Speaking at this year’s first ITAC Executive Briefing Series in Ottawa, the CIO of the Government of Canada, Corinne Charette, stated that the role of Departmental CIOs within the Federal government has changed and will continue to do so. The role has become more challenging as a result of the fundamental transformation in how the Government of Canada manages its information technology (IT) infrastructure. Now that the management of infrastructure services has been transferred to Shared Services Canada, Charette says that CIOs must focus on increasing challenges due to:

• The rise of cyber threats;
• The consolidation and renewal of applications;
  

  Corinne Charette, CIO of the Government of Canada

• Changing demographics and the rise of social media;
• The growth of mobile devices (smartphones, tablets, etc.);
• Increased expectations for service and innovation at a time of continued fiscal restraint.
• The move to the cloud; and
• The need to make the Federal procurement process more efficient.

Charette noted that, next month, the Government will start an inventory review of all applications, with the intent to develop a risk management strategy for core applications. She also announced that Treasury Board has begun a comprehensive talent management strategy to recruit and develop Governmental CIOs. Ms. Charette’s presentations can be accessed here: English and French.

Stay tuned for registration information on the next ITAC Executive Briefing on February 12th, featuring Benoit Long, the Senior Assistant Deputy Minister of Transformation, Service Strategy and Design at Shared Services Canada.

ITAC would like to again thank our sponsors for the event: Compugen, HP and NorthgateArinso.