Thank you very much.
My name is Amanda Clarke. I'm an Assistant Professor at Carleton University's School of Public Policy and Administration, here in Ottawa, where I hold the public affairs research excellence chair.
I've been researching and advising governments on digital government for the past 10 years. This work actually first began here. I used to be an analyst with the Library of Parliament, and I was on the scene when parliamentarians first started asking us questions about things like Twitter, Facebook and open data. It's very interesting to be back here speaking on some of these topics again.
My work in this field continued with doctoral studies at the Oxford Internet Institute at the University of Oxford, where I completed a Ph.D. study comparing digital government reforms in Canada and the United Kingdom. The U.K. portions of that research looked quite a bit at the “government as a platform” model that the U.K. government has instituted. You've talked a little bit about that and the Government Digital Service, so I'll be happy to speak to that in the questions.
The Canadian portions of that research most recently have been published in a book laying out the history and the trajectory of digital government in Canada, where I focus in particular on the tensions between some of the demands of digital government and our tradition of Westminster government in Canada.
I'm currently leading a research project on civic technologies and data governance. In particular, this work is unpacking the role that private actors play in digital government service delivery. It explores governance mechanisms that can be used to ensure more accountable and equitable stewardship of personal and public data.
I'm really grateful for the opportunity to speak to the committee today. I applaud you for putting what I think is a really important issue on the parliamentary agenda.
I'm going to focus on three topics. The first is the tensions and the complementarities between digital government services and privacy and security. Second, I want to look at data governance and the privatization of digital government services. Third, I'll talk very briefly about indigenous data governance.
On the first theme, the committee's study really aims to promote effective digital government services, while also protecting Canadians' privacy and the related issue of security. I think you're right to identify these objectives as potentially being in competition and to try to seek a balance between those priorities.
In discussing this balance, the committee and earlier witnesses have identified a number of ways in which it appears that federal public servants in particular are too lax in regard to the privacy imperative. There has been discussion about lost hard drives containing user data and about withholding information from the Privacy Commissioner regarding data breaches, for example. At the same time, in my research with federal civil servants, I regularly—