Treasury Board Secretariat to Engage with ITAC as Part of Industry Consultations on IT Strategic Plan for the Government of Canada

For Immediate Release

June 29, 2016

Treasury Board Secretariat to Engage with ITAC as Part of Industry Consultations on IT Strategic Plan for the Government of Canada

Ottawa, ON – The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) announced today the release of the Government of Canada Information Technology Strategic Plan that will guide   the federal government’s use of information technology. .  ITAC encourages and supports the government in receiving industry feedback on the evergreen plan. Today it was posted on Canada.gc.ca to give all Canadians, including industry and academia, the opportunity to provide comments and feedback.

The IT Strategic Plan positions the government to manage the use of information technology as a strategic enterprise asset in an agile and innovative way to ensure better delivery of services. .  It will also inform government departmental IT direction and priority setting.

“This type of government engagement with industry is unprecedented and very much appreciated from an industry perspective,” said Robert Watson, President and CEO of ITAC. “This is our industry’s time to help strengthen the IT strategy for the Government of Canada, and to support the government’s overall IT transformation and modernization agenda. We look forward to stepping up and taking part in this important endeavour.”

ITAC will consolidate member feedback and present formalized comments to TBS to support the development of the IT Strategic Plan. TBS will also host an industry day during the third week of July, to provide further context on the plan and support organizations who wish to also provide a comprehensive response directly to them. TBS plans to announce the date of the industry day in the near future.

To further strengthen the IT Strategic Plan, TBS has posted the document for public review, and is inviting industry and academic representatives to provide feedback through to September 29, 2016.

“We are very pleased that the industry wishes to support our Strategic IT Plan, and we anticipate hearing many useful insights through written submissions throughout the upcoming consultation,” noted John Messina, CIO of the Government of Canada.  “We encourage industry to participate in the 90-day call for feedback.”

The Strategic IT Plan is the first of a series of strategies that TBS will be releasing over the coming year. Other strategies will cover information management and digital service delivery; as well as cloud adoption, to help governmental departments select cloud providers and understand how to best implement security controls. The Cloud Adoption Strategy is expected to be released in July 2016.   As with the IT Strategic Plan, the government will be seeking feedback from industry on the Cloud Adoption Strategy as well. Both submissions and feedback are due by September 29, 2016.

About ITAC

As Canada’s national ICT business association, ITAC champions the development of a robust, innovative and sustainable digital economy in Canada. More than 33,500 Canadian ICT firms create and supply goods and services that contribute to a more productive, competitive and innovative society. The ICT sector generates one million jobs directly and indirectly and invests $4.8 billion in private sector R&D, more than any other sector in Canada.

For any ITAC member that would like to contribute feedback, join the Enterprise Working Group.  Join the Committee