including Manager, Business Services at the Canadian Emergency Preparedness College and Special Advisor to the Associate Deputy Minister at the Department of National Defence. He is known for his contributions to the International Internet Preservation Consortium and the IFLA Section on Information Technology. Currently, Sylvain serves as President of DPI Canada, the non-profit Association of Public Sector Information Professionals. With his diverse background and dedication, he is a valued leader in the field of information management and technology.

Brandon Lee

Director General, Grants and Contributions Transformation Bureau, Global Affairs Canada, Canada

Brandon was appointed to oversee the relationship between Canada and the U.S. as Consul General of Canada in San Francisco and then also in Seattle and was Canada’s Ambassador to Silicon Valley.

Brandon has a strong background both as an executive and leading innovation, and he has held several executive positions with national and international governments. From 2007 to 2011, he oversaw global reform activities to strengthen Canada’s international presence and became the Department’s first Director of Innovation. From 2012 to 2014, Mr. Lee held senior positions at the World Trade Organization and the International Committee of the Red Cross (both in Geneva), spearheading major organizational and international reform initiatives.

Brandon Lee

Directeur général, Direction générale de la transformation des subventions et des contributions, Affaires mondiales Canada, Canada

Brandon a été nommé pour superviser les relations entre le Canada et les États-Unis en tant que consul général du Canada à San Francisco, puis également à Seattle, et a été ambassadeur du Canada dans la Silicon Valley.

Brandon a une solide expérience à la fois en tant que cadre et chef de file de l’innovation, et il a occupé plusieurs postes de direction au sein de gouvernements nationaux et internationaux. De 2007 à 2011, il a supervisé les activités de réforme mondiale visant à renforcer la présence internationale du Canada et est devenu le premier directeur de l’innovation du Ministère. De 2012 à 2014, M. Lee a occupé des postes de direction à l’Organisation mondiale du commerce et au Comité international de la Croix-Rouge (tous deux à Genève), dirigeant d’importantes initiatives de réforme organisationnelles et internationales.

Aaron Jaffery

Director General, Service Experience Design and Delivery, Service Canada

Aaron is the Director General for Service Experience Design and Delivery in Employment and Social Development Canada. Aaron joined Service Canada from the Department for Work and Pensions in the United Kingdom where he led teams transforming the experience for UK citizens across a number of services including retirement, health & disability and digital identity.

Aaron is passionate about making Government services work better for the citizens it serves. He is an advocate for human-centred design and driving integration between policy development and service delivery.

Aaron and his wife have four children and relocated to Canada in Summer 2022

Fernando de Pablo Martín

Director Digital Office, Madrid City, Spain

Born in Segovia, he is a Telecommunications Engineer from the Polytechnic University of Madrid, member of the Senior Corps of Information Systems and Technologies, Master in Management of Information and Communications Systems and Technologies (INAP and UPM), Executive master in Business Management from the School of Industrial Organisation (EOI) and Leadership Programme for Public Management (IESE). Diploma of Advanced Studies in Applied Economics (UAH). In preparation of doctoral thesis.

He has worked for more than a decade in the private sector before joining the Public Administration, and in the Spanish Tax Administration since 1993, in different departments (IT, Large Taxpayers, Planning and Institutional Relations, Director General for the promotion of electronic administration 2009-2011, Office for the Implementation of the Reform of Public Administration (CORA) 2013-2016.

Between 2017 and 2018 he was President of the Public Company for the Management of Innovation and Tourism Technologies (SEGITTUR) responsible for Smart Tourism Destinations (DTI) and the Tourism Intelligence System (SIT), and between 2018 and 2020 as Secretary General of Digital Administration of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation, responsible for the Strategy, common national eGovernment platforms and Digital Transformation initiatives of the General State Administration and all infrastructures that have supported the administration in the confinement era caused by COVID-19.

He is currently Director General of the Madrid Digital Office in charge of driving the digital transformation process in the city, the digital administration, and the data strategy.

National responsible for international strategies and reports such as DESI in the EU, UNPAN eGovernment Survey, OECD Digital Governance, etc. He has been part at different times of his professional life of various international working groups such as the Forum on Tax Administration (e-services group), OECD e-Leaders (CIOs of OECD), CIO-Network of the EU, GEALC (CIOs of America group) or Eurocities.

Gayan Peiris

Chef des Données et de la Technologie, Chef du Bureau Numérique, Programme des Nations Unies pour le Développement

Gayan est responsable des données et de la technologie au bureau numérique en chef du Programme des Nations Unies pour le développement (PNUD). Il dirige la mise en œuvre de la stratégie de données pour le PNUD, qui comprend la conduite de la transformation du PNUD en une organisation axée sur les données et le conseil des États membres sur leurs stratégies de données, numériques et cloud. Gayan est un expert pour faire entendre la voix des gens dans l’élaboration des politiques. Il a de l’expérience dans les campagnes numériques et a dirigé les efforts de collecte et d’analyse de données de plusieurs initiatives mondiales telles que UN75 et MYWorld qui ont attiré plus de 10 millions de voix dans le monde entier grâce à des partenariats avec les secteurs public et privé.

Gayan Peiris

Head of Data and Technology, Chief Digital Office, United Nations Development Programme

Gayan is the Head of Data and Technology with Chief Digital Office at UN Development Programme (UNDP). He leads the implementation of the Data Strategy for UNDP which includes driving the transformation of UNDP into a data-driven organisation and advising member states on their data, digital and cloud strategies. Gayan is an expert in bringing people’s voices into policy making. He has experience in digital campaigning and led data collection and analysis efforts of several global initiatives such as UN75 and MYWorld which brought in over 10 million voices worldwide through both public and private sector partnerships.

Angela Copeland

Chief Information Officer and Assistant Deputy Minister, Ontario Ministry of Health and Ministry of Long-Term Care, Canada

Angela Copeland is the Chief Information Officer/Assistant Deputy Minister for the Health Services I&IT Cluster. The portfolio includes over 230 technology solutions that support both the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Long-term Care. Key systems enable core services such as OHIP, emergency services, public health, inspections and analytics.

Prior to joining the OPS in 2022, Angela held progressively senior executive positions in the healthcare and social services sectors. She has overseen the development and implementation of numerous initiatives, including new hospital builds, data and analytics programmes, and technological solutions that have enabled business modernization.

She is known as a business partner with the ability to reimagine the possible, take initiative and test limits to achieve better business outcomes.

She is passionate about creating an inclusive environment with equal access to data and technology.

Darcy Pierlot

Dirigeant principal de l’information et sous-ministre adjoint, Immigration, Réfugiés et Citoyenneté Canada

Darcy Pierlot a été nommé Dirigeant principal de l’information et sous-ministre adjoint à Immigration, Réfugiés et Citoyenneté Canada (IRCC) en septembre 2022.

Au sein d’IRCC, Darcy est responsable pour toutes les initiatives et opérations technologiques habilitant les programmes canadiens de visa de visiteur, résident permanent, la citoyenneté, passeport, et de voyages à l’étranger. Il est un cadre supérieur dans le domaine de la technologie au sein du gouvernement du Canada et de la communauté internationale des dirigeants principaux de l’information.

Darcy a commencé sa carrière dans la fonction publique en tant qu’ingénieur, au Centre de la sécurité des télécommunications (CST) en 2006. Il a ensuite occupé divers postes tels que Conseiller principal de la Chef (administratrice générale) du CST, et plus récemment Directeur général, sécurité. De 2019 à 2021, Darcy a été en détachement au Bureau du Conseil privé (BCP) où il a occupé le poste de Directeur exécutif et Dirigeant principal de la sécurité du cabinet du Premier ministre et du Conseil privé.

Darcy est ingénieur professionnel, titulaire d’un permis d’exercice dans la province de l’Ontario et d’un diplôme universitaire en ingénierie informatique de l’université de Dalhousie à Halifax. Il est diplômé du Programme de développement en leadership pour les cadres supérieurs (PDLCS) de la fonction publique, et il détient un certificat du Programme canadien de leadership en matière de sécurité et de renseignement, de l’École de gestion Telfer (2017).

Né et élevé en Nouvelle-Écosse, Darcy vit aujourd’hui avec sa famille dans l’est rural d’Ottawa. Pendant son temps libre, il aime jouer au soccer et au piano.

Darcy Pierlot

Chief Information Officer and Assistant Deputy Minister, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada

Darcy Pierlot was appointed Chief Immigration Officer and Assistant Deputy Minister at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) in September 2022.

At IRCC, Darcy is responsible for all technology initiatives and operations enabling Canada’s visitor visa and permanent resident programs, as well as citizenship, passport, and international travel. He is a senior technology leader within the Government of Canada and international community of Chief Information Officers.

Darcy began his Public Service career as an engineer at the Communications Security Establishment (CSE) in 2006. He subsequently assumed leadership roles such as Senior Advisor to the Chief of CSE and, more recently, Director General, Security. From 2019 to 2021, Darcy was seconded to the Privy Council Office (PCO) where he served as Executive Director and Chief Security Officer to the Offices of the Prime Minister and Privy Council.

Darcy is a licenced professional engineer (P.Eng.) in the Province of Ontario and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Engineering from Dalhousie University, Halifax. He is a graduate of the Public Service Executive Leadership Development Program (ELDP) and holds a certificate in Canadian Security and Intelligence Leadership from the Telfer School of Management (2017).

Born and raised in Nova Scotia, Darcy now lives in the rural east-end of Ottawa with his family. In his free time, he enjoys playing soccer and the piano.

Franco Chirichella

President and Chief Executive Officer, Innovapost Inc., and Chief Digital Officer, Canada Post

Franco Chirichella is responsible for Canada Post’s digital strategy through Innovapost, the Information Technology Shared Services provider for the Canada Post Group of Companies (Canada Post, Purolator, and SCI Group). He oversees all technology functions for Canada Post – including national networks, processing platforms, technology hubs, information security, technology operations and data analytics – as well as end user computing services for Purolator and SCI. The Canada Post portfolio of technology services connects approximately 68,000 Canada Post employees and enables the delivery of mail and parcel services across Canada, from coast to coast to coast.

As President and CEO of Innovapost, Franco is leading transformational initiatives that are accelerating IT delivery, improving enterprise agility, and helping Canada Post thrive in the digital economy. Under Franco’s leadership, Innovapost was awarded the 2022 IT World Public Sector Digital Transformation Award in recognition of the company’s foundational transformation that continues today. Franco has also been instrumental in advancing Innovapost’s sustainability initiatives for which Innovapost was awarded the 2023 Pure Good Sustainability Award.

During his more than 20 years at Canada Post and Innovapost, Franco has led teams of technology and business professionals across operations, finance, administration, retail, customer service, and IT. Immediately prior to being named CEO, Franco led the Business Solution Delivery teams at Innovapost that support the Commercial, Marketing and Operations teams within Canada Post. In this role, he led the end-to-end solution delivery of hundreds of parcel, direct marketing, customer experience, transaction mail, and mobile systems.

Before joining Innovapost in 2013, Franco led complex initiatives and geographically-dispersed teams within Canada Post as they realized new revenue, delivered operating efficiencies, and reduced costs. Franco was also instrumental in leading the growth and evolution of the Agile practice within Canada Post’s digital groups.

Franco holds a Master of Business Administration in Innovation from the University of Fredericton, and a Bachelor of Business Administration, Management from Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax. He also holds a Project Management designation and is Agile Certified. Franco lives in Toronto with his wife and 2 sons.

Dorothy Eng

Executive Director, Code for Canada

Dorothy Eng is the Executive Director of Code for Canada, a national non-profit that works with governments to create equitable digital services. Dorothy has spent years working with governments to address challenges like attracting and retaining digital talent, departmental silos, and a lack of digital capacity. She has built effective digital solutions in the face of them

Trent Gray-Donald

Distinguished Engineer, IBM Data and AI

Trent is a IBM Distinguished Engineer in the IBM Data and AI organization. He is chief architect for Watson Code Assistant, and deeply involved in watsonx.ai. He is also deeply involved in the IBM Data Fabric. In the recent past he has mostly focused on data fabrics and meshes, integration, consistency and reuse across divisions. He’s spent the last 11 years focusing on analytics, especially around Big Data (Spark, Hadoop) and building out the IBM data and AI platform. Before that, he was technical lead on the IBM Java 7 project.

Radical retail: Forging new relationships with private suppliers

Theme: Smarter procurement and project management

Recognising that traditional systems of procurement don’t always get the best out of the private sector, governments are exploring new ways to access businesses’ capabilities. Digital Iceland, for example, has signed contracts permitting it to call in teams of highly-qualified technologists at short notice – allowing it to rapidly deploy expert staff to build services across government. Other governments have found ways to support knowledge transfer from contractors to permanent staff – building civil service capabilities alongside new systems – or to commission experimental work, overcoming perceptions that any ‘failed’ experiment represents a waste of public money: the UK’s Innovation Fund, for example, pays up to five vendors to develop a solution, with the two most promising winning further work. At this workshop, senior leaders will talk through the opportunities and challenges presented by innovations in commissioning and procurement.

Panel discussion followed by audience Q&A

Speakers:

Brandon Lee
Director General, Grants and Contributions Transformation Bureau, Global Affairs Canada

Staying close remotely: How to make hybrid working a success

Theme: Staff tools

The pandemic prompted a wholesale shift to remote working, and the world of work will never be the same again. People now expect to split their time between office and home: to remain competitive in the jobs market, public employers must meet those changed expectations. Hybrid working can also improve productivity, whilst strengthening workforce diversity by dismantling barriers to employment. But these new ways of working bring their own challenges in fields such as collaboration, team-building, skills development and personnel management. To work effectively in dispersed teams, public servants need suitable tools, skills and working practices, while managers must develop new ways to lead, inspire and align their staff. In this workshop, participants will consider the skills and tools they’ll need to operate effectively in this irreversibly changed working environment.

Discussion followed by audience Q&A

Speakers:

Mackenzie Lambe
Chief Information Officer and Designated Official for Cyber Security, Corporate Services and Finance Branch, Environment and Climate Change Canada
Darcy Pierlot
Chief Information Officer, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada

Kathleen Butler

Directrice générale, Direction des services numériques, Direction générale de cotisation, de prestation et de service, Agence du revenu du Canada

Kathleen Butler est la directrice générale de la direction des services numériques à l’Agence du revenu du Canada (ARC). Kathleen a commencé sa carrière à l’ARC au centre de technologie d’Ottawa. Depuis, elle a cumulé des postes avec des responsabilités croissantes en gestion au sein de la Direction générale de cotisation, de prestation et de service, de la Direction générale des programmes d’observation et du bureau international des services fiscaux. Kathleen a agi à titre de directrice de la division des déclarations par des tiers et a été directrice générale de la direction de l’intégration horizontale avant de devenir directrice générale de la direction des services numériques. Durant les dernières années, Kathleen a fait progresser le programme d’innovation de l’ARC en misant sur de nouvelles voies de paiement et de nouveaux partenariats, de nouvelles prestations d’urgence et des progrès dans le programme d’expérience client harmonieuse de l’ARC ainsi que de nouveaux outils comme l’automatisation robotisée des processus et le service de suivi des progrès en ligne de l’ARC.

Kathleen Butler

Director General, Digital Services Directorate, Assessment, Benefit and Service Branch, Canada Revenue Agency, Canada

Kathleen Butler is the Director General of the Digital Services Directorate at the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). Kathleen began her career with the CRA at the Ottawa Technology Centre. Since then, she has held positions with increasing responsibilities which included management positions in the Assessment, Benefit, and Service Branch, Compliance Programs Branch, and the International Tax Services Office. Kathleen was the Director of the Third Party Reporting Division, and was Director General of the Horizontal Integration Directorate prior to taking on the role of Director General in the Digital Services Directorate. During the past few years, Kathleen moved the CRA’s innovation agenda forward with new payment channels and partnerships, oversaw delivery of new emergency benefits, advanced CRA’s seamless client service agenda, and implemented new tools such as robotic processing automation and the CRA’s online Progress Tracker service.

Benoit Deshaies

Directeur, données et intelligence artificielle responsables, Bureau de la dirigeante principale de l’information, Secrétariat du Conseil du Trésor du Canada

Ima Okonny

Assistant Deputy Minister and Chief Data Officer, Employment and Social Development Canada

Ima, Assistant Deputy Minister and Chief Data Officer at Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) has over 23 years of experience in the field of data.

As Chief Data Officer of ESDC, she works to enhance and advance Data Science, Data Management and Data Sharing to support ESDC’s policies, service delivery and results reporting.

Prior to ESDC, Ima held an executive role at the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions, where she led a team to ensure the effective collection, governance, and management of federally regulated financial institution and pension plan data collected by the Office.

Ima has also worked at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, where she led the development and delivery of analytical data, research databases, data products and tools that supported performance measurement, policy development, program monitoring, results/outcome reporting and research and evaluation. Ima’s previous experience has also included positions with the Canada Revenue Agency, and Statistics Canada.

She has an educational background in Mathematics, Computer Programming and Public Management and during her time with the Government of Canada, she has received several nominations and awards for her leadership and results.

She is passionate about helping organizations develop the capabilities required to ethically and intentionally unleash concrete business value from data.

Meagan Collins

Chief, Enterprise Information Management, Corporate Services Sector, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, Canada

Meagan is the current acting Chief of Enterprise Information Management in the Corporate Services Sector of the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat. Previously she was a Lead in Digital Strategy Information Management at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario. Meagan also has experience working for the Provincial government, Conference Board of Canada and in the private technology sector. She also holds the role of Board President for ARMA’s National Capital Region Chapter.

Marc Brouillard

Dirigeant principal du numérique, Pêches et Océans Canada

Marc Brouillard est le Dirigeant principal du numérique au ministère des Pêches et des Océans au sein du gouvernement du Canada. Il a également été dirigeant principal de la technologie et dirigeant principal de l’information (DPI) du Canada par intérim au Secrétariat du Conseil du Trésor du Canada. Marc a également occupé les fonctions de DPI ministériel adjoint et de DPI ministériel par intérim au Secrétariat du Conseil du Trésor du Canada.

Avant de se joindre au gouvernement du Canada, Marc était vice-président du développement des affaires pour une entreprise de services de commerce électronique en démarrage. Il avait auparavant passé 13 ans à MONTAGE IT Services, une division de MTS/Allstream, où il a occupé de nombreux postes dans le domaine du conseil en technologie et du développement des affaires.

Marc assure un leadership stratégique dans la poursuite d’une excellence de classe mondiale en matière de transformation numérique, de gestion des données et de l’information, et de cybersécurité. Il a mené une longue et fructueuse carrière en tant que cadre supérieur dans les secteurs public et privé dans le domaine de la gestion et de la technologie de l’information.

Marc Brouillard

Chief Digital Officer, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Canada

Marc Brouillard is the Chief Digital Officer for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans in the Government of Canada. He has also served as Chief Technology Officer and acting Chief Information Officer of Canada at the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat. Marc also served as deputy departmental CIO and acting departmental CIO at Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat.

Prior to joining the Government of Canada, Marc was VP of Business Development for a local eCommerce Services start-up. Prior to that, he spent 13 years at MONTAGE IT Services, a division of MTS/Allstream, where he held numerous positions in technology consulting and business development.

Marc provides strategic leadership in pursuing world class excellence in digital transformation, data and information management, and cyber security. He has had a long and successful career as a senior public and private sector executive in information management and technology.

Scott McNaughton

Vidya Shankarnarayan

Dirigeante principale de l’information et sous-ministre adjointe de la Direction générale des systèmes d’information, Agriculture et Agroalimentaire Canada

Vidya ShankarNarayan est dirigeante principale de l’information et sous-ministre adjointe de la Direction générale des systèmes d’information d’Agriculture et Agroalimentaire Canada.

Au cours des 25 dernières années, Vidya a occupé divers postes dans les secteurs privé et public et dirigé des initiatives à grand déploiement liées à la prestation de services et aux technologies numériques. Auparavant, elle a travaillé à Innovation, Sciences et Développement économique (ISDE) et à Emploi et Développement social Canada (EDSC), où elle s’est employée avec passion à améliorer et à moderniser la politique numérique et la prestation de services afin de concevoir et de mettre en oeuvre des services numériques gouvernementaux plus simples et plus efficaces. Vidya a aussi occupé des postes de direction au Secrétariat du Conseil du Trésor du Canada, à Affaires mondiales Canada et à Passeport Canada. Elle est titulaire d’une maîtrise en architecture avec spécialisation en conception et en technologie de l’Université Carleton.

Vidya est très active au sein de sa communauté et siège à divers conseils d’administration, notamment ceux du Forum économique mondial, du Global Blockchain Congress et du Collège Algonquin. Dans ses temps libres, elle pratique le yoga et la méditation et joue le rôle de championne de la diversité et de l’inclusion.

Mackenzie Lambe

Dirigeante principale de l’information, Environnement et Changement climatique Canada

Mackenzie est une DPI virtuelle de Saskatoon, en Saskatchewan, qui compte plus de 20 ans d’expérience dans la fonction publique dans les domaines de la transformation opérationnelle, des ressources humaines, de la modernisation numérique et de la GI/TI.

Mackenzie a été nommée dirigeante principale de l’information (DPI) à Environnement et Changement climatique Canada (ECCC) en avril 2023. En tant que DPI, Mackenzie dirige la mise en œuvre de la Stratégie numérique ainsi que les initiatives et les opérations de gestion de l’information (GI) et de technologie de l’information (TI) qui permettent la prestation des programmes et des services d’ECCC.

Mackenzie est passionnée par l’influence d’une culture de créativité, de collaboration et d’esprit d’entreprise avec une approche numérique centrée sur les personnes. Mackenzie dirige virtuellement depuis plus d’une décennie dans la fonction publique et croit farouchement à l’optimisation des talents partout au Canada et à la direction en tant que leaders numériques pour démontrer la valeur de travailler différemment. Mackenzie est une fière mère de quatre enfants et aime entraîner le basketball au sein de sa communauté.

Mackenzie Lambe

Chief Information Officer, Environment and Climate Change Canada

Mackenzie is a virtual CIO leading from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan with over 20 years of experience in the public service in the areas of business transformation, Human Resources, Digital modernization, and IM/IT.

Mackenzie was appointed Chief Information Officer (CIO) at Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) in April 2023. As CIO, Mackenzie leads the Digital Strategy implementation and the Information Management (IM) and Information Technology (IT) initiatives and operations that enable the delivery of ECCC programs and services.

Mackenzie is passionate about influencing a culture of creativity, collaboration, enterprise mindset with a people centric approach to digital. Mackenzie has been leading virtually for over a decade in the public service and believes fiercely in the maximizing talent across Canada and leading out front as digital leaders to demonstrate the value of working differently. Mackenzie is a proud mother of four and enjoys coaching basketball within her community.

Train and explain: Digital skills for everyone

Theme: Skills for innovation

When in 2013 Kevin Cunnington became Director General of Business Transformation at the UK’s Department for Work and Pensions, he soon realised he’d make slow progress until the senior leadership team and service owners understood both the potential of digital technologies, and how working practices and organisational processes would have to bend around their requirements. His solution was the Digital Academy, which focused on training non-digital public servants in the nature and needs of digital tech; and Cunnington found that once about 10% of the whole workforce had been through the Academy, resistance to change diminished rapidly. At this workshop Cunnington – who subsequently led the Digital Academy’s expansion across the UK Civil Service – will explain what he learned along the way.

Discussion followed by audience Q&A

Speaker:

Kevin Cunnington
Former Director General, Government Digital Service (GDS), United Kingdom, and Expert Advisor, Global Government Forum

Vidya Shankarnarayan

Assistant Deputy Minister and Chief Information Officer, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

Vidya ShankarNarayan is the CIO and Assistant Deputy Minister, Information Systems Branch at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

Over the past 25 years, Vidya has held multiple positions in both the private and public sectors, leading high-profile initiatives related to service delivery and digital technologies. Previously, Vidya worked at Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED) and Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), where she passionately focused on improving and innovating digital policy and service delivery with a vision of designing and implementing simpler and efficient digital government services. She has also held executive positions at the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, Global Affairs Canada and Passport Canada. She holds a Masters degree in Architecture, specializing in Design and Technology from Carleton University.

Vidya is an active community member, participating on various boards including the World Economic Forum, Global Blockchain Congress and Algonquin College. In her spare time, Vidya practices yoga and meditation and is a champion for diversity and inclusion.

Nadia Ahmad

Director General, Evaluation, Data and Results, Global Affairs Canada

In September 2022, Nadia Ahmad was appointed Director General of Evaluation, Data and Results at Global Affairs Canada. In this capacity she serves as Head of Evaluation, and is also responsible for the Departmental Data Strategy. This role enables her to contribute to the department’s knowledge base, which informs decision-making and fosters more impactful policies, programs and services.

Nadia has held a number of executive positions within the Department. From 2007-2009, in her capacity as Director in the Afghanistan Task Force, she was responsible for Canada’s bilateral relationship with Afghanistan. In August 2009, Nadia became the Director of Environmental Issues and Community Outreach in the Summits Management Office, where was responsible for ensuring that the G8 and G20 Summits hosted in Canada were sustainably managed. Nadia took

on the role of Director of the North America Partnerships and Operations Division in 2010, where she led efforts to promote Canadian interests in the U.S. and Mexico. Joining the Sub-Saharan Africa Branch in 2013, Nadia was first responsible for Canada’s bilateral relationships with countries in North Africa and then served as Director of Pan-Africa Affairs, where she provided leadership on cross-cutting thematic issues of importance to Canada and the continent. Prior to assuming her current position, Nadia served as Director General of Geographic Coordination and Mission Support, where she brought coherence, innovation and a results-based approach to support the work of Headquarters and Canada’s diplomatic missions abroad.

Nadia holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Toronto, a Juris Doctor from Michigan State University and a Master of Laws from the University of Ottawa.

Anna Wong

Director, Office of the Chief Information Officer, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, Canada

Anna is currently the Director of Digital Talent Development at the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat where is focused on developing and upskilling digital talent across the Government of Canada. As a first generation Chinese Canadian, Anna is passionate about designing and delivering better government services so that more people can benefit from all that Canada has to offer. She lives for opportunities to build and empower teams to do good government – from scaling pilots to become products and services, simplifying systems and structures, to raising the bar on digital literacy and business acumen.

Eileen Vidrine

Chief Data and Artificial Intelligence Officer, Department of the Air Force, United States of America

Ms. Eileen Vidrine, a member of the Senior Executive Service, currently serves as the Department of the Air Force Chief Data and Artificial Intelligence Officer. She develops and implements strategies for enterprise data management, analytics, digital transformation, and responsible and ethical artificial intelligence to optimize performance and drive innovation in and across all missions and operations.

Peter Kimaile

Director, ICT, Ministry of Information Communication & The Digital Economy, Kenya

Peter Kimaile is an assistant director of ICT in the State Department for Information Communication and The Digital Economy in Kenya, and also the lead digital identity advisor to the principal secretary on the Kenyan digital ID program.

He has over 20 years’ experience delivering ICT and technology research projects for governments in security and digital economy, e-Government, financial services, digital ID, immigration and border management automation.

He is currently a member and secretary to the Kenyan Technical Committee on the Unique Identifier and digital Identity, a multi-agency team working to deliver Digital ID in the country with mandate to analyze and recommend Digital ID enabling policies development, technical standards and use case mapping and implementation roadmap.

Previously, he served for five years as chief technology officer in the Department of Immigration Services in Kenya, where he oversaw the implementation of East Africa e-Passport system, and automation of Foreign Nationals Management Services including development of data analytics tools on work permits, border control and illegal immigrants’ database integration. He also served as a member of the East Africa Community (EAC) ICT working group on internationalisation of the East African e-passport for 4 years, a technical committee which was responsible for policy guidance in the implementation of a common regional e-passport.

Currently, he is Kenya’s representative and chair of the African Committee of Experts for Digital ID, and also serves as a member of East African Community Regional Expert Working Group on Digital Health, Data, Technologies and Innovations that is working to develop data and information sharing guidelines for ensuring stakeholders confidence.

Liz McKeown

Executive Director, Digital Community Management, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, Canada

Liz (Elizabeth) McKeown has been involved in all things Digital for more than 30 years, focusing on building technical, change, and leadership acumen at all levels thus enabling organizational wide digital modernization. Liz joined the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat in August 2022 with a mandate to evolve the Digital Community Management organization to meet the complex and growing attraction, development and retention needs of the federal public service digital community.

Liz draws from her professional and personal experiences as an executive, as a teacher, as a Chief Information Officer, as a mother and as a volunteer, and applies them to her work with a specialized focused on development of cross Public Service Digital Community and Culture.

Christine Bellamy

Director of Publishing, GOV.UK, Government Digital Service, United Kingdom

GOV.UK is the digital home for the UK government and the best place for people to access government services and information. Christine joined GDS from the BBC where she held a number of roles over a ten year period (2012-2022) and most recently was Head of Product for BBC News and Sport UK and Global. Prior to working at the BBC, Christine was a Managing Director at Johnston Media (2009-2012).

Anna Wong

Buying better: How to build a digital marketplace

Theme: Smarter procurement and project management

In 2010, the UK government spent £16bn (C$27bn) on technology, 80% of it with 20 big companies. In 2014, it launched its Digital Marketplace – and by 2020, while its IT infrastructure and services had much improved, spending had fallen to £9bn (C$15bn). The Digital Marketplace handled nearly half of this spending, 40% of which went to small businesses; in 2020, 2133 public sector customers signed contracts with 2080 Marketplace suppliers. By pre-approving suppliers, aggregating public sector demand, and providing procurement staff with easy access to a vast catalogue of tools and services, the Digital Marketplace revolutionised the UK’s IT spending. At this workshop Kevin Cunnington, former head of the UK’s Government Digital Service, will talk participants through the model and answer your questions.

Discussion followed by audience Q&A

Speakers:

Anna Wong
Director, Office of the Chief Information Officer, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, Canada

I can see clearly now: The power of depicting data

Theme: Staff tools

Handling and understanding raw data demands specialist skills – but recent years have seen rapid growth in the use of data dashboards and visualisations, enabling professionals from a wide range of disciplines to combine, manipulate and analyse datasets. During the pandemic, platforms such as ourworldindata.org demonstrated the accessibility and value of data dashboards, enabling users to pull out the information that matters to them. Now similar tools are coming to the fore in public service innovation: the UK’s Civil Service Data Challenge, for example, catalysed the creation of a dashboard monitoring the distribution of citizens overseas, while a plan to build a needs analysis data tool for remote communities made it to the Final of Canada’s Public Service Data Challenge. At this workshop, participants will explore how they might deploy data dashboards and visualisations in their own working lives, and learn about the process of developing them.

Discussion followed by audience Q&A

Innocent Bagamba Muhizi

Chief Executive Officer, Rwanda Information Society Authority, Rwanda

Innocent B. MUHIZI is the Chief Executive Officer of the Rwanda Information Society Authority (RISA) since 2017. RISA’s main mission is to Champion Rwanda’s Digital Transformation. As a senior Technology and Business Executive with over 20 years of industry experience both in the Public and Private sector, Mr. MUHIZI has a proven track record for building, leading, managing and delivering world-class technology and business solutions to help organization grow both market share and revenue. His experience in Telecom Industry, Financial services, Payments, Public sector, has given him practical skills and capabilities to driving business results and maximizing profitability through the delivery of exceptional service. He has demonstrated prudent management of people, technology and processes; a proven ability to manage complex projects, align technology and corporate strategy, and set and achieve business objectives; and leadership of teams to achieve projected goals.

Karl Hoods

Group Chief Digital and Information Officer, Department for Energy Security & Net Zero and Department for Science, Innovation & Technology, United Kingdom

Karl is an experienced Chief Information Officer (CIO) and has worked in the private, public and third sectors. He is currently the Group Chief Digital and Information Officer at the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero and the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology where he is responsible for the delivery of core services, digital transformation, innovation, knowledge management and shared services.

Prior to joining BEIS Karl was CIO for Save the Children where he was responsible for the delivery of technology and digital services to support humanitarian, policy, advocacy and fundraising activities. He has also held business technology leadership roles with web and sports media startups and led major change programmes for publishing leading publishers. His career in startups fostered his interest in how emerging technology can be applied to business problems.

Outside of work Karl is interested in education and sits on the boards of the Harris Federation, Bournemouth University, the Safe & Trusted AI Centre for Doctoral Training and King’s College London’s Department for Informatics Industry Advisory Board. In addition he is on the global steering council for an international metaverse association.

Karl is also a keen runner and has completed a number of marathons.

João Dias

President, Administrative Modernisation Agency, Portugal

João began his career as a Higher Technician for the Ministry of Finance’s Department of Prospective and Planning, predicting trends and looking towards the future.

He led the Portuguese Agency for Investment and External Commerce’s (AICEP) Digital Transformation through his role as Executive Director; Introduced the payment App (ePark) and the electric bike sharing system (Gira) as Board Member for the Lisbon Municipal Enterprise for Mobility and Parking (EMEL); and was responsible for digital innovation as Board Member for Prio Energy and CEO of Prio Electric.

João Dias was appointed as President of AMA’s Director Council on September 1st, 2022.

CHANG Sau Sheong

Deputy Chief Executive, Government Technology Agency, Singapore

Sau Sheong is the Deputy Chief Executive, Product & Engineering, for GovTech Singapore.

Prior to GovTech, he was an Operating Partner, Digital for Temasek, a global investment company headquartered in Singapore and part of the AI Strategy and Solutions team.

Before that, he ran SP Digital, the digital business unit of SP Group. He also headed IT, OT and digital transformation for the whole of SP Group for more than 6 years. Sau Sheong was instrumental in changing SP Group from a traditional utility company to a regional energy player.

In his 28 years of industry experience, he has built and led product engineering teams at PayPal, Yahoo and HP building various software products for enterprise businesses and consumers globally.

He was previously a co-founder of a software company and was involved in startups for more than 10 years. He is active and contributes to many technology communities in Singapore and Southeast Asia and has written 4 programming books, currently working on a 5th book.

Sau Sheong has a bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering, a Master’s in Commercial Law and a Postgraduate Certificate in International Arbitration.

Siobhan Benita

Event Moderator, Global Government Forum

Siobhan was a senior civil servant in the UK with more than 15 years’ Whitehall experience. She worked in many of major delivery departments, including Transport, Environment, Health and Local Government. She also had senior roles at the heart of government in the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury, including supporting the then Cabinet Secretary, Lord O’Donnell, to lead work on civil service reform and strategy. Siobhan left to run as an independent candidate in the Mayor of London election. She subsequently joined her alma mater, Warwick University, as Chief Strategy Officer of Warwick in London and Co-Director of the Warwick Policy Lab.

Peter Kimaile

Directeur, TIC, Ministry of Information Communication & The Digital Economy, Kenya

La biographie sera mise à jour sous peu.

Thomas Beautyman

Directeur adjoint, Capacités numériques du gouvernement, Bureau du Conseil des ministres, Royaume-Uni

Thomas a rejoint le bureau du Cabinet en 2021, au sein du nouveau Central Digital and Data Office, et est chargé de faire évoluer la façon dont le gouvernement accroît ses capacités en matière de numérique et de données. Il s’agit notamment d’attirer du personnel, de le recruter et de bâtir l’expertise numérique, mais aussi de former les nombreux dirigeants gouvernementaux qui sont spécialisés dans d’autres domaines, mais qui ont de plus en plus besoin d’une certaine connaissance du numérique et des données pour mener à bien leur mandat. Thomas a rejoint le bureau du Cabinet après avoir travaillé pour le DWP Digital. Il a rejoint le gouvernement en 2019 après avoir travaillé pour le British Telecom où il a dirigé la planification de la main-d’œuvre, les apprentissages et la transformation des apprentissages.

Thomas Beautyman

Deputy Director, Government Digital Capability, Cabinet Office, United Kingdom

Thomas joined the Cabinet Office in 2021, in the new Central Digital and Data Office, and is responsible for transforming how Government grows capability in digital and data. This including attracting, recruiting and building digital expertise, through to developing the many leaders in government who have specialism in other domains, but increasingly need digital and data confidence to deliver. Thomas moved to the Cabinet Office from DWP Digital, having joined Government in 2019 from BT where he led workforce planning, apprenticeships and learning transformation.

Kevin Cunnington

Ancien Directeur Général, Government Digital Service (GDS), Royaume-Uni, et Conseiller Expert, Global Government Forum

M. Cunnington a été directeur général de l’International Governement Service et ambassadeur numérique du Royaume-Uni d’août 2019 à avril 2021. Auparavant, il a occupé le poste de directeur général du Government Digital Service d’août 2016 à juillet 2019. M. Cunnington a quitté la fonction publique britannique en avril 2021.

Il a dirigé divers programmes de transformation numérique à grande échelle et de partout dans le monde. Il a passé son début de carrière dans la programmation et le conseil en informatique. Plus récemment, il a été responsable mondial des services en ligne pour le groupe Vodafone et directeur général du groupe de transformation des activités au ministère du Travail et des Pensions (DWP).

M. Cunnington conseille désormais le Global Government Forum et dirige l’étude Global Government Digital Leaders.

Kevin Cunnington

Former Director General, Government Digital Service (GDS), United Kingdom, and Expert Advisor, Global Government Forum

Kevin was Director General of the International Government Service and Digital Envoy for the UK from August 2019, until April 2021. Prior to that, he was the Director General of the Government Digital Service from August 2016 to July 2019. Kevin left the UK Civil Service in April 2021.

Kevin has led a variety of large scale, and global, digital transformation programmes. He spent his early career in programming and IT consultancy. More recently he was the Global Head of Online for Vodafone Group and Business Transformation Group Director General at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

Kevin now advises Global Government Forum, and leads the Global Government Digital Leaders’ Study.

UK Participants

This is where I will list all participants through the years

Welcome to the home of AccelerateGOV,
co-hosted by the Government of Canada

3 October 2023 – Shaw Centre, Ottawa, Canada

Partnered by…

Join us at AccelerateGOV 2023 in…

About the event

Welcome to the home of AccelerateGOV, co-hosted by the Government of Canada

3 October 2023 – Shaw Centre, Ottawa, Canada

Partnered by…

Join us at AccelerateGOV 2023 in…

About the event

Welcome to the home of AccelerateGOV,
co-hosted by the Government of Canada