National Action Plan on Open Government Commitment

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C05.2.09 - Open Data for Results

Commitment:
Open Data for Results
Milestone:
Build an open government and open data ecosystem
Indicator:
C05.2.09 - Develop and test an infrastructure, with supporting governance, to facilitate uptake of citizen science in a health research context [this may include, but is not limited to, research in environmental health (e.g., air, water, chemicals, radiation), COVID-19, or other health-related topics]
Lead Organization:
Health Canada
Deadline:
By 2024
Summit for Democracy:
No

Updates

2024-12
Status:
Substantial progress
Evidence of progress:
  • Continued progress in areas of guidance development and IT infrastructure use case elaboration
    '-Continued stakeholder engagement via federal Community of Practice and Health Canada Task Group
  • Continued advancement of federal partnership with Labs Canada and Shared Services Canada Science
    ' -Successful application for Experimentation and Innovation Funding (250K) through Labs Canada to advance IT platform prototype development and use case testing
Evidence:

'- Ongoing meetings of Departmental Task Group and Federal Community of Practice
- Ongoing guidance development and sharing of completed instruments on GCExchange site with access to interested federal researchers.
-Creation of experimental sandbox environment in AWS by SSC for platform protoype/proof of concept development
- MOU in place between PSPC and HC to provide up to 250K of funding towards 2 developers to advance development of the IT platform prototype

Challenges:

' Additional investments in infrastructure supporting federal participatory research will be required to support implementation to its fullest potential

2024-09
Status:
Substantial progress
Evidence of progress:
  • Partnership with Shared Services Canada and Laboratories Canada to explore development of a Citizen Science platform prototype
  • New and continued partnerships and consultations; guidance development; and pilot project development
Evidence:
  • Ongoing meetings of Departmental Task Group and Federal Community of Practice
  • Ongoing collaborations and relationships with Laboratories Canada, Statistics Canada, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Shared Services Canada and the Treasury Board Secretariat, as well as international platforms and jurisdictions, to explore and develop guidance and infrastructure
Challenges:

Additional investments in infrastructure supporting federal participatory research will be required to support implementation to its fullest potential

2024-06
Status:
Substantial progress
Evidence of progress:
  • Partnership with Shared Services Canada and Laboratories Canada to explore development of a Citizen Science platform prototype
  • New and continued partnerships and consultations; guidance development; and pilot project development
Evidence:
  • Ongoing meetings of Departmental Task Group and Federal Community of Practice
  • Ongoing collaborations and relationships with Laboratories Canada, Statistics Canada, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Shared Services Canada and the Treasury Board Secretariat, as well as international platforms and jurisdictions, to explore and develop guidance and infrastructure
Challenges:
  • Additional investments in infrastructure supporting federal participatory research will be required to support implementation to its fullest potential
2024-03
Status:
Substantial progress
Evidence of progress:
  • Continuation of IT requirements gathering, including interviews
  • New and continued partnerships and consultations; guidance development; and pilot project development
Evidence:
  • Ongoing meetings of Departmental Task Group and Federal Community of Practice
  • Ongoing collaborations and relationships with Laboratories Canada, Statistics Canada, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Shared Services Canada, and the Treasury Board Secretariat, as well as international platforms and jurisdictions, to explore and develop guidance and infrastructure
  • Contributed to the Government Response to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Science and Research's Report 6: The Role and Contribution of citizen Scientists (https://www.ourcommons.ca/DocumentViewer/en/44-1/SRSR/report-6/response-8512-441-338)
Challenges:
  • Additional investments in infrastructure supporting federal participatory research will be required to support implementation to its fullest potential
2023-12
Status:
Substantial progress
Evidence of progress:
  • Continuation of IT requirements gathering exercise via contract
  • New and continued partnerships and consultations; guidance development; and pilot project development
Evidence:
  • Cohosted a panel with Laboratories Canada at the 2023 Canadian Science Policy Conference discussing the use of Citizen Science in government
  • Ongoing meetings of Departmental Task Group and Federal Community of Practice
  • Ongoing collaborations and relationships with Statistics Canada, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Shared Services Canada and Laboratories Canada to explore and develop guidance and infrastructure
Challenges:
  • Additional investments in infrastructure supporting federal participatory research will be required to support implementation to its fullest potential
2023-09
Status:
Substantial progress
Evidence of progress:
  • Published report of results from Public Opinion Research, and formally requested and received a public interpretation of the Tri-Council Policy Statement (TCPS 2) for citizen science
  • Initiation of IT requirements gathering exercise via contract
  • Continued partnerships and consultations; guidance development; and pilot project development
Evidence:
Challenges:

Additional investments in infrastructure supporting federal participatory research will be required to support implementation to its fullest potential

2023-06
Status:
Substantial progress
Evidence of progress:
  • Analysis of Public Opinion Research results and drafting of final report which identifies motivators and barriers to participation, focused on some traditionally underrepresented demographics.
  • Continued partnerships and consultations; guidance development; and pilot project development
Evidence:
  • Results from the Public Opinion Research. Publication of the final report expected in September 2023
  • Ongoing meetings of Departmental Task Group and Federal Community of Practice
  • Ongoing and new collaborations with Statistics Canada, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Shared Services Canada and Laboratories Canada to explore and develop guidance and infrastructure
Challenges:
  • Additional investments in infrastructure supporting federal participatory research will be required to support implementation
2023-03
Status:
Substantial progress
Evidence of progress:
  • Completion of Public Opinion Research data collection to identify motivators and barriers to participation, focused on some traditionally underrepresented demographics.
  • Continued partnerships and consultations; guidance development; and pilot project development
Evidence:
  • Preliminary topline results of the Public Opinion Research with final report/results expected in April 2023
  • Ongoing meetings of Departmental Task Group and Federal Community of Practice
  • Ongoing and new collaborations with Statistics Canada, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Laboratories Canada to develop guidance
Challenges:
  • How do we support diverse participation in government-led Citizen Science?
  • Additional investments in infrastructure supporting federal participatory research will be required to support implementation
2022-12
Status:
Substantial progress
Evidence of progress:
  • Initiation of a Public Opinion Research Project to identify motivators and barriers for participants with a particular focus on traditionally underrepresented demographics
  • Continued partnerships and consultations; guidance development; and pilot project development
Evidence:
  • Establishment of General Advice on Consent and Data Sharing guidance document
  • Ongoing meetings of Departmental Task Group and Federal Community of Practice
  • Collaborations with Statistics Canada and Canadian Food Inspection Agency to develop guidance
Challenges:
  • How do we support diverse participation in government-led Citizen Science?
  • Additional investments in infrastructure supporting federal participatory research will be required to support implementation
2022-09
Status:
Substantial progress
Evidence of progress:

Continued stakeholder outreach, partnerships and consultations; guidance development; and pilot project development

Evidence:
  • Environmental scan to capture international context and existing guidance
  • Formation of Departmental Task Group and Federal Community of Practice
  • Comparative analysis of other Citizen Science platforms, and user centric, design thinking workshops to explore possible IT solution
  • Establishment of a definition and ten guiding principles for Citizen Science at Health Canada
Challenges:

How do we support diverse participation in government-led Citizen Science?

2022-06
Status:
Limited progress
Evidence of progress:
  • Continued stakeholder outreach, partnerships and consultations
  • Guidance development
  • Identification of potential pilot projects
Evidence:

Materials are still being drafted and not yet available publicly

Challenges:

How do we support diverse participation in government-led Citizen Science?

2022-03
Status:
Substantial progress
Evidence of progress:
  • Stakeholder outreach and collaboration to inform infrastructure needs and planning
  • Conduct of user-centric design thinking workshops to inform future IT needs
Evidence:

Materials are still being drafted and not yet available publicly

Challenges:

How do we support diverse participation in government-led Citizen Science?

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