Search National Action Plan on Open Government Tracker
Issue to be addressed
The Government of Canada is going digital, and that means we need to fundamentally change the way we work. We want our investments in digital government to make Canadians’ lives better, and we want the benefits of digital government to reach as many people as possible. To achieve this goal, we need to follow the principles of transparency, accountability, and accessibility in implementing new and evolving government digital technologies and services.
Commitment
The Government of Canada will apply the principles of openness to its digital services, allowing it to meet evolving user expectations while enhancing transparency and inclusion. We will:
- develop a Government of Canada digital policy and data strategy roadmap for the federal public service
- engage with Canadians on what digital and data transformation means for them
- create a performance dashboard to track service to Canadians
- publish analytics on Canada.ca website traffic
- prioritize open source code in developing digital solutions
- improve transparency and awareness of the Government’s use of artificial intelligence (AI)
Milestones
4.1 Create a digital policy for the Government of Canada
4.1.1 Canadians are engaged on the development of a Treasury Board digital policy. Public input is solicited and accepted via online platforms
4.1.2 Input received is included in a summary report to be released publicly
4.1.3 A Treasury Board digital policy is published. The policy will integrate requirements with respect to service, information technology, information management and data, as well as components of cybersecurity
4.2 Develop a data strategy roadmap for the federal public service
4.2.1 A data strategy roadmap is developed for the federal public service to strengthen the government’s management and use of data for decision-making. The strategy will:
- foster trust in the government’s data stewardship
- demonstrate to Canadians that the government uses data for decisions that can improve their lives
4.3 Engage with Canadians on what digital and data transformation means for business, civil society, and Canadians
4.3.1 Canadians are informed and engaged, offering bold ideas through online forums and at least 25 in-person events
4.3.2 Feedback from diverse stakeholders helps to inform future policy work
4.4 Create a performance dashboard to track service to Canadians
4.4.1 Data on service delivery performance for all major service departments is collected and published via a dashboard on open.canada.ca
4.4.2 The dashboard indicates which services are available online, and specifies service standards, fees, volumetric data, and performance results
4.5 Publish analytics on Canada.ca website traffic in a timely manner, in the spirit of sites like http://analytics.usa.gov
4.5.1 As a first phase, analytics are understandable and available and for public review for the top pages on the Canada.ca site and key service portals
4.6 Prioritize open source code in development and procurement of digital solutions
4.6.1 Code for all new projects presented to the Enterprise Architecture Review Board (EARB) is publicly released within 6 months of launch, or a justification is published
4.6.2 Guidance is provided to departments on how to remove barriers for developers by publishing source code under open licenses
4.6.3 Guidance is provided to departments on the use of open standards
4.6.4 A business case for Open Source is published
4.6.5 A registry of open source code and open source software is established to provide consolidated access to government open source resources
4.7 Improve transparency and awareness of artificial intelligence (AI) supported public services
4.7.1 AI supply arrangements and other procurement vehicles are available to support departments in experimentation and innovation
4.7.2 A Treasury Board directive on decision support systems is developed to set rules on how departments can use AI ethically to make decisions
4.7.3 An algorithmic impact assessment tool is available to help institutions better understand and mitigate the risks associated with automated decision-making systems
4.7.4 An international conference on AI is hosted by Canada in fall 2018. The Summit will focus on themes of the G7 Statement on AI, in particular, enabling environments that facilitate responsible adoption of AI
4.7.5 Through the CSPS Digital Academy, an AI curriculum is established at the Canada School of Public Service to help build literacy on AI among federal public servants. Curriculum will support the data analyst community, raise awareness of AI supported public services across the government, and help to reach common nomenclature aligned with existing best practices
4.7.6 Workshops, conferences, and AI days are organized to increase awareness and assist public service to skill-up on AI and other emerging technologies. Where possible, events will be open to other sectors and to the public