CTO interview – follow-up questions

In spring 2019, we introduced you to SSC’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Luc Gagnon.

Since that time, there have been several changes in the Chief Technology Officer Branch (CTOB). We spoke to Luc about these changes and to find out what’s next for his teams.

Q: How have you found the role of SSC’s CTO since your arrival a few months ago?

Luc: It’s been pretty amazing. I’m passionate about technology and emerging technology in particular, so talking about this subject with our partners is great. I absolutely love the work that I do and the people I work with. I feel that I’m helping our partners and we, as a team, are making a real difference in the lives of Canadians. I have been meeting with a lot of people; within SSC, with our partners, with industry, and many stakeholders. The discussions have been very interesting and I continue to be really amazed at the scope of our responsibility and our very important role within the GC.

Q: Have there been any surprises since you’re started?

Luc: This is a question I get a lot, since I came from the private sector. People want to know how things are different for me as a CTO in the public sector. It’s been an adjustment for me. The processes are different, for sure. The engagement of our team members and their dedication is second to none. In my opinion Government organizations are not that different from large private sector corporations.

Q: There have been a lot of changes in your branch and at SSC since you started. How do you lead through change while balancing priorities?

Luc: In the first 12 months, the CTO branch has experienced considerable change. Through these changes, we’ve been reinforcing the enterprise approach that is key for leading the Digital transformation of the Government.

My focus has been on leading in an agile way and prioritizing. We’ve aligned ourselves with SSC’s 3.0 vision and introduced a commitment-based management approach within the CTOB leadership team. Of course, we’ve had to do a lot of recruitment, and I’m confident that we’ve got the right people on board.

Q: As mentioned above, your portfolio has expanded considerably. Do you see your branch continuing to evolve?

Luc: IT moves at the speed of light. There are more changes to come for CTOB, for sure, but also for all of SSC. We want to enable digital maturity within the Government of Canada’s platforms ecosystem, which focuses on the user experience and offers the right services to Canadians, any time, any place and on any device.

Q: Cloud is such a big priority for the government. Tell us about the opportunities for SSC and CTOB that this creates.

Luc: The implementation of Cloud allows us to respond to the increasing demand for digital options that enable the Government of Canada to meet the needs of Canadians. Our partners expect us to deliver a range of digital services, at various security levels and ultimately, we get to do that for them. Shared Services Canada is responsible for Cloud service supply, readiness, enablement and standardization. We are working hard on those elements every day while learning valuable lessons on how to migrate to the Cloud rapidly and securely. The hard work is paying off: we’ve launched the GC Cloud Brokering Services Portal – a single online solution where our partners have access to thousands of public Cloud services from the world’s leading Cloud service providers.

It’s unprecedented and exciting work. Much more is on the horizon, so stay tuned!

Q: Tell us about the Digital Enablement directorate under CTOB – what does it mean for both SSC and the GC?

Luc: The Digital Enablement Directorate focuses on modernizing the IT infrastructure. This will improve agility, capacity, resiliency, reliability and security to meet user expectations and business requirements in support of the Government of Canada Digital transformation objectives. The Digital Enablement directorate also gets to work in horizon 3 areas: software defined network, artificial intelligence, and Digital Platforms.

We’ve been using the Three Horizons model to categorize where we are investing our sweat equity and to ensure we are spending enough resources evaluating new trends in technology.

Q: What is your vision for the Science Program? How does this fit with your model?

Luc: The SSC Science Program is a direct response to the IT needs and requirements of federal scientists in various fields. In essence, the aim is to define and deliver integrated technology, data management and collaboration solutions that address the shared needs of science. As you know, researchers need to collaborate in a secure environment, and do so with colleagues down the hall, across the country, and around the world.

Q: How are architects at SSC creating ongoing value for our internal and external clients?

(*Note: Enterprise Architecture (EA) focuses on various layers of architecture -Business, Information, Applications, Technology, Security and Privacy- to provide strategic and operational value within an organization.)

Luc: Our architects are adding so much value to the Government of Canada infrastructure fabric. The role of EA is to take both a horizontal and vertical technical view across various business units of SSC. They develop materials that allow SSC to make better technical, management and investment decisions. We can then collectively deliver services to our partners and clients faster and better.

Q: What do you have in store for the coming months?

Luc: We have many exciting initiatives planned for the next few months.

This includes “Run Cloud Services” with private cloud, cloud business intake, enterprise containers and cloud operations.

Under the digital enablement program, we are developing an enterprise view of Artificial Intelligence activities and a reliability framework.

We also plan to deliver a coordinated SSC-wide approach to cybersecurity by design. This will ensure the confidentiality, availability and integrity of government systems and information. This also includes establishing an Integrated Business Intake process for optimized and standardized IT security risk assessment services.

On the architecture front, our team just launched the Architecture Professional Certification Program and will implement the Business Capability Model and Architecture Tools for SSC.

We are developing “science-as-a-service” and collaborating with federal science community stakeholders to assess and define additional horizontal IT requirements.

Finally, we will continue to deliver a Digital Platform Strategy and a Digital Learning Roadmap for SSC.

Q: How does your vision for CTOB align with the new 3.0 direction?

Luc: As a branch, we’re aligned with SSC 3.0 as our multiple initiatives will be carried out using an enterprise approach.

We will also be looking to consolidate, modernize and standardize wherever possible to improve reliability and reduce risk. We’ll be delivering on SSC 3.0’s key digital programs, such as the Cloud First policy requirement.

As a branch, we’re eager to play a leadership role in driving the government’s digital platform.

Q: In our first interview, you told us about your passion for keeping active by, among others, long-distance running. Have you made time to stay active since you took on this new role?

Luc: Yes, I’m still active; I run every second day, my stamina is at a good level. It does help that I love what I do!