Executive Roundtables at GTEC

October 27, 2008
Westin Ottawa Hotel

Presented by :

Designed for an invited audience of executives, the Roundtables are meant to be a positive platform for sharing ideas and solutions to key issues facing governments. This is not about pointing out problems. It’s an opportunity for peer level collaboration around solutions.

Up to 80 government and industry executives are invited to participate in small groups (3) that will discuss specific issues and questions. Professional writers will prepare a post event report for circulation. The primary objective of this multi-lateral forum is to summarize issues and solutions, and promote understanding through a report that governments can leverage for positive transformation.

Discussion Topic 1 - Workplace Culture and Government 2.0

Technology has always been transformative, even disruptive. The new wave of Web 2.0 technologies have swung the pendulum sharply towards an open, bottom-up style of social computing where the customer can direct the services they want, when they want to have them. There are tremendous and obvious benefits to adopting Web 2.0, but the real challenge for CIOs is to change the culture of government organizations so that they can truly leverage the power of technologies that are already commercially available.

Unlike the first technological shift of the Internet age, this second wave of social computing will have to change the culture of governments without compromising security, safety and accountability to the citizen.

Discussion Topic 2 - Identity and Entitlement to Services

Government has a leadership role to play in the realm of electronic identity management that parallels their existing (inherited) role in other channels. A national framework will address governance, principles and a federated model for identity management.

Discussion Topic 3 – Sustainability and the Back Office

Canada has a positive track record as an innovator in government’s use of technology to better serve the citizen. Many would argue that Canada set many benchmarks for “e-government” in the early years. The emergence of Web 2.0 technologies proposes a brand new lens through which we can deliver dynamic and engaging government services. Canada will be challenged to be a Government 2.0 leader, if IT/IM organizations are unable to maintain productivity, as systems age and resources become scarce.