Vanguard Magazine

digiTal Government 36 DECEMBER 2017/JANUARY 2018 www.vanguardcanada.com tion, they often result in many fantastic and innovative ideas that enable greater citizen engagement, productivity, cost efficiency, better insights into data and boost service. The driving force Governments are faced with the challenge of delivering greater value to their citizens. Added to the increasing pressures from an aging and diverse population, citizens are demanding better and more digital engage- ment with governments at all levels. "They need to meet their citizens from where they are coming from," said Hermit- age. "Citizens are demanding that govern- ment change. The same way they interact with their banks is the same way they want to interact with their governments." This driving force is pushing govern- ments to deliver better services. By adopt- ing cloud and mobile computing, govern- ments are becoming more equipped with new tools to meet the challenges and de- mands from their citizens. This demand from its citizens is helping governments to see the need to digitize so as to deliver better services. The main obstacles One of the main obstacles in moving to the cloud is security, or the lack thereof. "In the last five years, security was an im- pediment to moving to the cloud. Today, it is an advantage for why governments are mov- ing to the cloud," Hermitage pointed out. He went on to add that the cloud is more secure than what organizations can deliver on premise. The change came about with the realization that the cloud can be as or more secure than what they have within their organization. "Who can afford to replicate what Micro- soft has done on security, research, innova- tion and security certifications?" Hermitage added. Microsoft has invested billions in research and development and security to become a trusted partner and provider of cloud technology around the world. The other obstacle is how they think about embracing the cloud. Rather than working in silos, IT and business need to go hand in hand to deliver a better ser- vice. "It is not an IT initiative nor a busi- ness initiative. It is a joint initiative." The way to solve this, according to Hermitage, is to identify the biggest issues and make sure that the partners, both IT and busi- ness departments go and deliver. The future There is no doubt that the digital trans- formation will continue to expand at a rapid rate. To help in this area, Microsoft is investing more in research and develop- ment to improve personal computing. "It's not about a device, it's about you. You are the mobility that we care about," Hermitage explained. "We want to make it more personal; like being able to use your voice, ink, cognitive services to en- hance the experience you have, to make it work for you." Another area that is a big focus for Mi- crosoft in digital transformation is busi- ness productivity and reinventing pro- ductivity. "The single biggest thing we all wish we have more of is time." Hermitage went on to highlight the example of us- ing Microsoft Outlook. "On your phone, you can use 'Focused' which is a small fea- ture that can save you a few minutes a day. Over time, the minutes add up. If it saves you 24 hours every few months. What would you do if you had 24 more hours?" The intelligent cloud is also a focus for the leading technology company. "It is about how do we create an intelligent cloud that will help us make decisions. The amount of data that is being gen- erated is incredible, but it's not about how much data that is being created but about what can you do with it?" It is about making sense of the data to see what is going to happen. With AI and Machine Learning, Microsoft is position- ing its customers to make decisions based on forward-looking. An example of this is predictive analysis: the use of data to see what impact a policy is going to have if implemented. "It's exciting and we're just getting started," Hermitage said. Jason Hermitage is one of the speakers that will present on the topic of digital transformation at TechGov, an event that will be held on January 29 and 30 in Ottawa. His goal at TechGov is to inspire the attendees to walk away with what is possible that they can do in their work. It is about what they can do to help embrace the 4th Industrial Revolution as it relates to government. He will share stories on how other governments are taking advantage of new technology to deliver better citizen services and more open government. Also, he said that he wants to leave attendees inspired by what they can do today, not 10 years from now, to make an impact in their organization. TechGov is an event that is produced by this magazine, Canadian Government Executive. For more information, go to D I G I T A L E N G A G E M E N T I N N O V A T I O N F O R U M TECHGOV techgov.ca Jason Hermitage Vice President, Public Sector for Microso Canada

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