The Canadian government has created a Digital Academy specifically for public service workers.
Hosted at the Canada School of Public Service, the academy will bring together various levels of government, the private sector, and the non-profit sector to provide perspective on improving government services through digital.
“In the age of smartphones, social media and apps that do everything, Canadians expect their government to serve them as seamlessly and as well as they’ve come to expect from the best digital service providers,” said Scott Brison, president of the Treasury Board and Minister of Digital Government. “Government exists to improve the lives of people, and a digitally enabled public service gives us an unprecedented opportunity to improve government services.”
The focus of the academy will be to advance the understanding of digital and what it means to public servants, and the impact it has on the business of government. The curriculum offered at the academy will support all levels of public servants in their efforts to modernize operation. In the short term, the Digital Academy will focus on helping all public servants increase their digital acumen. It will provide insight on data analysis, design, development and automation, disruptive technology and artificial intelligence, and machine learning.
The academy will officially host its pilot cohort in January 2019.