Interview with Paul Zikopoulos – Vice President, IBM Skills Vitality and Enablement

In our latest episode of CGE Radio, J. Richard Jones speaks with Paul Zikopoulos, Vice President, IBM Skills Vitality and Enablement about artificial intelligence you can trust and deploy at scale in government / public sector.

Paul is a renowned writer and speaker on AI and Big Data, consulted by "60 Minutes" and NATO generals. Named on numerous global "Experts to Follow" and "Thought Leader" lists, he has authored 21 books and over 360 articles. At IBM, Paul directs strategic initiatives for the IBM Technology Unit's sales and learning programs. He actively promotes Women in Technology, winning IBM Canada's "Women in Technology Ally of the Year" and serving on several advisory boards. Despite his success, Paul stays grounded, always learning from his experiences and his daughter Chloë. Follow him on Twitter at @BigData_paulz.

IBM is a leading global hybrid cloud and AI, and consulting services provider, helping clients in more than 175 countries capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business processes, reduce costs and gain the competitive edge in their industries. Nearly 3,800 government and corporate entities in critical infrastructure areas such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM's hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital transformations quickly, efficiently, and securely. IBM's breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and business services deliver open and flexible options to their clients. All of this is backed by IBM's legendary commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility, inclusivity, and service. For more information, visit www.ibm.com

In this episode:

• How public sector should organize to prepare for generative AI
• How Generative AI can help in Canada and abroad
• The practical use cases that IBM focusses its innovation around
• How IBMs work with AI differ from others
• And more!

Join J. Richard Jones on the latest episode of CGE Radio as he welcomes Cate Takemori, Head of Public Sector, Microsoft Canada for a discussion about current AI adoption in the Canadian public sector.

As the Public Sector Lead, Catherine "Cate" Takemori leads a team of dedicated professionals focussed on empowering governments, educators and healthcare organizations in Canada with cutting-edge technology and services for effective digital transformation.

With over 20 years at Microsoft, Cate began as the first dedicated Healthcare seller in Canadian Public Sector. Her journey encompasses diverse roles in Strategy, Change Management, Business, and Sales across Commercial and Public sectors. Most recently, she led the Customer Success Account team. Cate champions diverse and inclusive teams, prioritizing meaningful relationships and a people-first approach.

Passionate about learning and growth, she embraces challenges with a growth mindset. Outside work, Cate resides in Coquitlam, BC, with her husband and two sons, indulging in her love for cooking and reading.

Microsoft creates platforms and tools powered by AI to deliver innovative solutions that meet the evolving needs of its customers. The technology company is committed to making AI available broadly and doing so responsibly, with a mission to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

In this episode:

• How AI adoption is reshaping government operations?
• Notable examples of AI implementation in Canadian government agencies
• The "Bring Your Own AI" (BYOAI) trend
• Key considerations for responsible AI deployment
• AI adoption and literacy within the public sector
• And more!

Join host J. Richard Jones for the latest episode of CGE Radio. He speaks with Craig McLellan, Chief Executive Officer of ThinkOn, about foreign cloud providers and the benefits of a Canadian-based solution. Mr. McLellan is a forward-thinking business leader who has been at the forefront of technology innovation and data security in Canada and the U.S. for the past twenty-five years. Think On, Inc. is a proudly Canadian-owned and operated cloud solution provider (CSP) with a global data centre footprint. ThinkOn is a Canadian VMware Sovereign Cloud partner and the only Canadian supplier with the contractual capability to sell cloud-based data management services to support both Federal Government Sensitive (PBMM) workloads as well as workloads from all levels of municipal, federal, and Indigenous government public sector entities in Canada.

In this episode:

• Is the public sector negotiating with the right people?

• Why is the Canadian government courting providers not empowered to negotiate a contract?

• What are the implications of changing from Cloud First to Cloud Smart?

• How much cloud should the government consume?

• And more!

In his article, Gaming the System, How the misuse of data impedes innovation, Ken Miller, founder of the Change & Innovation Agency, a firm dedicated to increasing government's capacity to do more good, writes:

"Public sector has invested great hope and massive fortunes in the promises of performance management. From dashboards and scorecards to STAT systems and big data platforms, we've bought into the idea that "what gets measured gets done" and if we want better results, we need to hold people accountable for the achievement of measurable goals. But after all this time and investment, what have we really achieved? Has all of this measurement produced great insights and innovations? Has performance management increased engagement and overhauled performance?"

These are all great questions that give us lots to think on.

In this episode of CGE Radio, J. Richard Jones talks with Ken Miller and also Craig Szelestowski of Lean Agility Inc. about measurement and accountability in government. To learn more about this, you can hear directly from Ken as he will be presenting at the Lean Government Summit, which will be held at the Shaw Centre in Ottawa on Jan 24-25.

To register, go to http://leanagility.com/en/leangovernmentsummit_2019.

We have been hearing quite a lot about superclusters. The Government of Canada is a big advocate of superclusters and has been working with Canadian businesses of all sizes to push the innovation agenda to transform our innovation ecosystem.

But what exactly is a supercluster and how will it benefit Canada?

In the show today, J. Richard Jones talks with Jason Hermitage, Vice President, Public Sector for Microsoft Canada about how superclusters are unlocking business investment in research by bringing like-minded companies together to create jobs of tomorrow. Learn more about Microsoft's involvement, the different superclusters in Canada and how it will benefit the economy and Canadians.

In this episode of CGE Radio, J. Richard Jones talks with Craig Szelestowski, President and Founder of Lean Agility Inc., a Lean government and transformation specialist with about 20 years of experience in implementing dramatic turnarounds in the Canadian government.

Hear about four major challenges in government from program delivery to measuring results, strategies to clear backlogs and transformation.

These issues will be addressed at the upcoming Lean Government Summit 2019, which will be held on January 24 and 25 at the Shaw Centre in Ottawa. The summit will bring together global public servants and thought leaders to share breakthroughs in delivering products and services through improved processes, innovation and energized people. It will feature a range of speakers and subject matter designed to address the top issues of current and aspiring Lean government practitioners.

To register or learn more about this event, go to http://leanagility.com/en/leangovernmentsummit_2019.

In this episode, J. Richard Jones speaks with registered holistic nutritionist Shawn Nisbet about managing holiday stress, blood sugar levels and the effects of hormones. In addition, the announcement of a brand-new monthly radio show, Health Talk.

All this and more on this episode of CGE radio.

Today the world is observing the International Day for Disabilities. In the show today, J. Richard Jones talks with Ricardo Wagner, accessibility lead at Microsoft Canada. 

Microsoft sees disability as a strength. It makes for a stronger company, and by growing and involving people with disabilities Microsoft is working at making better products that can help their customers to achieve their mission to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.   

With over one billion people with disabilities around the world, it has never been more important to ensure that we all reflect on diversity.   

Ricardo talks about how Microsoft is leveraging AI for accessibility and inclusion in a digital world.

In this edition of CGE Radio, J. Richard Jones interviews Alex Miller, president of ESRI Canada. Tune in as they discuss the challenges faced by government in being able to transport effectively, avoid infrastructure bottlenecking and adapt technology to make implementation easier.

In addition to the CGE Radio show, Canadian Government Executive is pleased to announce our latest podcast: The Last Word, with Lori Turnbull. In this inaugural episode, CGE Radio host J. Richard Jones interviews Deputy Editor of Canadian Government Executive magazine and Dalhousie professor of political science Lori Turnbull in setting the stage for this new series.

In The Last Word, Lori Turnbull will air her viewpoint and opinion as they relate to federal, provincial and municipal governments in Canada.

Visit our website at https://canadiangovernmentexecutive.ca/

Interested in subscribing to our weekly newsletter? Click here.

In this episode, J. Richard Jones explores the journey to digital success in government. He chats with Sonia Powell, Director General, Workplace Solutions, Real Property Branch, Public Services and Procurement Canada and Owen Taylor, National Public Sector Leader, PwC Canada. Hear about the government's current transformation journey with GCWorkplace, the challenges, the successes, and the employee experience. Learn more about how government can set itself up for success in digital transformation and what top technologies are currently disrupting government. All this and more on this week's episode of CGE Radio.

To learn more, visit https://www.pwc.com/ca/digitalgovernment

Visit our website at https://canadiangovernmentexecutive.ca/

Interested in subscribing to our weekly newsletter? Click here.

ABOUT MICROSOFT CANADA
Established in 1985, Microsoft Canada Inc. is the Canadian subsidiary of Microsoft Corporation (Nasdaq "MSFT") the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential. Microsoft Canada provides nationwide sales, marketing, consulting and local support services in both French and English. For more information on Microsoft Canada, please visit www.microsoft.ca.

Welcome back to another episode of CGE Weekly with host, J. Richard Jones. This week, CGE editor-in-chief, Dr. Lori Turnbull, weighs in on the new budget that came down on March 28th. As the cost of living rises and the Bank of Canada works to manage inflation, just what does this budget hold for you? We touch on everything from health care to the GST rebate and everything in between.

Also in this episode:

• How does the budget affect the Liberal approval rating?
• How does it affect the Liberal / NDP deal?
• What has been the reaction of Pierre Poilievre?
• Will we soon see another election?
• Plus, a sneak peek at our upcoming series, "Knowing Canadians"
• And much more!

Cloud technology is a game changer! Successful implementation in both the private sector and public sector is a vital component to business strategy.

In this episode of WRLWND radio, guest host J. Richard Jones chats with Jonathan Spinks, CEO from Sourced Group. Tune in, as they explore the challenges of cloud adaptation, security, the future of cloud and more! For this critical topic and more, listen to this episode of CGE radio.

Learn more by visiting:

https://www.sourcedgroup.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonspinks/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/jrichardjones/

This Episode Brought To You By:

Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada is one of the largest national accounting organizations in the world, representing more than 210,000 members. 

Advance your career in the public sector by attending CPA Canada's Public Sector Conference from October 22-23 in Ottawa or attend virtually.

Learn more at cpacanada.ca/PSC

Wildlife Biologist, professional hockey player and public servant, born and raised in a small First Nations Community in the NorthWest Territories, Joe Dragon has returned home as the NWTs Deputy Minister of Environment and Natural Resources. He joins CGE Editor in Chief George Ross to share his leadership perspectives. 

This Episode Brought To You By:

Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada is one of the largest national accounting organizations in the world, representing more than 210,000 members. 

Advance your career in the public sector by attending CPA Canada's Public Sector Conference from October 22-23 in Ottawa or attend virtually.

Learn more at cpacanada.ca/PSC

Digital government transformation is a massive opportunity. Advanced technologies allow Governments to create potential value across departments and agencies. Apps are becoming the common preference for many citizens. A change toward catering to citizen's needs through online and mobile applications.

On today's show, J. Richard Jones interviews Jeff Smith. Jeff is COO, Global Advisory, Infrastructure, and Healthcare at KPMG. They discuss who is doing it well, and what Canada can do to really become a global leader in digital governance transformation.

On today's show, J. Richard Jones sits down for a chat about Ethics Rules and their ramifications with Lori Turnbull, Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at Dalhousie University. Accountability, and responsibility is a shared responsibility in political ethics. One that trickles down from the top and requires continual updating.   

Lori joined the Department of Political Science as a faculty member in July of 2005. She teaches courses in introductory politics, Canadian parliamentary government and pressure politics. Her major areas of research are Canadian parliamentary governance, political ethics, elections, electoral systems, and public engagement.

In this episode of Canadian Government Executive Radio, J. Richard Jones speaks with Brent Perrot, President of Hunter Communications. They discuss the recent contract awarded to Hunter Communications by CBC radio to provide Satellite Space Segment Services and their recipe for success, how technology is tackling the challenges of satellite communications and the future of satellite communications  All this and more on this episode of Canadian Government Executive radio.

In this episode of CGE Radio, Craig Szelestowski from Lean Agility delivers the goods on deliverology.
Canadian Government Executive provides updates on their June 7th event. And Shawn Nisbet provides helpful health tips on how to enjoy the long weekend.

In this episode, J. Richard Jones continues his discussion with the Apolitical co-founders, Robyn Scott and Lisa Witter. They discuss international women's day and what it means from around the world. Canada from an Apolitical perspective and the announcement of the first, Canadian Government Executive Game changer!  All this and more on this episode of CGE radio.

In this episode, J. Richard Jones, publisher of Canadian Government Executive announces a new partnership that will provide readers and listeners with vital news and information from around the world. He interviews co-founder of Apolitical, Robyn Scott, about her organization and its mandate. Hear Robyn's perspective from around the world as well as her views on top issues that affect Canadian public sector and more.

For more on Apolitical: https://apolitical.co/

Evaluation - the systematic gathering of information. An interview with the President, Canadian Evaluation Society In this episode, Marcello Sukhdeo talks with Harry Cummings, President of the Canadian Evaluation Society on evaluation. Hear about the evaluation, who can be evaluators, why evaluate, why it is special and needed, challenges and the future for evaluation.

This episode is brought to you by Lean Agility.

ABOUT LEAN AGILITY

Lean Agility is obsessed with making Lean practical and achievable for government. They combine Lean thinking and proprietary tools developed over 23 years implementing Lean in the public sector and apply it to teach public servants how to eliminate backlogs, find capacity, improve quality and deliver products/services faster. To learn more about evaluation and to download guides, go here.

Thanks for joining us on CGE Radio.

Welcome back to CGE Weekly with host J. Richard Jones and CGE editor-in-chief, Dr. Lori Turnbull. Healthcare has long been quintessential to Canada. The topic of discussion this week digs into and dissects the healthcare budget that was recently announced by the federal government. Gaps in Canada's much-admired healthcare system have been visible for some time. The COVID pandemic only made them worse. Does this new budget meet the needs of the provinces?

Also in this episode:

·      What were the provinces asking for?

·      What is the budget offering?

·      Are we putting enough money into healthcare?

·      Is there anything Canada can learn from other countries?

·      Is there any public tolerance for a multi-tiered system?

·      And much more!

For more information on the Canadian Lean Government Summit, visit: http://leanagility.com/en/leangovernmentsummit_2018

Use the promo code CGE for a discount!

The Lean Agility Mission:

"Equipping government organizations with Lean know-how so they can do their work faster, better and more efficiently by improving processes and engaging their people."

http://leanagility.com/

In this episode, CGE radio show host J. Richard Jones speaks with a renowned international expert on digital government, Dr. Julia Glidden, General Manager, Global Government Industry, IBM Corporation. In this insightful interview, hear why digital transformation is such a passion of Dr. Glidden's. Learn about lessons learned from governments around the world who have successfully implemented digital transformation strategies and how does Canada rank. How different is it in defining a roadmap for digital transformation for a country like India as compared to Canada and what you can expect to hear from Dr. Glidden at TechGov 2018?

Successful delivery of complex projects is at the core of being an effective executive in public sector service. 

Today we talk with Jocelyn Turgeon, the Director of the Masters Degree, Complex Leadership Program at Telfer, University of Ottawa.

Today and interview with Dr Robert Taylor CEO of the Institute of Public Administration of Canada. Robert Taylor discusses plans for the upcoming IPAC annual conference in PEI and national developments at IPAC.

Today on CGE radio, Editor-in-Chief George Ross interviews Sir Simon Gass.

Sir Simon Gass is the Project Director for the International Civil Service Effectiveness (InCiSE) Index. For the first time, The University of Oxford's Blavatnik School and the UKs Institute for Government have teamed up to rank the effectiveness of the 31 Civil Services from around the world. Canada's Civil Service tops the rankings and George Ross, CGE Editor in Chief speaks  with Sir Simon about the study and the future of the Public Service.

CGE radio host J. Richard Jones introduces new editor-in-chief George Ross and they discuss his vision for CGE in the first 90 days. The team discusses the Canada.ca project and TechGov revs up for the fall.

In this episode:

CGE radio host J. Richard Jones discusses how Canadian Government Executive is increasing its content horsepower with the appointment of a seasoned, public sector executive to the role of editor-in-chief. He discusses a brand-new technology conference just for public sector executives and how they can participate in developing the best content for the community. And provides updates on how to keep receiving Canadian Government Executive, as well as the latest highlights for the June/July edition.

The Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance (CATA Alliance) is Canada's One Voice for Innovation Lobby Group. Recently they issued an open letter for federal MPs in Canada to support the Next Version of the Innovative Solutions Canada Program that was announced by the federal government to enhance innovative solutions in Canada.

In this episode, Dan Wasserman, Founder & CEO, Mammoth Health Innovation Inc. & a member of the CATA Innovation Leadership Council talks about this program, how it should be patterned after the US Small Business Innovation Research program, the benefits it would bring to SMBs in Canada, and the next steps to get there.

Being patterned after the US Small Business Innovation Research program, the Innovative Solutions Canada program looks to get best from the US program to incorporate into the Canadian program in making it a better program that will help companies innovate in the right areas and in the right fields.

To learn more about the CATA Alliance, please go to CATA.ca.

It's the first CGE Weekly show of 2023! Join host J. Richard Jones and CGE editor-in-chief, Dr. Lori Turnbull as they look into the crystal ball and hypothesize about what the year ahead in Canadian politics might look like. They cover federal and provincial politics, the potential for a federal election, the North American Leader's Summit, and give listeners a preview of the hot topics CGE will be focussed on.

Also in this episode:

• Is the health care system on life support?
• How is the Confidence and Supply Agreement holding up?
• Will Pierre Poilievre seek broader appeal?
• Which way with Albertans swing in a provincial election?
• Who would a federal election hurt and who would it benefit?
• The budget, hybrid work, digital governance, digital transformation, the DX Summit
• And so much more!

In this special episode of CGE Radio, your host John Jones interviews the President of the International Cost Estimation and Analysis Association (ICEAA) Canada Chapter about their upcoming event in Ottawa on May 1-2, 2017.

Learn why the event is of such great importance and how it can help you gather valuable CEUs in costing.

For more information on the event, visit www.iceaa.ca/2017

• http://canadiangovernmentexecutive.ca/international-students-in-canada/
• http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/careers/management/learning-to-trust-your-employees-to-work-from-home/article34562276/
• http://www.wrlwnd.com/world-wide-web-inventor-says-governments-not-break-encryption/

Video steaming is gaining in popularity, but as this continues to grow it is posing some challenges for Canadian producers and consumers. In this show, we will talk more about this and share five strategies in building a lasting legacy.

Laskey Hart guest hosts CGE Radio this week with a summary of some of the top articles in the December Issue of Canadian Government Executive Magazine, as well as a review of an article by Nestor Arellano on the struggles, challenges, and solutions to leading 5 generations in the workforce, including a study from Staples.

In this week's episode, our host John Jones interviews Brian McKee, Executive Director of the National Managers Community.

Next Week in partnership with the Canada School of Public Service, Brian is holding an exciting event for Federal Pubic Sector Managers. The event will be a platform where Managers in the Federal Public Service can come together to Connect, Engage, and Collaborate.

Among the great line-up of speakers will be Karen Ellis, Associate Deputy Minister for Veteran's Affairs, and Champion for the National Managers Community on behalf of the Federal Public Sector.

The event will also include "Ted Talk"-like workshops to help facilitate valuable conversations and is one you won't want to miss!

For More on this Exciting Event:

Managers' Exchange 2016

Connect. Engage. Collaborate

December 13, 2016 | 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Available across Canada by webcast
Palais des congrès de Gatineau, 50 Maisonneuve Boulevard, 3rd floor, Gatineau, Quebec

Registration deadline: December 9, 2016

For more information and to Register:

http://www.csps-efpc.gc.ca/events/nmc2016/index-eng.aspx

The summer is quickly coming to a close and the host J. Richard Jones is back with a new episode of CGE Weekly. He spends some time catching of up with CGE Editor-in-Chief, Lori Turnbull. Their conversation dives right into the issue of the Conservative Party leadership, election dates, and potential future leadership candidates for the Liberal Party.

Also in this episode:

• The pros and cons of Pierre Poilievre
• What does the shifting Conservative leadership mean?
• Does Pierre Poilievre have what takes, or limited growth appeal?
• Who is appealing more to the working class, Conservatives or NDP?
• Where are the Liberals with social programs like childcare, PharmaCare, dental care?
• Is the Trudeau leadership getting long in the tooth?
• Who's on deck to lead the Liberals?
• And much more!

In this episode, J. Richard Jones share information about the Canadian Government Executive Summit and why you should attend, especially if you want to know more about putting deliverology into practise. He speaks witth Dave Telka from Accenture about a most recent report that has identified the need to make careers within public sector more attractive, especially when appealing to the young digitally enabled work force. And he discusses the latest book review from the leaders bookshelf, entitled "Switch," by the Heath brothers.

CGE Leadership Summit: Delivering on Deliverology

http://rightcrowdevents.com/cge-summit-2016/

For more information, email laskeyh@netgov.ca