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]
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