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Redesigning Government – there ought to be an app for that. | Scott Brison | TEDxKanata


ever wonder what happens after you die

well in in Canada the government gets a

fax now you don’t even remember faxes my

daughters don’t even know what a fax is

but they do know what an iPad is and the

other day I was playing The Sound of

Music for them while I was cooking them

breakfast after about 40 seconds I

suddenly hear paw patrol paw Patrol

whenever you’re in trouble rose and

Clarence wiped away Julie Andrews and it

swiped in their favorite kids show so if

Apple can design something so intuitive

that my three-year-olds can find exactly

what they want in about 40 seconds

why does government still build websites

government exists to improve the lives

of citizens now we have more power to do

that with digital than ever before more

power to understand people better to

understand their needs and to serve them

better today more than ever before an

organization government or business

needs to really understand its core

purpose otherwise it’s going to be

irrelevant very quickly again

government’s purpose is to improve the

lives of people blockbuster thought its

purpose was to make it easy to pick up

videos in your neighborhood

Netflix understood that they’re both in

the entertainment business but Netflix

asked he started off delivering DVDs

right to your door now the difference

was that Netflix really understood that

people wanted entertainment at their

fingertips and they didn’t care how it

got there so when digital delivery

changed the game Netflix was ready

blockbuster wasn’t even on the field we

can’t be a blockbuster government

serving a Netflix citizenry now Netflix

so how can we create that digital

startup mindset in a government well

sometimes really big successes result

from really really big failures on

October 1st 2013 the US government

launched Obamacare on that day four

point seven million Americans tried to

register on healthcare.gov only six

people succeeded it was one of the

biggest government IT screw-ups in

history President Obama and his response

to it adhere to the adage you never

waste a good crisis he effectively

created a digital startup right inside

the US government

he created 18f and the US government

digital services bringing in the top

techies from places like Silicon Valley

not just to fix government IT problems

but to harness digital to serve people

better so and the same model by the way

was created in the UK and in Australia

and also in the governments of Ontario

more recently the government of Canada

so what does this digital mindset really

mean and how can you create that within

government well there are three basic

points there are three principles number

one is a relentless focus on users and

actually letting the customers the

clients shape the services they receive

number two is the need to be agile to

start small and to scale up and to try

new things all the time number three is

to be open open data open source

creating open innovation the more you

share the more you gain let’s start with

people Amazon didn’t just take the

transaction of buying something and move

it online Amazon uses data all the time

to serve you better every time you buy

something from Amazon they pay attention

to you so that they can understand you

better so that they can serve you better

the next time so why can’t government do

that

why can’t government every time you

interact with government government has

that opportunity to pay attention to you

to understand you better and to serve

you better the next time ask yourself

why can’t you get the same quality of

service from your government when you

renew a passport that you get from

Amazon when you buy something the other

thing that is really important that

startups do the government’s need to do

better is working in the open whose life

today was improved by open government

data well if you used a weather app or

if you googled a destination you were

using open government data because

that’s what fuels those apps what’s

really cool and what’s really powerful

is when you take open data you combine

it with open source and you get smart

people inside and outside of government

working together sharing data sharing

tools sharing ideas all focused on

improving people’s lives now when I talk

about how these things can really make a

difference for the lives of Canadians

for the future and my colleagues asked

me do you really think we can do this

digital thing I respond to them that

that’s kind of like asking do you really

because in 2018 you’re either digital or

you’re dead and if a company doesn’t get

digital right it’s out of business if a

government doesn’t get digital right

it’s out of touch and today if we can’t

serve citizens well they’re gonna lose

faith in government and if we can’t get

the basics right how can they trust us

with the big things and today more than

ever before we have the power to move

the needle in terms of the quality of

services

we delivered to citizens today more than

ever before we have the power to

understand citizens better and to

fulfill their needs better than ever

before in history

digital gives us the power to reboot the

relationship we have with citizens it

means that instead of serving people

through their physical addresses that

change all the time then we can serve

them through their digital addresses

think about it if you’re a low-income

citizen if you’re precariously employed

you don’t really have a permanent

physical address but you do have a

digital address you have an email you

have a cell phone an address that stays

with you for a very long time maybe your

whole lifetime I’d make the argument and

in fact for vulnerable citizens digital

delivery can make the biggest difference

in their lives I’m going to give you one

example right now the government of

canada is struggling to increase the

uptake of the Canada learning bond that

is the bond that helps low-income

families kickstart their savings for

post-secondary education now that bond

goes to low-income families it’s free

government money you think it would

really be a hit fact is there’s about

two-thirds of the families who could

qualify for that benefit haven’t yet

enrolled solution we could use digital

to actually nudge the Canadian families

receiving the Canada child benefit to

get them to apply and enroll for the

Canada learning bond that would make a

huge difference for the future of a

whole generation of families and

children so what else lies ahead in this

bright digital future

well for starters when you die the

funeral home won’t have to fax a

notification to the government

now digitizing death notices may seem

like a small thing I think we should be

able to get at it right away but I want

us to be even more ambitious I want us

to deliver great services to citizens

while they’re still alive in fact

digital is already helping us save lives

a couple examples the governor can is

actually leading a global initiative

using open data to help predict and

prepare for the outbreak of infectious

diseases by doing that sharing emergency

room data by sharing weather patterns

and and and travel patterns we are

saving lives we’re using artificial

intelligence right now to watch social

media post public social media posts so

when parents complain about toys

malfunctioning we can actually notice a

trend and we can actually contact the

manufacturer earlier and and again save

lives we’ve talked about digital at the

end of your life we’ve talked about

digital saving lives what about digital

just making life better that’s really

what we’ve got to focus on in Estonia

well you don’t have to apply for a

government service it just happens

automatically you’re enrolled or in the

UK or Denmark where your tax form fills

itself felt it’s done automatically you

get a text or an email once a year with

your tax form if it’s if you’ve got a

problem

you let them know then otherwise it’s

just automatically submitted picture

doing your taxes and a couple minutes

from your phone on the way to work on

the bus that’s the kind of difference

the good digital government can make so

when I get asked by colleagues whether

or not we can get this done I think we

got to get this done Canadians are

depending on government getting it and

embracing digital and serving citizens

better other governments are doing it

businesses are doing it it’s high time

that

government doesn’t and I see a future

where citizens don’t have to wait for a

government service where citizens don’t

have to apply for a program they’re just

automatically enrolled we’re smart

people inside and outside of government

are sharing data tools and ideas and

code not just to improve lives but even

to save lives where there are services

that none of us have even yet imagined

government exists to improve the lives

of people there ought to be an app for

that thank you very much

[Applause]

[Music] [Applause]

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