When Evolution Isn’t Enough (with Sean Boots)

Let's Think Digital

We're back for Season 2! This week, we have Sean Boots, an open government manager and a veteran of digital transformation efforts in the Canadian federal government. In this conversation we talk about how we seem to be stuck in the mud on our digital transformation journey, and Sean's recent presentation at the FWD50 conference and open letter to the Clerk of the Privy Council that lays out his radical (but implementable) ideas that would make the public service better equipped to handle the challenges of today and tomorrow.

Watch on YouTube

https://youtu.be/9qI1R9Z2ouM

Related Links

• To the Clerk, and friends (Sean Boots' open letter)
• Revolution, not evolution, for federal public service delivery (Sean Boots FWD50 talk)
• Chief information officer Catherine Luelo resigns from job revamping federal tech (Policy Options)
• What Canada can learn from Ukraine about digital services for citizens (Aaron Snow / Ottawa Citizen)
• Customer service a new concept for Canada’s Immigration Department (Toronto Star)
• Byte-Sized Progress: Assessing Digital Transformation in the Government of Canada (The Dais)
• Overview of the Government’s Digital Service Transformation (Parliamentary Budget Office)

00:05 Introduction and Season One Recap

01:31 Ryan's Thoughts on the Current State of Digital Government

06:23 Introducing this Week's Guest: Sean Boots

07:46 Interview with Sean Boots

24:00 Why Leaders Need to Have Digital Competency

31:18 Sean's Wildest Ideas

34:49 Reflections on the Canadian Digital Service

43:23 Staying Optimistic

45:09 Conclusion