Highlights Future Policing- Canada

The OIG therefore has a critical role to play. It works to ensure “that all of our officers and employees act with honesty, dignity and respect toward the public.” This is underpinned by two principles or aphorisms: One is based on an ancient Roman saying of “who will watch the watchers, or in a more modern parlance, who will police the police?” By the nature of their work, the police have the “authority to deprive someone of their freedom or possibly their life.” But they are not above the law and thus “we’ve created some oversight so they can do …

Article: How Microsoft Teams is powering the modernization of municipalities

Municipalities form the backbone of our communities, providing a vast range of services that touch the daily lives of citizens. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic—which abruptly halted most in-person interactions and face-to-face visits—local governments had to reimagine how to deliver vital social services and maintain operations at important institutions. The solution was to transition quickly to a virtual service delivery and operational model. As virtual technologies affect almost every facet of our lives—including how we work, interact with healthcare providers, and educate our children—local governments need to consider how to enable the long-term digital transformation of municipalities with …

Highlight Reel: Workforce Transformation in the Public Sector

Like so many organizations, the City of Hamilton in the Province of Ontario experienced tremendous turmoil in 2020 as a result of COVID-19. Nenzi Cocca, the Director of Human Resources (HR) Systems & Operations at the City of Hamilton, says that the pandemic brought with it “a number of unexpected challenges when bringing on new employees, and we had some employees that were retiring too.” Very quickly “we had to figure out a way to make sure that knowledge transfer happened as seamlessly as possible.” This was particularly important because the HR division is one of the most important. “I …

Cyber Security in Healthcare

The health sector has unique challenges associated with the security and storage of data and patient information. Health institutions are also at the forefront of health technology innovation because they are very reliant on technology, but are adaptable when they need to be, as COVID-19 has shown. This paper brings together four technical and medical directors from four health institutions across Canada. They provide perspectives on how they have dealt with their unique challenges, and how COVID-19 got in the way. They also show what is possible in terms of keeping data, patients, staff and facilities secure.

Natural Resource Canada’s Digital Accelerator

Canada has a rich history of innovation supporting economic growth, environmental protection and the well-being of Canadians. Over the last few decades the ever-changing forces of technology exerted transformational influence on our lives and on the global economy. This is particularly evident when it comes to natural resources where advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) can bring wide-ranging improvements to science, research, production, resource extraction and other business functions.

Procurement in the Public and Private Sectors: Is There Really Much Difference?

The short answer to that question is yes, there are big differences. The more nuanced answer is yes, there are differences, but in many respects, they are narrowing, and in any case, the things they have in common are far greater. One of the reasons that the answer has become so nuanced is that the border between private and public has become blurred , with some public sector organizations being privatized or part-privatized and others adopting private sector methods in areas such as procurement. While for a number of reasons some private organizations have been taken, temporarily or permanently, into …

Pivot-al Learnings: PSN's transition to virtual events

Last spring, we at Public Sector Network took all of our programming online, beginning with our Digital Inclusion event. ( It’s hard to believe that our second edition is next week! ) We have been learning and growing ever since then! Here are a few takea…

How Modern Healthcare is Being Revolutionized with Automation

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is the next level in automation. RPA uses machine learning and AI to effectively handle tasks that are done manually. RPA has made huge strides in Healthcare. Here are some ways in which automation is revolutionizing the healthcare industry: A major cause of rising healthcare costs is the growing demand for medical devices and the innovation costs involved in drug discovery. Automation can greatly aid in reducing these costs by modernizing drug and device production and using technology to minimize costs and advance public health priorities. Doing so would help in fast-tracking the assessment of safety …