Digital Transformation Canada will be led by Patrick Pichette.
The federal government is creating a new agency to scale technologies in the public service, as Prime Minister Mark Carney continues to reshape the federal bureaucracy.
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The organization, Digital Transformation Canada, will lead efforts to equip public servants with new emerging tools, and look to use the government’s purchasing power “more strategically to help Canadian digital and AI companies test, scale, and commercialise (sic) new technologies,” according to a Sept. 3 news release.
“Canada’s future prosperity will be built by those who innovate, adopt new technologies, and move quickly to seize new opportunities. Digital Transformation Canada will ensure the federal government leads by example,” Carney said in the news release.
Canada’s future prosperity will be built by those who innovate, adopt new technologies, and move quickly to seize new opportunities
The new agency, which will be under the purview of Procurement Minister Joël Lightbound, is the latest of several organizations Carney has created outside of longstanding departments and that are spearheaded by leaders who are not career bureaucrats.
Carney has tapped a former Google executive, Patrick Pichette to become the office’s first CEO.
Pichette was the Chief Financial Officer of Google from 2008 to 2015 and also spent time at Bell Canada, McKinsey and Sprint Canada.
Pichette will now be tasked with three priorities from Carney, according to the government news release.
The first was to “scale shared solutions across government,” which will involve reducing operating costs, improving the use of AI and strengthening Canada’s digital sovereignty while “improving Canadians’ experience with federal services.”
The second was to “equip public servants with more modern, secure tools” to help reduce administrative burden and “improve efficiency.”
The third was to “use the Government of Canada’s purchasing power more strategically” to help Canadian technology companies scale and commercialize.
The last priority echoes efforts of other new agencies in procurement areas such as housing and defence to inject more support and capital into the private sector.
