Information & Ethics committee  As it was designed, the system is working well. We have tested it to make sure that it responds to the demand in the way we want. A number of procedures are in place for granting access permissions. This may involve public access for everyone or more confidential information. Our permission allocation structure is a good one and operates robustly within the system.

Information & Ethics committee  Thank you for your question. Departments have to be properly prepared. To that end, we are working with our partners so that they can develop their migration plan and their documentation plan. In that way, their migration to GCDOCS will be more successful and the access to their information will be easier.

Information & Ethics committee  You have to understand that each department has its own set-up on the platform. For example, if I am researching various documents requested of me under access to information, I will only be able to do that research inside my own department. In other words, even if we all use the same platform, the information will only be available for someone’s own department.

Information & Ethics committee  Thank you for your question. When I talked about cost recovery, that was really for the system. As I said before, to maintain the system, we have to assume the costs of maintenance, technical support and service provision, which includes the ongoing development of the solution.

Information & Ethics committee  The first department to join the platform was Public Services and Procurement Canada. Eleven other departments and agencies have also joined the platform.

Information & Ethics committee  Let me clarify the information that Mr. Fradette has just given you. You have to understand that some departments and organizations, such as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and National Defence, have only signed up a small part of their workforce to our platform. That is different from Public Services and Procurement Canada, which signed up all 13,000 of its employees.

Information & Ethics committee  We also provide the service to organizations outside what we call the core, but these are not partners of Shared Services Canada. We provide them with basic services. They can buy their license through us. We will share best practices. They can take part in the discussions on the development of the solution.

Information & Ethics committee  No, the idea is to have one place where everybody will be located; a lot of efficiency is associated with managing just one. We would like to have all the organizations that are not on this single platform migrate and operate from only one platform in the future. That's what we're trying to do.

Information & Ethics committee  This year, we calculate the amount that will be spent to implement the solution by our partners at $15 million. That includes the costs associated with the infrastructure, the maintenance and support costs related to the OpenText company, the costs associated with the operation and support of the programs.

Information & Ethics committee  Currently, 72 departments and agencies are using two solutions. Stage 1 was the records, document and information management system, RDIMS. Now there is GCDOCS, which is a more advanced solution. In all, 72 departments and agencies use one or other of those solutions. When we say that 11 departments and agencies are using it, we are talking about Shared Services Canada’s modern data centre.

Information & Ethics committee  Yes. We want all departments to use the more modern solution and the same platform. At that point, it really becomes a solution managed as a whole for the entire government. There are two transitions here: using their own solution and their own data centres managed by Shared Services Canada, and the transition to the platform designed for the entire Government of Canada.

Information & Ethics committee  The more modern version really is easier to use. It has evolved with the technology in recent years. It is easier for the user.

Information & Ethics committee  The solution is evolving well. Currently, we are not fully using all of the solution’s functionalities. OpenText is continuing to develop the solution, which it provides to a number of partners around the world. We buy those functionalities as and when our client partners demonstrate the need for them.

Information & Ethics committee  The first contract for an information management system was in 1998. Then, as the system evolved, GCDOCS is now on the OpenText platform. OpenText bought the first company that was providing the service to the government in 2008. So actually we have had an information management system since 1998, but, since 2008, with the purchase by OpenText, the development of the solution has made a lot of progress—

Information & Ethics committee  Good day, Mr. Chair. My name is Sarah Paquet and I am the Assistant Deputy Minister of the Integrated Services Branch of Public Services and Procurement Canada. As my colleague from the Treasury Board Secretariat has just explained, the GCDOCS system is a major transformation with respect to information management in the federal public service.