Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada: Open Government Implementation Plan

4.1 Raison d’être and Responsibilities^{Footnote 1}

As the Government of Canada’s (GC) centre of microeconomic policy expertise, Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED) works with Canadians in all areas of the economy and in all parts of the country to create a strong business environment which promotes competition, and instills investor and consumer confidence. ISED works towards this goal by encouraging innovation, supporting business and working to create a fair, efficient and competitive marketplace.

ISED’s founding legislation, the Department of Industry Act, established the Ministry as the federal Department responsible for building a prosperous and innovative Canada. In order to deliver on its mandate, the Department is responsible for a number of program activities, delivered along five business lines: policy development, research and analysis, regulatory compliance, program delivery and internal services. These diverse activities cover a range of matters, including managing Canada’s airwaves and overseeing its bankruptcy, incorporation, intellectual property and measurement systems; providing financing and industry research tools to help businesses develop, import and export; encouraging scientific research; and protecting and promoting the interests of Canadian consumers.

As part of the GC’s commitment to helping Canadians, ISED has a team of three ministers who oversee the delivery of these programs and services:

• Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development
• Minister of Science
• Minister of Small Business and Tourism

As specified in the mandate letters they received upon assuming office, each minister has been tasked with the delivery of specific priorities in order to achieve the Department’s objectives. Two of the mandate letters in particular address key commitments to Open Government initiatives, including the following: 

Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Mandate Letter

“Improve the quality of publicly available data in Canada. This will require working with Statistics Canada, the President of the Treasury Board and other departments and agencies to develop an Open Data initiative that would consider big data and make more of the data paid for by Canadians available to the public.”

Minister of Science Mandate Letter

“Create a Chief Science Officer mandated to ensure that government science is fully available to the public, that scientists are able to speak freely about their work, and that scientific analyses are considered when the government makes decisions.”

4.2 Challenges and Mitigation Strategy

ISED employs approximately 5,000 employees. The Department consists of seven sectors that contribute directly to ISED’s business and four that provide corporate services. Most employees are located in the National Capital Region (NCR); however, regional office staff also play an important role in supporting a variety of ISED programs.

4.3 Technological Environment

The creation of Shared Services Canada (SSC) in 2011 transformed Information Management (IM) and Information Technology (IT) environment across 43 GC departments and agencies. SSC aligned human and technology resources and assets with the intention of improving the efficiency, reliability and security of IT infrastructure. Support for ISED’s infrastructure is provided by SSC in partnership with the Chief Information Office (CIO), which manages the department’s IM/IT services, policies, and resources. While the CIO provides support to all program areas, the diversity of the ISED portfolio and the range of mandates, legislative requirements and restrictions have resulted in governance and technological infrastructure being managed at the program level through different technologies, data repositories, and applications.

4.4 Role in Facilitating Open Government for the Whole of Government

Canada’s Action Plan on Open Government 2014-16 identifies the following commitments which target a range of initiatives to improve access to Open Data, Open Information, and Open Dialogue for Canadians:

Figure 1 - Text version

Circle 1 (in the middle): Open Government Directive

Circle 2 (around circle 1) divided in 3 sections: Open Info, Open Dialogue and Open Data.

Open Info:

• *Open Science
• Mandatory Reporting on Extractives
• Open Contracting (PWGSC co-leads with TBS)
• Open Information on Budgets and Expenditures
• Digital Literacy
• *Open Information Core Commitment

Open Data:

• Open Data Canada
• *Canadian Open Data Exchange
• Open Data for Development
• * Open Data Core Commitment

Open Dialogue:

• Next-generation Consulting Canadians

Circle 3 (around circle 2): Availability of Information, New technologies, Citizen Participation and Professional Integrity

ISED is committed to achieving the Open Government core principles of greater availability of information, civic participation, professional integrity and the use of technology for openness and accountability through compliance with the Directive on Open Government and facilitation of Open Information, Open Data and Open Dialogue. The Department is participating in the advancement of Canada’s Action Plan on Open Government’s commitments through its activities in Open Science (collaborating on the newly-approved Open Science Implementation Plan), and its core commitments across the OG pillars.  Notably, ISED has taken a lead role in the new government-wide canada.ca website and leadership roles in integrating content around three themes: Business and Industry, Science & Technology and Money (Consumers).

In support of Canada’s Action Plan on Open Government, ISED will maximize the release of eligible government data and information of business value subject to applicable restrictions related to privacy, confidentiality and security. Planned activities include the following:

• Establishing and maintaining inventories of data and information holdings;
• Prioritizing the publication of data and information based on public demand;
• Publishing data and information in accessible and open formats on federal Open Government websites under an open and unrestrictive licence; and
• Reporting annually on progress made.

4.5 Challenges

To date, ISED’s decentralized approach to managing structured and unstructured data holdings has posed a challenge to sharing and collaboration among sectors and lifecycle management. ISED currently operates in an environment of isolated data repositories tightly coupled with the applications that create and maintain them. The applications are in turn largely segregated along organizational boundaries. ISED manages approximately 215 databases,^{Footnote 2} each containing multiple datasets, in addition to over 100 websites^{Footnote 3} and ISED business units take responsibility for managing their structured data in a variety of applications and content published on the Department’s websites.

While unique datasets are managed by their data owners and released on an ad hoc basis the Department also works with Master Data, high value common information that supports critical business processes across the enterprise. Master Data includes the entities most commonly used by ISED (e.g., Person, Organization and Location). Data integrity is a challenge and the Department is working to apply data governance procedures to standardize datasets and ensure high quality.

The CIO is currently consulting with dataset owners to determine the volume of datasets held by the Department and identify which might be candidates for public release. To date, 31 datasets owned by Spectrum, Information Technologies and Telecommunications (SITT) and Small Business, Tourism and Marketplace Services (SBTMS) have been posted on open.canada.ca to date. Select datasets and additional ISED reports are also available online through ic.gc.ca. TBS has a request pending with the Department for the release of several new datasets,^{Footnote 4} based on public feedback received through the Open Government Portal.

Policy and funding challenges are widespread as agencies work to develop new processes, allocate resources and integrate the accelerated release of data into planning, procurement and modernization activities. Updated governance frameworks are required to protect privacy, national security and commercial interests; to monitor compliance and quality; and to ensure that official language and accessibility requirements are met. Furthermore, research communities will need to agree on standardization protocols to facilitate data storage, search, and dissemination.

Changes in technology, employee skillsets, business processes and client expectations are challenges currently facing all departments. ISED sectors are collaborating to design a holistic vision for digital service delivery, which will connect departmental efforts on web renewal, open data, improving business applications, identity and stakeholder management, master data management and business analytics. The vision will focus on e-service delivery so that accessing government services matches expectations and is aligned with business processes in the connected world.

TBS is working with federal departments and agencies to develop tools, resources and guidelines to meet these challenges and provide a forum for problem-solving and sharing of best practices. ISED is actively involved at the working group level and is taking the opportunity to help identify areas of concern and provide input to proposed solutions.

While there is general consensus that Open Science access initiatives will benefit research, the public and industry, the same challenges exist within ISED and across the GC. These include consistency of approaches, forecasting of costs and accessibility, format, privacy, security, legal and ownership requirements related to the release of both data and scientific publications. The Tri-Agency Open Access Policy on Publications, which was launched in February 2015 by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) (“the Agencies”), will serve as a model for a Government-wide policy.

An additional challenge is the classification of information of enduring or archival value which has been transferred to LAC. There is a drive to increase the public availability of heritage material; however, the removal of access restrictions is dependent on policy guidance from LAC and TBS and is currently under development.

4.6 Opportunities

Implementation of the Directive on Open Government

The Directive on Open Government, released by TBS in October 2014, requires all Government departments to detail their governance structures and processes supporting Open Government, including the development of data and information inventories, identification and prioritization for the publication of datasets which are eligible for release and the removal of access restrictions on information resources prior to their transfer to LAC. This will require the establishment of well-documented governance structures and processes to assist with quality assurance, life-cycle management, identification and prioritization for release, authorization to publish and sufficient resources to ensure the publication of information which is both timely and accurate.

ISED has identified the following short-term targets for the Department, which will ensure compliance with the Directive, and facilitate the management of ISED’s resources and improve the quality of service delivered to Canadians:

5.1 Governance

• The establishment of a formal governance framework for the management and release of data, established by the CIO through collaboration with the Data Management Working Group (DMWG), will build on existing processes for data release, solidifying consultation with ISED stakeholders and leveraging ISED’s current governance committee structure. This in turn will ensure that both data and information publication become an integral part of the Department’s current and long term planning actitivities.
• In order to better facilitate management of ISED’s resources, the CIO will develop a process to begin building a comprehensive list of the Department’s information holdings by expanding existing consultation processes on data/application registries to include more detailed reporting and validation from business owners. 

5.2 Release of Datasets

• ISED currently has 31 datasets published on the portal, in addition to a variety of public-facing databases. Through the accelerated identification and prioritization of the release of information deemed of interest to the Canadian public on open.canada.ca, Canadians will have easier access and far more extensive opportunities to better utilize the Department’s resources.

5.3 Communications and Planning

• As part of its commitment to Canada’s Action Plan, the CIO will work with the Corporate Management Sector (CMS) and Communications Marketing Branch (CMB) to ensure that the philosophies driving Open Government are better understood by ISED employees, and integrated in the Department’s integrated planning activities and service delivery models.

5.4 Open Science Implementation Plan

• The Science and Innovation Sector (SIS) worked successfully with Environment and Climate Change Canada on the development of an approach for SBDAs and granting agencies to promote open access to federally-funded scientific publications and corresponding data. As the plan comes to fruition, information on federally-funded science and technology activities will be made publically available, and opportunities for collaboration in federal science will increase. 

5.5 Big Data

• Big data is a broad term for datasets so large or complex that traditional data processing applications are inadequate. Challenges include analysis, capture, data curation, search, sharing, storage, transfer, visualization, querying and information privacy.^{Footnote 5} Per the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act(PIPEDA), ISED has a role in shaping the use of big data with regards to issues of privacy, data ownership, and data usage rules.
• Big data analytics refers to the simultaneous analysis of structured and unstructured data (numbers, text, photos, video or audio, often in real time). Open Data initiatives enable big data analysis capabilities through the identification and release of datasets. ISED’s Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) Branch is currently working on developing a strategy to leverage big data analytics to improve program and service delivery, stakeholder and client relations, and strategic decision making through predictive outcomes.

5.6 Alignment with Blueprint 2020 (BP2020)

• BP2020 articulates a vision of a federal public service with the following four guiding principles:
• An open and networked environment that engages citizens and partners for the public good;
• A whole-of-government approach that enhances service delivery and value for money;
• A modern workplace that makes smart use of new technologies to improve networking, access to data and customer service; and
• A capable, confident and high-performing workforce that embraces new ways of working and mobilizing the diversity of talent to serve the country’s evolving needs.
• Building on BP2020 principles, the Department’s IM/IT vision, as stated in its five-year IM/IT Strategic Plan for Information Management and Information Technology,^{Footnote 6} clearly states that information should be reliable, complete, accurate, timely and up-to-date, discoverable, accessible, and available.  The Department’s Open Government commitments are central to this direction and to advancing the vision set out in BP2020. 

6.1 Roles and Responsibilities – Deputy Head and Information Management Senior Official

The governance of ISED’s Open Government Implementation Plan (OGIP) is informed by the responsibilities identified for the Information Management Senior Official (IMSO) and Deputy Head (DH) in sections 6 (Requirements), 7 (Monitoring and Reporting Requirements), and 8 (Consequences) of the Directive on Open Government.

6.2 Roles and Responsibilities – Key Stakeholders

In order to facilitate the successful implementation of the Department’s policies, programs, services and strategic outcomes, ISED relies on senior governance committees for decision-making and the identification of main priorities. The senior governance committees include the Departmental Management Committee (DMC), the Director General Policy Committee (DGPC) and the Director General Management Advisory Committee (DGMAC). The Chief Information Office Management Committee (CIO MC) and the newly-formed Data Management Working Group (DMWG) provide direction in IM/IT areas.

Release Process for ISED Data and Information

In order to maximize efficiencies, approvals and quality assurance, ISED has developed a four-step process for the selection, preparation, prioritization and publication of departmental data to the open.canada.ca government portal. The model below captures the activities and identifies the roles and responsibilities of key stakeholders across ISED.

Figure 2 - Text version

{From bottom to the top}

Stewards (Data Owners): Indentify – Responsible for identifying, assessing, validating and recommending data / info for release.

Custodians (IT): Prepare – Responsible for technological readiness / support

Interdepartmental Data Management Working Group: Recommend – Review recommendation for data/information release

DGMAC to Information Management Senior Official: Endorse – Provide strategic advice and oversight to an advance Open Government agenda

Red maple leaf: Publish – on open.canada.ca

6.3 Communication, Awareness, and Engagement

In order to raise awareness of Open Government within the Department, ISED will develop a long-term communication strategy which will not only disseminate key messages and principles of Open Government over the five-year implementation period but will also actively promote fundamental change within ISED’s workplace culture.

To begin, ISED will create an inward-facing Open Government intranet page. Accessible to all ISED employees, the site will draw from existing materials but will also feature a frequently-asked-questions (FAQ) section focused on the Open Government initiative. This document will provide references to existing FAQs on authoritative sites as well as context-specific guidance to ISED employees.

Sensitization articles will also be prepared for fall and winter publication in the departmental newsletter. These articles will promote the new Open Government intranet page and provide key points of contact for additional questions or concerns. Furthermore, two updates will be distributed to managers to provide them with the necessary knowledge to disseminate key messages to team members. Finally, using ISED specific communication materials, open registration information sessions on Open Government initiatives will be conducted throughout the Department.

Alongside its internal communication, awareness, and engagement activities, ISED is an active member in the TBS-led Open Government Directive Implementation Working Group. This group acts as a collaborative forum for departments and agencies to lead the development of tools and resources to support the implementation of the Directive on Open Government.

Additionally, ISED has begun participation in the Open Government Communications Network which seeks to enable information sharing and collaboration among GC departments surrounding the implementation of Open Government commitments.

Planning Table A: Directive on Open Government (DOG) Requirements