*** The closing dated and time for this Request for Proposal (RFP) is now extended to 31-Oct-2018 at 15:00 (3:00 pm) Eastern Daylight Saving Time (ETD)
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See Latest Questions and Answers Oct 11 2018
*** The contracting authority for this solicitation is no longer Neil Charbonneau and is hereby changed to James Steedman. Please see the Request for Proposal (RFP) for further detail.
*** The closing date and time for this Request for Proposal (RFP) is now extended to 19-Oct-2018 at 15:00 (3:00 am) Eastern Daylight Saving Time (EDT).
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Please see attached information on the Open House - September 27, 2018
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The 2017 federal budget outlined the government’s commitment to better use digital technologies to improve the ways people access government services. The Canadian Digital Service (CDS) was launched in July, 2017 at the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) to partner with departments to improve service delivery to Canadians. CDS has three core functions:
Delivering Solutions – providing hands-on capacity to design, prototype and build better digital services, and replicating successful digital solutions across government;
Capacity Building – Investing in recruitment, learning, tools and resources, and communities of practice to help departments and public servants amplify their skills in areas like software development, design, and data science; and,
Providing Advice – Providing guidance on technology procurement and service design grounded in practical experience and global best practices.Digital service delivery isn’t just about using modern technology; it’s about rigorous research to identify user needs, and designing services around those needs. Digital transformation initiatives have taken hold in both the private and public sector across the globe. Adopting a user-centric approach to digital service delivery, supported by an iterative, agile, development process that prioritizes rapid prototyping, has become imperative to delivering better digital services. Learning from private sector leadership and other digital government initiatives within Canada and abroad, CDS aims to drive a strong service culture and back-end business transformation based on service users’ needs.
CDS is modelled after a start-up organization, with a phased implementation strategy that will enable it to scale as it matures. Similar to other digital transformation units such as the United Kingdom’s
Government Digital Service (GDS), the United States’ 18F, and Ontario’s Digital Service, a strong focus for CDS will be on recruiting external digital talent, building multi-disciplinary teams to break down traditional functional silos and matching talent to project work on short-term rotations. These multidisciplinary teams will include personnel across various digital disciplines.[1]
Accomplishing this mission requires careful consideration of project selection, including how projects will help drive the Government of Canada’s Service Strategy and other emerging opportunities and priorities. CDS’s project selection approach is generally based on three criteria: reach, replicability, and readiness. These guidelines take into consideration the scale and depth of a project’s impact on service users, whether it is a stepping stone to solving a greater service issue, and whether the project partner has a clearly defined problem they are looking to solve, has organizational support, and an empowered service owner.
In addition to the development of digital solutions, building digital capacity across the federal government with key partners is a critical part of CDS’s role. As technology continues to evolve at an ever-increasing rate, it is difficult for decision-makers and IT professionals to keep pace. Enhanced strengthened digital and overall digital literacy competencies are required in order to leverage the opportunities at hand.
Public sector organizations around the world have launched focused learning and training initiatives aimed at ensuring public servants of all levels have a wide array of resources at their disposal to help acquire or refine the skills they need to drive better service delivery. CDS is engaging in a host of activities to help build digital capacity, such as developing guidance and learning resources, and delivering and promoting targeted training and learning opportunities in collaboration with key partners.
Finally, CDS is helping to ensure that proposals related to service improvement and major technology investments, as well as government-wide policies and standards, benefit from expert advice. This advice is being grounded in practical experience, technical expertise, and informed by best practices and trends from around the world. Situated in TBS, CDS is working closely with the Chief Information Officer Branch to drive digital transformation to adopt user-centric, agile, and open practices.
[1] For the purpose of this Request for Proposal, digital disciplines are considered skills, competencies, and experience in fields such as product management, delivery management, software development, development operations (“DevOps”), data science, visual and interaction design, technical architecture, security engineering, digital performance analysis, content design, behavioural science, data visualization, user experience research, and user-centered design. Teams will also include policy, communications and other specialists.
