Events
May 10, 1:00 to 2:00 pm (ET). From the GC Data Community: This event from the eighth annual GC Data Conference features Shoshana Zuboff and Jim Balsillie who discuss the evolving global landscape of data-driven business models, ethical and civic considerations surrounding data extraction and exploitation, and the collaborative efforts required to navigate the profound changes shaping our future.
COMMUNITY FEEDBACK:
- "The guest speaker Shoshana Zuboff was INCREDIBLE. Wow!! One of the best presentations I've ever seen."
- "The session with Shoshana Zuboff and Jim Balsillie was one of the best I have ever attended, and I feel extremely fortunate to have had the opportunity to participate."
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May 6, 1:00 to 2:30 pm (ET). From Canada School of Public Service: This insightful event explores the globally unique and studied cooperative relationship behind the protection and planning at Gwaii Haanas, and the Haida laws and values that align closely with the enhanced GBA Plus process. These laws and values help to inform responsive decisions and implement inclusive solutions aimed at addressing ongoing systemic barriers.
May 7-9, 10:30 am to 3:00 pm (ET). Policy Horizons Canada's Futures Week features sessions about discovering possible disruptions on the horizon, confronting our ways of thinking about them, and learning how foresight can prepare us for the opportunities and challenges ahead, including a focus on topics related to artificial intelligence. The online portion of Futures Week – on May 7 and 8 – is open to the public and May 9 is open to public servants in Ottawa.
May 7-9. This event will provide important opportunities to learn, network, and connect with colleagues both virtually and at the Shaw Centre in Ottawa. With the theme of "Think Big. Shift Fast. Accelerate Digital," the focus will be on various topics such as technology, skill-building, adaptability, resiliency, leadership, mental health, and the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion.
May 8, 1:00 to 2:30 pm (ET). This panel hosted by the Institute for Science, Society and Policy - a cross-faculty Institute at University of Ottawa, and the Inclusive Innovation Hub (I2Hub), will discuss extending the trope of a "black box" to explore the different types of black box problems that are happening across AI socio-technical systems from cradle to grave.
May 12-14. Taking place in Calgary, Alberta, this event will feature an enriching program that combines cutting-edge knowledge with fun and networking. Sessions include "Generative AI & Our Future", "Information vs. Data: What’s the Difference and Why Does It Matter?", and more. (In English only.)
May 27-31. As the world faces a host of crises, join hundreds of reformers around the world – in government and civil society – who are working to make their communities stronger, more open, participatory, inclusive, and accountable.
May 31, 1:00 to 2:00 pm (ET). From the GC Data Community: This thought-provoking event features Chantal Bernier and Eric Rancourt discussing the recent developments around data protection in Canada and other jurisdictions, key themes in building strong legal foundations, public trust and safety, and the significance of legislative developments.
Releases
In advance of Budget 2024, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a $2.4 billion package of measures to secure Canada’s AI advantage. These investments will accelerate job growth in Canada’s AI sector and beyond, boost productivity by helping researchers and businesses develop and adopt AI, and ensure this is done responsibly.
From GC Data Community, Canada School of Public Service: This comprehensive directory enables users to navigate and discover over 580 hyperlinked data-related resources within the GC Data Ecosystem. The resources are organized into categories and subcategories, with each entry accompanied by a concise description. The directory's primary purpose is to provide data practitioners with a centralized, user-friendly space to explore and identify the resources required for their work.
Policy Horizons Canada's interdepartmental project on the future of AI has released the first iteration of its report "Foresight on AI: Policy considerations." This iteration includes ten insights into factors that may shape how AI is developed and adopted in the future. It is for internal to government use only. The second iteration of the report will be released in late May/Early June.
Each year, FWD50 surveys public servants around the world to understand the policies, technologies, and obstacles that are top of mind for them.
The Digital Governance Council has recently introduced a new advisory body focused on AI ethics, aiming to provide expert guidance to organizations in making responsible decisions regarding the design and use of AI technologies.
In response to the growing importance of data privacy and ethical considerations in the workplace, the Digital Governance Standard Institute is pleased to announce this standard, which aims to establish minimum requirements for the collection, usage, storage, disclosure, and disposal of employee-related data by employers.
Learning
May 2, 1:00 to 2:00 pm (ET). From Health Canada: Learn more about how the Business Innovation and Growth Support (BIGS) Initiative annually collects data from approximately 20 different federal departments and connects it to the Business Linkable File Environment (B-LFE).
May 7, 1:00 to 2:00 pm (ET). Join in person or online for this free session from the UBC Research Data Centre and Statistics Canada to learn about Statistics Canada data literacy resources, learning strategies for educators and bridging gaps between data and policy communities. (In English only.)
May 14-15 and 28-29. From Statistics Canada: The Census workshop is designed for those new to working with Census data or those who want to further develop their abilities in regards to working with Census concepts, methodology, geography and analysis.
May 29 (French session), 9:00 to 11:30 am (ET). From Canada School of Public Service: This course explains the roles of the information management community and the new program delivery techniques outlined in the Government of Canada's Digital Ambition.
May 31, 1:00 to 2:15 pm (ET). This session from the Federal Youth Network will encompass a range of topics related to career navigation and leadership development that reflect the current challenges and aspirations within the young professional community.
From Canada School of Public Service: This video captures insights from government, academic and industry leaders on the topic of artificial intelligence (AI) and how Canada's security interests must be protected as the world adopts this powerful new technology.
From Canada School of Public Service: This job aid presents a series of videos that feature Professor Larry Smith, Founder and Senior Researcher of the Problem Lab at the University of Waterloo, who explores the complexities of innovation in a public sector context, including how to navigate risk and uncertainty throughout the innovation process.
From Canada School of Public Service, Digital Academy: This website has been designed to help you develop these capabilities through a wide array of CSPS learning resources.
The Data literacy for the public sector self-paced course, hosted on the Apolitical platform in partnership with Statistics Canada, empowers public servants with the knowledge and tools to understand, interpret, and communicate data relevant to their role. It’s a foundational course that covers everything from statistical bias to storytelling. Access to the course is free for one year (updated coupon code: DATALIT2024) until January 31, 2025.
In December 2022, Eurostat launched its first deduplication challenge as part of the European Statistics Awards Programme Web Intelligence competitions. It revolved around identifying potential duplicates within job postings sourced from the web. This webinar will present the work of two teams that participated in the challenge. (In English only.)
Members of the Federal Foresight Network were invited to a fireside chat with Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor, identified by Time magazine in the list of top 100 leading thinkers on artificial intelligence. (In English only.)
Opportunities to participate
Starting May 6, Statistics Canada will be conducting a comprehensive test of the updated census questionnaire and collection procedure. This is done every two years before every census to ensure that quality data are available for the 2026 Census of Population and the 2026 Census of Agriculture.
The Government of Canada is collecting insights that will help shape Canada’s next National Action Plan on Open Government 2025–2029 (NAP). Share your ideas and stories, and what matters to you most by completing the questionnaire. Phase 1 of the consultation will run until May 31, 2024.
From Statistics Canada: In alignment with the 2023-2026 Data Strategy for the Federal Public Service, Statistics Canada is leading upskilling and reskilling initiatives linked to building data science-specific capacity. You can help by participating in an an environmental scan.
May 23, 1:00 to 2:00 pm (ET). To support the modernization of our workforce, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat Office of the Chief Information Officer has developed six digital competencies for public servants. The launch of the new Digital Competencies for all public servants will impact individuals in different ways. This informal chat is for additional information on the competencies.
The Community of Practice on Data and Information (CPDI) seeks to optimize the value of data and information as strategic assets by providing a forum for community members to discuss key data and information issues and contribute through policy, advice, research, and professional development. All federal digital, data, and information practitioners at any level are welcome to attend community meetings.
Working group meetings:
Join hundreds of reformers around the world - in government and civil society - who are working to make their communities stronger, more open, participatory, inclusive, and accountable.
Have an idea for a talk or workshop at FWD50, either online October 10 or in person November 4-6? The call for proposals is open until May 31, 2024.
Lunaris, the Digital Research Alliance of Canada’s national data discovery platform, is launching a User Community Group to serve as a venue for users to provide feedback on the state of the service and any proposed features.
Employment opportunities
Closes May 3. Employment and Social Development Canada.
Closes May 6. Privy Council Office.
Closes May 24. Canada Border Services Agency.
What caught our attention
From Canada School of Public Service, Digital Academy: Generative artificial intelligence (AI) can create content based on patterns it has learned from existing data. A prompt for generative AI is a set of instructions that tells it what kind of content to create. This article explains the steps for preparing a generative AI prompt you can use to draft an action page for government service content.
A suite of tools developed by the Observatory of Public Sector Innovation to support the global BI community and promote cross-border knowledge sharing, including interactive maps of BI units and projects and a portal for pre-registering experiments
Dr. Brown and her colleague Dr. Yona Lunsky are adjunct scientists at Health Data Research Network Canada member organization ICES. External Link. Opens in new window.. They discussed their experience applying disability-related algorithms in research using administrative health data at a recent Big IDEAs about Health Data webinar.
This report from Toronto Metropolitan University explores the idea that Canada needs to urgently tackle the AI Compute gap to retain and grow our business and talent investments, and improve productivity. (In English only.)
This Apolitical blog post suggests that a structured approach to AI technology implementation is vital to revolutionising government operations. (In English only.)
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