Question Period Note: COVID-19 DIGITAL GOVERNMENT ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Canada Digital Services, OCIO and SSC are taking action to support the critical services of other departments in addition to general preparedness activities.

• In mounting its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government of Canada is accelerating its digital transformation to deliver concrete results for Canadians.
• Shared Services Canada continues to work to increase the Government of Canada's secure network capabilities so that more public servants are equipped to access networks and systems while teleworking.
• Together with public and non-profit partners, the Canadian Digital Service (CDS) is collaborating to help governments across Canada respond to the COVID-19 crisis by leveraging available open source tools and services.
• CDS worked with Health Canada and Service Canada to support the implementation of Notify, an information-sharing service that has sent tens of thousands of notifications to Canadians with up-to-date and accurate information on COVID-19 that they can trust.
• CDS is working with Employment and Social Development Canada and other departments to develop an online tool that will help Canadians find the financial help they need from the government during the pandemic.
• Over 250 federal employees have registered for accounts on Government of Canada Talent Reserve, a tool designed to centrally identify and deploy talent to the most critical unmet staffing areas across government.
• Through Canada.ca/coronavirus, and the Open Government portal at open.canada.ca, we are supporting Canadians' access to pertinent information and data and helping coordinate a nation-wide response to the pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to transform the government’s operational and service landscape. In mounting its response, the government is accelerating its digital transformation, delivering results that directly support Canadians during this time of crisis while strengthening the government’s foundation for becoming a more open, user-centric and resilient digital government into the future.
The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) is working with Shared Service Canada (SSC) to actively support the ongoing operation of the government’s IT infrastructure and systems and maintain continuity of critical federal services.
This includes increasing network capacity to support the rise in remote work across government; prioritizing network access and IT services to maintain critical service continuity; mobilizing the CIO community to identify support needs; providing real-time feedback on IT needs in core service areas; and coordinating government action to ensure key IT infrastructure continues to function.
In parallel, SSC and OCIO are ensuring that departments and public servants have the knowledge, tools and equipment they need to work remotely. This includes procuring and provisioning new devices and equipment, and rapidly deploying new cloud-based collaboration and communication systems government-wide.
OCIO is in continuous contact with the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security to maintain awareness of the global cyber threat environment, including regular scanning for new vulnerabilities that may impact the GC.
OCIO is working closely with departments and agencies to support service delivery by strengthening Business Continuity Planning, identifying critical services, and focusing committee forward agendas on COVID-19-related efforts. This includes working with SSC and Public Safety Canada to identify critical service interdependencies, including between services identified in departmental service inventories, critical services and the IT systems that support them.
TBS has reached out to CIOs from all departments to understand their unmet staffing needs in priority areas, and to develop a tool to centrally identify and deploy talent to the most-needed areas. This includes repurposing and upgrading features on the Talent Cloud platform to create GC Talent Reserve, a tool to capture staffing needs and available talent. This will be used initially for the CIO community, and OCIO is working with the Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer (OCHRO) to determine its suitability for wider use.
TBS is actively supporting government in managing its legislative and policy responsibilities during the COVID-19 response, including those related to Access to Information (ATI) and personal information requests, to proactive publication, and to information management. Key activities include system modifications and website notifications, as well as regular guidance to departments and agencies. OCIO also improved the searchability of open government resources, including datasets and infographics, related to COVID-19 by creating a COVID-19-specific search functionality on open.canada.ca.
OCIO is engaging within the Government of Canada, as well as across Canadian jurisdictions, sectors, and internationally to establish strong lines of communication, share best practices, and support a coordinated response by CIOs to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On the global stage, this includes engaging partners through key fora like the Digital Nations, the Open Government Partnership (OGP), and the OECD.
At the national level, OCIO is leveraging its role as co-chair of the Public Sector Chief Information Officer Council and the Chief Information Officer Strategy Council to bring together CIOs from provincial and territorial public sectors, and from Canada’s public and private sectors, respectively, for coordinative action on COVID-19 challenges.
OCIO also is exploring opportunities to leverage private sector expertise to support the COVID-19 response. This includes launching a task force to act as a coordinative hub for all IM/IT COVID-19 vendor offers of support across government.

KEY FACTS
• The COVID-19 pandemic continues to transform the government’s operational and service landscape.

• In mounting its response to the COVD-19 pandemic, the Government of Canada is accelerating its digital transformation while strengthening the government’s foundation for becoming a more open, user-centric and resilient digital government into the future.

• Together with public and private sector partners, the Canadian Digital Service has initiated a Canadian Digital Response team to help governments respond to the COVID-19 crisis.
• Shared Services Canada is providing reliable, secure IT infrastructure and telecommunications (including email / workplace technologies, telecommunications, data center services, and cyber and IT security) to the Government of Canada organizations delivering critical services directly to Canadians.