Good afternoon.
Before I begin, I'd like to acknowledge that I am speaking here today from the traditional unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe people.
I would just like to note that this is actually my first appearance at committee. I'm excited to be joining you here today. Be gentle; it's my first time. I'm not sure if that's appropriate to say.
I have spent 16 months at the government out of a 30-year private sector career across several industries. I worked in energy and telecom, and actually served as the chief information officer at Air Canada, as well as in a commercial role at WestJet, so I worked for both of our large airlines. Those were very complex operating environments, as is the Government of Canada. There is a sizable opportunity to deliver Canadians high-quality, accessible and efficient government services through the improved use of digital, and that's what attracted me to come and serve the country.
As the chief information officer of Canada, it's my accountability to provide overall leadership for the management of information technology, information management, and service and digital transformation within the Government of Canada. My office does this by supporting the administration of legislation related to access to information and privacy, developing policy plans and standards, and a strong emphasis on enabling departments in their project and program management. That's a big piece of what we do as well.
There's policy on service and digital and policy on security for government, which includes cybersecurity. That also includes the GC cybersecurity event management plan. In the event that we have a cyber event within government, it is our team that actually coordinates the response.
We are also accountable for ensuring overall technology planning for the Government of Canada and we do so through a variety of different mechanisms. I have the privilege to support the Canadian Digital Service as part of my accountability, and we have Sean Boots from that team with us here today.
In August 2022, we launched the Digital Ambition for the Government of Canada. This is an ambition for all Canadians and it's to serve them in a digital way and deliver government in a digital way. It's a clear long-term strategic vision that tells us and guides us as to how we are going to actually recruit talent and deal with privacy, accessibility and the landscape of cybersecurity, and wraps that all up into a three-year plan. I encourage you to look at Canada.ca to have a look at that.
The highlights of this plan are transforming our services with modern technology while continuing to deliver the services that Canadians rely on today, so really doing government in a digital age.
We also highlight unlocking data to enhance programs and services, designing policies and strategies that have real-world impacts, and measuring performance. A very important part of the overall digital ambition is evolution in funding, talent and culture. We are dealing with a talent issue in this country and at the Government of Canada as it relates to digital talent. I'm sure our conversations will take us there today.
Thank you once again, Mr. Chair, for inviting me to speak with you today.
I welcome any questions that you may have today.
Thank you.