Data Conference 2020: Unlocking the Power of Data – Agenda

Canada is proud to be chairing the Digital Nations for 2020, a collaborative network of 10 of the world’s leading digital governments. At the recent meetings in Uruguay in November 2019, the organization endorsed the Data 360° Declaration.

In this session, moderated by the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, we will hear more about leading data approaches around the world, including from Estonia, Uruguay and the United Kingdom.

• Laura Rodriguez,Deputy Chief Technology Officer and IT Chief Architect, AGESIC, Oriental Republic of Uruguay
• Ott Velsberg, Chief Data Officer, Government of Estonia
• Sam Roberts, Senior Policy Adviser, Open Government, Department for Digital Culture Media and Sport, United Kingdom
• Olivia Neal, Executive Director, Digital Change, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (Moderator)

A panel of select federal departments shares how they are rolling out their respective data strategies, what they are learning, and their data journeys.

• Sheriff Abdou, Chief Data Officer, Public Health Agency of Canada
• Kara Beckles, Director General, Research and Analysis, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
• Nicole Frenette, Director, Policy Research Group, Canadian Heritage
• Gillian Dawson, Director, Business Renewal and Enterprise Architecture, Health Canada
• Tom Dufour, Director General, Strategic Data Management Branch, Statistics Canada
• Alain Beaudoin, Assistant Secretary to the Cabine, Privy Council Office (Moderator)

A number of policies and frameworks provide guidance on how artificial intelligence (AI) should be deployed responsibly. But what does this look like in practice?

In this session, three departments provide concrete examples of how they use real AI applications in a responsible way, and the checks they have put into place to ensure that their systems are being operated for the benefit of Canadians.

• Data Governance for AI: The Future is Now (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada)
• Solutions Fund Project: Systematic Review Approaches and the Use of AI in Human Health Risk Assessment (Health Canada)
• Solid Governance Enables Both Data Benefits and Preservation of Human Rights (Statistics Canada)

Elizabeth Dubois (Ph.D.), Faculty member, Centre for Law, Technology and Society, University of Ottawa

Building on the Connected Canada conference and the Digital Ecosystems Research Challenge, this session will discuss the impacts of digital technologies on the political and civic life of citizens. The work aims to establish a research and policy agenda that responds to the ethical, technical and legal constraints related to digital trace data.

Visit exhibits from organizations across government that accelerate data science and demonstrate different levels of maturity in applying artificial intelligence, machine learning and other digital innovations to enable real decision making.

• Connecting Canada's Business Registries (Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada)
• Multi-Stakeholder Data Program Building (Statistics Canada)
• Artificial Intelligence Projects in ESDC (Employment and Social Development Canada)
• Algorithmic Impact Assessment (Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat)
• Agro-Climate, Geomatics and Earth Observation (Statistics Canada)
• In-Season Crop Estimation from Satellite Imagery Using Statistical Methods (Statistics Canada)
• Cloud-Based Enterprise Business Intelligence, Data and Analytics (Transport Canada)
• Unleashing the Research Value of IRCC Data (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada)

A discussion on the international context of artificial intelligence in formal (United Nations) and informal (Global Partnership on AI) multilateral forums including human rights and how these rights may impact domestic responsibilities.

• Samuel Marleau Ouellet, Director, Artificial Intelligence Hub, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada
• Ashley Casovan, Executive Director, AI Global
• Vik Pant, Chief Scientist and Chief Science Advisor, Natural Resources Canada
• Philippe-André Rodriguez, Senior Policy Advisor, Global Affairs Canada (Moderator)

Government of Canada departments and agencies increasingly leverage data science as part of their operations, and to support decision making. But even departments with long a tradition of data analysis are facing multiple challenges in establishing modern data science capabilities. It is important to use the latest tools and techniques available for data science to have the greatest impact on government business and policies.

Certain departments have taken the initiative to establish data science accelerator teams. A few will share their experiences and lessons learned over the last few years.

• Yvan Gauthier, Acting Director General, Analytics Support Centre, Department of National Defence
• Jeff Carr, Director of Data Science, Employment and Social Development Canada
• Christie Sambell, Unit Head, Enterprise Statistics, Statistics Canada
• Monica Pickard, Section Chief, Statistics Canada (Moderator)

Aaron Shull, Managing Director and General Counsel, Centre for International Governance Innovation

This presentation delves into the economic potential—and vulnerability—of transformative technologies and cyber security. It will show how the Government of Canada can be strategic in managing its data during an era of technological disruption.

Jack McKittrick, Employment and Social Development Canada

The capability to share and integrate data from many sources across Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) and its partners is a foundational objective of the ESDC data strategy. This capability requires consistent use of standardized code sets (reference data) to ensure that data from different systems can be joined on common code values that have the same business meaning. The process of defining, maintaining and implementing such a standard, which is known as Reference Data Management (RDM).

Visit exhibits from organizations across government on how departments are using data to help make decisions that enable transition, address challenges, provide agility to respond, and enhance achievability.

• Geography of the Cadet Program: Using GIS [Geographic Information System] to Increase Recruitment and Retention (Canadian Armed Forces)
• Applying NLP [Natural Language Processing] to Draw Insights from Text Data at Health Canada (Health Canada)
• Open GIS [Geographic Information System] for Decision Making at ESDC (Employment and Social Development Canada)
• Statistics Canada’s Innovation Radar (Statistics Canada)
• Marine Transportation Data: Innovative Projects for Better Decision Making (Transport Canada)
• Justice’s Business Analytics System: Integrated Corporate Data to Resolve Long-Standing and Complex Business Issues (Department of Justice Canada)
• A Stock-Take Meeting with the Prime Minister: Using Dynamic and Interactive Digital Dashboards in Tableau to Outline Progress and Performance on the Prime Minister’s Key Priorities (Privy Council Office)
• Measuring Progress: Public Service Renewal (Beyond2020) (Privy Council Office)
• Data Governance and Data Quality Strategies for Reporting at IRCC: Real-World Implementation and Lessons Learned (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada)
• Bringing Data to Life Through Visualizations and Storytelling (Canadian Heritage)

Focusing on the importance of data co-creation and collaboration across all levels of government, this session brings together federal and provincial open government experts to share innovative success stories. Examples of working together to improve open data in Canada include best practices in data standardization, the benefits of sharing APIs [Application Programming Interfaces], and efforts to align provincial data strategies with federal data initiatives.

• Christine Hagyard, Senior Manager, Ontario Digital Services, Government of Ontario
• Steve Gauthier, Director, Open Government and Open Source, Government of Quebec
• Mark Burns, Director, E-Services for Citizens, Government of Yukon
• Melanie Robert, Executive Director, Open Government, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (Moderator)

The panel will discuss the business side of data quality, from privacy protection to fitness for use assessment, from the perspectives of the data producer, the data user and the policy maker.

• John Walsh, Chief Data Officer, Environment and Climate Change Canada
• Martin Beaulieu, Chief of the International Cooperation and Methodology Innovation Centre, Statistics Canada
• Omar Bitar, Advisor, Office of the Chief Technology Officer, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat
• Julie McAuley, Chief Results and Delivery Officer, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (Moderator)

The Government of Canada’s Digital Standard on “good data stewards” specifically refers to “single sign-on”. However, many people are still not sure what it is, what it means for you or for your business, and it impacts data management.

To answer these questions, we have brought together experts from two departments to discuss the current thinking on digital identity for Canadian individuals and businesses. We will discuss the Digital Charter, digital IDs, and the opportunity to support better services for Canadians. We anticipate a lively session and our speakers are well prepared for serious debate.

• Connecting Canada's Business Registries (Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada)
• Trusted Digital Identity and the Pan-Canadian Trust Framework (Office of the Chief Technology Officer, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat)

Julie Paquette, Co-Director of the Research Centre in Public Ethics and Governance, and Assistant Professor, Faculty of Philosophy, Saint Paul University

This presentation will review current research on the ethics of artificial intelligence (AI), discuss algorithmic governmentality as a coherent response, and raise some ethical, economic and political issues around disruptive innovation in the public sector.

Note: This presentation will be in French with English slides and bilingual Q&A.

Visit demonstrations from organizations across government that accelerate data science and demonstrate different levels of maturity in applying artificial intelligence, machine learning and other digital innovations to enable real decision making.

• Solutions Fund Project: Systematic Review Approaches and the Use of Artificial Intelligence in Human Health Risk Assessment (Health Canada)
• Automation of Information Extraction from Financial Statements Using Graph-Based Techniques (Statistics Canada)
• Using AI for Risk-Based Regulatory Enforcement (Environment and Climate Change Canada)
• HR GO RH: Human Resources at Your Fingertips – Anytime, Anywhere (National Defence)
• Data-Enabled HR: Chatbots and the Public Service Resourcing System (PSRS) Tool (Employment and Social Development Canada)

A hundred learners from 35 organizations across the public service participated in the Canada School of Public Service’s Premium Cohort 2 from October 28, 2019, to January 22, 2020. Participants enhanced their knowledge and skills in design, data, artificial intelligence and machine learning, and DevOps. They explored real business problems in preparation for a two-week practicum where they worked in multidisciplinary teams, identifying and prototyping solutions.

In this session, a few of these 15 teams will pitch you their solutions and answer your questions. Let them show you what can be done with the right tools, approaches, attitudes and support.

• The CRA-Bot: An Easy-to-Use, Self-Serve Option for User Interaction (Canada School of Public Service, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada)
• Old-Age Pensions: Improving Access to Information on Dates of Entry into Canada (Canadian Heritage, Public Service Commission of Canada)
• BIRT [Benefit Instant Response Tool] (Employment and Social Development Canada, Canada Food Inspection Agency, National Defence)
• ATIP Efficiencies for Departments Using Natural Language Processing (Shared Services Canada, Employment and Social Development Canada, Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission)
• Vessel Registration Modernization (Transport Canada)

Sean McDonald, Principal, Digital Public, and Senior Fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation

Data trusts can play a role in ensuring governments guarantee that data required for public services isn’t captured by commercial interests or held hostage for shareholder value. When used for governance, data trusts can steward, maintain and manage how data is used and shared — from who is allowed access to it, and under what terms, to who gets to define the terms, and how.

This presentation explores how data trusts can involve a number of approaches to solving a range of problems, creating different structures to experiment with governance models and solutions in an agile way.

This session offers a strategic discussion of the multi-pronged cyber security threats facing Canada’s critical infrastructure and the cross-cutting efforts towards its defence and resilience.

• Rajiv Gupta, Director General, Cyber Defence Capabilities, Canadian Centre for Cyber Security, Communications Security Establishment Canada
• Colleen Merchant, Director General, National Cyber Security, Public Safety Canada
• Chris Lynam, Director General, National Cybercrime Coordination Unit, Royal Canadian Mounted Police
• Imraan Bashir, Executive Director, Cyber Security, Office of the Chief Technology Officer, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (Moderator)

Hear from three departments on how they are using data to enable recruiting, retention and development of personnel, focusing on how data can enable a more effective human resources product in support of our workforce.

• The Public Service Commission’s Macrosimulation: Influencing Policy and Programs Through Data Analytics (Public Service Commission of Canada)
• Approaching Phoenix as a Data Challenge (Department of Justice Canada)
• Geography of the Cadet Program: Using GIS (Geographic Information System) to Increase Recruitment and Retention (Canadian Armed Forces))

This interactive workshop showcases Discover Data, the second course in the Digital Academy’s Discover Series. The session is designed to introduce the course, and prototype course activities to get early participant feedback.

• Mackenzie Kitchen, Analyst, Canada School of Public Service
• Laura Sanschagrin, Senior Data Analyst, Service Canada

Visit with the participants of the Digital Academy and teams across government that demonstrate how departments are using data to help make decisions and enable transition, address challenges, provide agility to respond, and enhance achievability.

• Financial, People and Results Data: Connecting the Dots with GC InfoBase and Titan (Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat)
• Using Text Analytics to Augment Departmental Correspondence Processes (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada)
• Leveraging Regulatory Text with RegNav+ (Environment and Climate Change Canada)
• Towards DND/CAF Energy-Efficiency and GHG Reductions Through Exploitation of Energy Data (Defence Research and Development Canada)
• A Digital Full-Court Press: Digital Transformation at the Tactical, Operational and Strategic Levels (National Defence)
• Data Science Techniques for Content Mining of Environmental and Socio-Economic Assessments (Canada Energy Regulator (CER))
• Data Visualization of Conditions on CER-Regulated Energy Projects (Canada Energy Regulator)