What we're doing: Taking a coordinated approach to digital operations
The Government of Canada is committed to improving data-driven decision-making and service delivery through better, safer data‑sharing across departments using modern collaboration tools. Canadians must be able to trust that their data is protected and is being used responsibly. Budget 2021 reinforced this commitment with the proposed establishment of a new Data Commissioner to inform government and business approaches to data-driven issues to help protect people’s personal data and to encourage innovation in the digital marketplace.
Traditionally, federal departments and agencies have been organized around their mandates and their authority to act in fulfilling those mandates. Too often, these organizations have come to resemble silos, constrained by their legislation and limited in their ability to share data and develop services that work across government.
While innovation and collaboration certainly exist in government, some departments continue to work in silos, leading to duplication of effort and increasing the likelihood of costly failures. To support the efforts of departments to move toward digital program and service delivery for Canadians, the Digital Operations Strategic Plan 2021-2024 establishes the strategic direction for the integrated management of service, information, data, information technology (IT) and cybersecurity. The GC is working toward modernizing data governance policies and providing public servants with the modern, standardized platforms and tools needed to collaborate and coordinate more effectively across departments and agencies, all with the objective of serving individuals and organizations better.
By the numbers
- Currently, there are 56 different places to log in to a government account online, and each requires unique login information
- While most Canadians have faith in organizations to safeguard their information, two in five (38%) are not confident that their personal information can be kept safe, with 17% saying they are “pretty cynical” about the ability of companies or governments to protect their data. (KPMG in Canada cybersecurity poll, 2020)
To ensure the security of people’s data, the GC is:
- Establishing an information centric security model to support a new working model of anywhere, anytime access, and improve cyber security through a defence in depth approach.
- Implementing a common and secure approach for a trusted digital identity platform services as a key enabler to seamless and frictionless security in digital systems.
What this means for Canadians
The government is continuing to build the networking and cybersecurity backbone to ensure that Canadians’ information is secure and private while also reducing duplicative efforts and cost. Budget 2021 proposes over $450 million to ensure the security of people’s information when accessing government services digitally and to maintain secure, up-to-date cybersecurity and defence capabilities on reliable networks.
Establishing and updating our policies, including ones that protect privacy and lead to better information‑sharing across departments, and ones that will enhance cyber security with implementation of minimum baseline security configurations and preventative controls such as multi-factor authentication and patch management will ensure that all government departments operate, design and deliver services that put people first.
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