IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

So it was disappointing news when researchers from the Said Business School at the University of Oxford and at the University of Oviedo published their most recent Broadband Quality Score. The report, sponsored by Cisco, found that Canada ranked 30th among the countries surveyed, a drop from last year’s already lowly 26th spot. Moreover, among 100 cities surveyed, Vancouver ranked 46th, Montreal 69th, Ottawa 81st and Toronto 82nd in broadband quality.

New research shows that police forces across Canada are building extensive digital surveillance hubs without any public engagement. Smart city projects use very similar technologies with the same dangers, yet here residents and municipalities are increasingly implementing Open Smart City principles to avoid potential harms and strengthen public oversight. The police should not be exempt from democratic accountability and the same principles can be applied to them to rebuild it.

People around the world are recognizing the potential of emerging “smart” technologies—those technologies that use machine learning, artificial intelligence and large-scale data analysis—to provide more efficient and effective services. However, there is also significant potential for them to cause harm around privacy, discrimination, transparency, and the corporate capture of what are publicly and democratically controlled tools of government.

Electronic health record (EHR) systems will only be widely used in Canada when doctors here realize the benefits the technology offers, say a group of New Zealand-based healthcare technology product vendors. "What's needed is a compelling enough reason for doctors to shift from paper-based records to computer-based systems," said Roger Brown, director of information technology at MedTech Ltd., one of the largest providers of EHR systems to primary healthcare professionals in New Zealand.

"Canadians want their medical information available electronically to the clinicians who care for them," said Alvarez. "And that's starting to happen in communities across Canada. Collaboration among governments is at an all-time high and with continued federal funding, we are well on our way to providing every Canadian with an electronic health record by 2016."

Perhaps you've noticed the billboards, magazine ads or other media that have been touting the availability of online Canadian government resources

By providing a common infrastructure to enable service integration, Secure Channel has proven to be crucial to citizen adoption and service growth of the GOL Initiative, and was part of what lead Accenture to rank the government of Canada the number-one global e-government for five years consecutively.

Canadian patients are benefiting from a 39 per cent increase in electronic health initiatives that are modernizing the way clinicians deliver health care, announced Richard Alvarez, President and CEO, Canada Health Infoway (Infoway).

"In the past year, we've seen tremendous growth in the number of electronic health record initiatives that are delivering enhanced patient care, shorter wait times and a more productive health care system for Canadians," said Alvarez, who recently released Infoway's annual report. "While this growth is encouraging, momentum must be maintained so we can capitalize on the efficiencies generated through electronic health initiatives as our population continues to age and grow."

Simple minded in theory, but when a quartet of researchers at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia surveyed 16 of Canada’s 17 medical schools, they discovered that none have included what is formally known as health informatics into their core curriculum. And while three schools reported offering health informatics as an elective course, it was unclear whether any students were actually enrolled in these courses.

The military has collected hundreds of samples of such biometric information in Afghanistan, mainly from those detained by troops or from individuals who have acted suspiciously.

But in an April 2010 directive issued by then Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Walter Natynczyk, the military was ordered to expand such capabilities beyond those being detained in Afghanistan.

“When you look at how far countries have moved towards a broader vision of electronic health information capability, Canada is not doing too badly,” Pascal says.

The portal, which was built by the provincial government staff using open source software, serves as a central access point for high quality and machine readable raw data collected from various provincial government agencies.

“The portal is the next step we are taking down the open government road as we continue to build Alberta,” said Manmeet S. Bhullar, Minister of Service Alberta.

Launched in the spring of 2010, the consultations provided an opportunity for interested parties to make their voices heard and gave Passport Canada new ideas and a better sense of their expectations regarding passport services.

Eastern and southern Ontario rural communities will get more broadband access as part of $6.2 billion+ package of new infrastructure investments signed July 24 by the two governments. Officials will work with rural communities in those regions to identify potential projects to expand broadband coverage.

Many countries around the globe have over the past several years dedicated themselves to making government information and services easier to access for their citizens by utilizing the Internet. Commonly referred to as eGovernment, the Internet is helping citizens access government services on their schedule and in the comfort of their own home.

The Citizen Compass survey, released Wednesday by PWC Canada, found that 80 per cent of Canadians are interested in accessing innovative online services through a home computer or cellphone. However, only 20 per cent are willing to pay to access online offerings that would allow them to get faster access to government services.

During May 2003, 52.9% of online Canadians visited a government website, ten per cent greater penetration than in the United States. In Australia, the comparable figure was 29.7%, and only 24.2% in Japan.

Canadians living in rural areas are less likely to have access to a reliable Internet connection, a serious obstacle to accessing services that are delivered virtually. This problem isn't insurmountable, but solving it will require resources and political support.

Michael Kedar, the champion of the wireless, secure health information network, recently profiled by André Picard in the Globe & Mail, today called on the federal government to act on the results of a recent poll on e-health. The poll (conducted for the Canada Health Infoway agency) shows that Canadians overwhelmingly favour an electronic health record.

Canadian governments, at all levels, are introducing or have already implemented austerity measures to reduce expenditures and a new PwC report finds that Canadians want government to also provide them with cost-effective and convenient electronic services (eservices). Citizen Compass, an online initiative undertaken by PwC to gather and measure the views of citizens on emerging public policy issues, shows that the next generation of eservices must accommodate the lives of Canadians, while meeting their expectations for quality customer service.

Canadians are already more likely to go the online route when accessing government services — when the option is actually available, that is — and want more digital choices to avoid having to pick up the phone, use snail mail or wait in line, suggests a study by PricewaterhouseCoopers Canada.