Mr. Chair and members of the Committee, I am pleased to be here today to address the Auditor General’s recent reports and the progress made by Shared Services Canada, or SSC, on their recommendations.
Before I begin, I would like to acknowledge that we are gathered on the traditional unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabe people.
With me today are Scott Davis, chief financial officer, and Shannon Archibald, assistant deputy minister of our hosting services branch.
SSC welcomes the findings of the audit and its recommendations. This audit will help the Government of Canada strengthen and improve its information technology or IT systems and hosting services.
Modernizing the Government of Canada's IT systems requires an enterprise-wide approach, and SSC is committed to collaborating with departments and their chief information officers to achieve this.
SSC provides the foundational IT infrastructure for departments to host their applications so that Canadians can have access to secure digital programs and services. While SSC is responsible for the Government of Canada IT infrastructure, it is important to note that departments are responsible for modernizing or decommissioning the applications that run on the infrastructure SSC provides.
SSC has a plan in place to address aging infrastructure, as the AG's report pointed out, and we are working on it. SSC continues to collaborate with the Treasury Board Secretariat and all departments to advance modernization goals and to ensure that outdated IT infrastructure is replaced with modern and stable hosting solutions. As part of that process, we are working with TBS, departments and their chief information officers to identify applications most at risk.
Investments over the last two years have allowed us to renew the base infrastructure of the government, and through that, the core network is being completely transformed into a modern, agile network.
To support the modernization of applications by departments, SSC is offering modern hosting solutions, including cloud services and the Government of Canada's own state-of-the-art enterprise data centres. These modern solutions are key to be able to offer digital solutions and programs to Canadians.
For example, SSC is working on private cloud to offer opportunities to modernize applications and working on edge solutions to address latency needs. Through our hosting services strategy, SSC will continue to support applications across departments and improve the security and the stability of those within the enterprise data centres.
This hosting services strategy will also offer solutions tailored to different workloads and applications. Focusing on innovation, sustainability and cybersecurity will ensure we serve Canadians efficiently while building stronger partnerships and inspiring confidence and trust.
For Employment and Social Development Canada's benefits delivery modernization program, SSC is providing the underlying cloud connectivity and associated procurement vehicles to that cloud connectivity. More precisely, SSC is responsible for designing and modernizing the digital infrastructure to support BDM through rigorous project planning, oversight and governance in collaboration with our colleagues. SSC continues to work closely with ESDC to provide guidance and advisory services on the various components of the digital solution.
To better communicate and collaborate with all departments across government, SSC has launched “digital together”. This plan is designed to accelerate progress in the areas of digital services, connectivity, hosting and cybersecurity.
SSC acknowledges the need for efficient and cost effective modernization. We also acknowledge the need to speed things up. Under “digital together” we identify and prioritize initiatives that respond to the government's priorities while aligning with digital modernization goals and our enterprise approach.
This is a journey that will be powered by both larger-scale modernization of legacy platforms as well as ongoing improvements in the way Canadians interact with technology to access services. Decommissioning legacy infrastructure is complex, and it requires collaborations with departments to ensure there is no disruption to critical business applications.
Working together and leveraging the strengths of partners, we can address the complex challenges facing the government and deliver innovative solutions that drive positive, secure change for Canadians.
Mr. Chair, to summarize, SSC has a plan to have a stable IT infrastructure and to ensure connectivity coast to coast. We will continue to look for ways to innovate and improve. However, to achieve this vision, continued investments will be required.
We would be happy to answer your questions.
Thank you.