Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I'm pleased to be here today to discuss the main estimates and the report on plans and priorities for Shared Services Canada for 2013-14.
I'd like to begin by introducing the officials who are here with me today at the table. Gina Rallis is the senior assistant deputy minister and chief financial officer, and Benoit Long is the senior assistant deputy minister for transformation, service strategy, and design.
First with respect to the main estimates, I would note that the main estimates for Shared Services Canada for 2013-14 represent a total of $1.398 billion. This is a decrease of $121 million, as compared to the 2012-13 estimates to date, which amounted to $1.519 billion. That decrease is attributed to reductions of $89.6 million as a result of budget 2012 expenditure review savings, as well as further net adjustments to and from various partnering departments in support of Shared Services Canada's mandate.
As members of this committee know, Shared Services Canada was created in August 2011 with a mandate to consolidate, standardize and streamline the delivery of Government of Canada email, data centres and network services. The report on plans and priorities sets out the priorities we have established in order to make progress on that mandate in 2013-2014.
The organization's very first report on plans and priorities was tabled in 2012. It included four broad priorities and 42 plans for meeting these priorities. With the support of all its employees, and in consultation with partner departments and other stakeholders, Shared Services Canada was successful in meeting its goals for the 2012-13 fiscal year. We maintained operations across the extensive IT infrastructure, supporting approximately 2,100 mission-critical systems, and also reached the planned milestones in our transformation of the government's e-mail system, data centres, and telecommunications networks. We implemented internal management processes to deliver lean corporate services, including collaboration with other departments to establish our financial and HR systems.
I'll be pleased to respond to any questions about those results, but first I would like to take the opportunity to describe briefly the highlights of our plans for this coming year.
The first priority I'll mention is to maintain and improve the delivery of IT infrastructure services. IT infrastructure is critical to the delivery of the government programs and services upon which Canadians and businesses depend every day. SSC has the responsibility to make sure that infrastructure is as reliable and as secure as possible.
In our second full year of operations, we will be seeking to move beyond the status quo operational models that we inherited from our 43 partner departments in order to bring greater horizontal alignment to service and support. We will place a particular focus on identifying the ways in which taking a government-wide approach can enhance IT security.
Mr. Chairman, the second Shared Services Canada priority is the renewal of the Government of Canada's IT infrastructure.
The email transformation initiative is the most advanced of our renewal strategies. After extensive preparatory work and consultation with government departments as well as the information and communications technology sector, we are in the final stage of a procurement process that will result in the implementation of a single government-wide email system by 2015.
We will work closely with partner departments and our own employees through the coming year to plan and manage a transition that is as smooth as possible for our partners and the Canadians that they serve.
The plan to consolidate the Government of Canada's data centres and to transform our network services is also taking shape. We have conducted a comprehensive analysis of the current state of our operations and assets, and have engaged extensively with partner departments and the private sector to identify our future business requirements and to learn from the experience of other organizations that have undertaken similar efforts. As a result of this work, we will be in a position this year to finalize a transformation plan and to begin its implementation.
In addition, as announced in economic action plan 2013, Shared Services Canada will dedicate $20 million of our existing funding to improve the government's capacity for telepresence and other comparable technologies to support measures to replace travel with remote meeting alternatives. As part of this initiative, SSC will monitor the use of the government's video conferencing facilities and work with the Treasury Board Secretariat to ensure that the facilities are used to the greatest extent possible.
The third priority for Shared Services Canada this year is to promote effective engagement with partner departments. Sound governance and effective engagement are critical in any shared services' initiative and particularly so when the initiative involves changes in processes, services, and technology that will have an impact on organizations and employees.
Shared Services Canada has established structures and mechanisms that provide for information sharing, consultation, and involvement at all levels of our partner organizations, from working groups that contribute to the planning of individual initiatives to bilateral meetings with deputy heads of departments and agencies.
The value of this engagement is not limited to the planning and execution of our own transformation initiatives. It is equally important for Shared Services Canada to participate in the project planning that is under way in partner departments to make sure that we are able to provide the IT infrastructure support that their own initiatives and investments will require.
SSC's fourth priority is to ensure that we have efficient and effective business management processes and services. In the first 18 months of its existence, Shared Services Canada built a new department from the ground up. That work continues, Mr. Chairman. As indicated in our report on plans and priorities, our plans in support of this priority extend across a wide number of areas of responsibility, including human resources and financial management, procurement, accommodation, auditing, and evaluation.
With respect to human resource management in particular, we're implementing a workforce management strategy that focuses on ensuring that our employees have the skills to contribute as our priorities and operations evolve. Through this strategy and other business systems and processes that we are implementing, we aim to ensure that Shared Services Canada performs efficiently, effectively, and with the necessary management rigour.
In conclusion, Mr. Chair, I would like to emphasize that the plans and priorities that have been established for Shared Services Canada in 2013-2014 will enable the department to continue to deliver effective and efficient IT infrastructure services to its 43 partner organizations, even as it plans and executes the consolidation and modernization of the government’s email, data centre and network services.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My colleagues and I look forward to answering the questions.