We recently unveiled a new report that demonstrates the impact of this work in Quebec. The report from Ernst and Young LLP (EY) found that the Microsoft ecosystem contributes more than $6.4 billion in GDP in Quebec annually and supports 57,600 full-time jobs across the province. This report also highlights Microsoft’s contributions to the province’s economy and society through its partner network, cloud ecosystem, and innovation across all sectors and initiatives that support the broader community.  

Supporting Inclusive Economic Opportunity  

The Microsoft partner ecosystem, composed of local businesses ranging from small to large, rural to urban, has been, and continues to be, at the centre of how Microsoft delivers technology, and services that enable business and public sector transformation across Québec. The more than 3,200 Microsoft partners in Quebec have generated over $5 billion in revenue annually, and fueled a level of customer impact beyond what Microsoft could achieve on our own. 

To continue to grow this impact in Quebec, Microsoft recently announced a $500 million (USD) digital infrastructure investment that will increase its computing capacity by approximately 240 percent over the next 3 years.  

Skills for Jobs  

The report also details how supporting inclusive economic opportunity is about working to close the digital divide to ensure Quebec has a robust skilled workforce in place to fully realize the positive potential of digital transformation and advancements in AI. To bridge the digital skills gap, Microsoft has been laser focused on establishing local partnerships and programs in province.  

For example, we recently announced that we are expanding our alliance with NPower Canada, to empower job-seekers with digital training and career development opportunities aligned to the in-demand tech skills Québec’s economy needs. Specifically, we supported the establishment of NPower Canada’s first bilingual site in Quebec, allowing their Canadian Tech Talent Accelerator (CTTA) program to be accessible to job-seekers in the province. And we’ve just announced new French programming focused on data analysis and AI. This is in addition to the newly announced co-investment of $2 million from Digital, Microsoft and CIBC Foundation, to launch over 6,000 job-seekers across Canada, including Québec, into meaningful careers in the ever-growing tech sector.  

A central focus of our efforts to promote inclusive opportunities is equipping students with vital digital skills that contribute to Quebec’s growing economy. Simultaneously, we are committed to building strong digital environments that are accessible to both learners and teachers alike. Working with Teameo, a Microsoft partner in Longueuil, Quebec, we’re helping educators lead the next generation with ease by creating unique digital environments that meet the needs of Quebec schools, from simplifying how technology is used for teaching to improving how educational content is delivered. 

Earning Trust and Advancing Cybersecurity  

The cybersecurity landscape has long been recognized for its complexity, but the rapid pace of AI has introduced unparalleled opportunities for defenders and attackers. Security teams are tasked with harnessing AI as a force multiplier for positive outcomes, while also bearing the responsibility and expertise to protect their systems and data against advancing AI-driven cyber threats. According to a 2020 ISC Cybersecurity Workforce Study, Canada has a cybersecurity talent shortfall of more than 16,000 people, and that gap has grown since the onset of the pandemic.  

Cybersecurity is a key priority for Canadian organizations’ undergoing rapid digital transformation, so providing access to the right cybersecurity skills must be at the forefront of helping governments and businesses shore up their cyber defence. To further expand on this commitment and help futureproof Quebec businesses in the face of accelerated AI innovation and growing cybersecurity threats, we recently joined forced with KPMG to announce the Operational Risk Skills Development Centre. The Centre, representing an investment of $1.7M over three years will offer free hands-on training to help businesses and governments build cybersecurity protections, navigate the opportunities and challenges of GenAI, and implement it responsibly. 

Further, Microsoft is working closely with partners like Qohash, to help businesses of all sizes meet the highest security and protection requirements by going deep into the very fabric of their organization and providing actionable insights from their data. With comprehensive and detailed insights into their data and its users from Qohash, organizations can better identify risks, pinpoint insider threats and safeguard their most valuable assets.  

Three decades in, Microsoft is proud to be a part of Quebec’s robust innovation economy. Our new investments show our continued commitment to Quebec and its people and businesses, and we look forward to what’s next. 

More details on Microsoft’s impact across Quebec including in relation to sustainability and hybrid work can be found in the EY report. 

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As we embrace the opportunities and challenges of the future in the world of work and beyond, it’s technology that will continue to be one of the leading economic drivers of our time. At Microsoft, we recognize our unique responsibility in helping to drive innovation in Canada and we’re working with communities, changemakers and partners across the country to move this forward. This includes equitable access to technology and skills training to ensure inclusive opportunities for all Canadians, affordable technology for non-profits and start-ups, and a strong technology ecosystem to enable business transformation across all sectors and an innovative public sector.

Together with Ernst & Young LLP (EY), we’re pleased to share our first ever Microsoft Canada Economic and Social Impact Report. This report confirms what we’ve long known – that the investments we’ve made in Canada since opening our first office here in 1985 are helping to grow Canada’s innovation economy and are driving impact through building inclusive economic opportunity, supporting fundamental rights and addressing climate change for a sustainable future.  

Our 15,000+ partners and the investment we’ve made in cloud infrastructure have created almost 300,000 jobs and contributed $37 billion to Canada’s economy. And that’s on top of nearly 5,000 fulltime employees. This is all done while keeping trust top of mind, spanning privacy, security, digital safety, responsible AI, and transparency. Without it, progress is not possible.

A key to Canada’s strength is its talent and we have continued to invest to train the Canadian workforce for the changing digital economy. Since 2020, Microsoft Canada has provided in-demand technology skilling to more than 1 million Canadians through Microsoft’s Global Skills Initiative and, in 2021, donated more than $125 million in cash, software, and technology services to non-profits. And through our collaboration with the Digital Technology Supercluster, Microsoft Canada has supported 30 projects that are currently valued at $190million, boosting innovation and industry growth from coast to coast.   

Satya Nadella introduced our mission to empower every person and organization on the planet to achieve more when he took the helm as CEO of Microsoft and it’s no secret that we’ve been doing that in Canada for almost 40 years – helping Canada’s public sector and all Canadian organizations lead now and into the future.

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Our work with the Ontario Public Service (OPS) is a great example of this in the public sector. OPS has embraced a digital-first culture to continually innovate and modernize the delivery of essential services across healthcare, transportation, social services, education and more. But to enable digital transformation and continually innovate, you first need to empower your employees with the skills they need build and manage digital solutions. This is particularly important in the public sector, which has unique privacy, data residency and compliance needs. 

The OPS Microsoft Hackathon was created to confront these challenges head on. This annual initiative brings together employees across both organizations to collaborate, share digital skills and solve for real-world challenges that will make a difference in the lives of Ontarians. In previous OPS Microsoft hackathons, we’ve seen OPS employees create innovations such as the development of a single repository where Ontarians can create personal profiles to easily apply for government services, and a smart license plate solution. 

The 2022 OPS Microsoft Cloud Hackathon challenge was “Faster, Simpler, Better”. This aligns to the need for government ministries and departments to urgently identify the opportunities for automation, as well as the technology solutions to deliver. Immediate opportunities exist across the spectrum of common processes and procedures that government organizations must provide across the front and back office, such as Freedom of Information requests, contract management, employee, stakeholder and citizen engagement, grants management and corporate policy, to name a few.   

The annual 3-day hackathon hosted more than 800 attendees and resulted in 18 submissions from hackathon teams. Keynote addresses, ideation sessions and training workshops with the Microsoft Technology Centre around innovation with Power Platform, Security, Microsoft Teams helped participants showcase creative ideas around security, accessibility, and collaboration.

Microsoft is dedicated to ensuring that Canada stays ahead of the curve by empowering all government employees with the skills they need to face today’s challenges. Canada (along with the rest of the world) is experiencing a talent shortage, and through our skilling initiatives and programs, we’re helping governments narrow this gap by providing job-candidates and employees with the knowledge and skills they need to build and execute digital strategies.  

Our Microsoft Canada Skills Program is now available at 22 post-secondary institutions across Canada, including 9 in Ontario. This program allows students to acquire in-demand cloud, data and AI skills and Microsoft certifications alongside their institutions’ credentials, enhancing their employability as they enter the job market in the public sector and beyond.  

To learn more about Microsoft’s skilling initiatives and programs, visit Microsoft Training Days 

To learn more about how Microsoft empowers Canadian governments to find smarter, more efficient, and more cost-effective ways to work and serve citizens and residents, visit  Empowering Canadian Government to do more.  

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Over the course of the transformation, Alberta’s information security team implemented technology and training at a pace to align with the race to remote, always keeping security top-of-mind. “In cybersecurity, the future could be tomorrow, it could be a minute from now. Things impact you very quickly,” says Dinel. “When we started to move services into the cloud, we were able to handle the extra traffic safely. We’ve been able to move rapidly, and that helped tremendously.”  

The Government of Alberta, a $50 billion organization, is tasked with looking after the administrative needs of over 4 million citizens. Within an IT department about a thousand people strong, they have a 45-person dedicated cybersecurity team. As they modernize platforms and policy, Dinel’s team has intently evolved Alberta’s digital security strategy. They’ve tactically shifted from a reactive posture—managing occurring or detected incidents—to a more proactive one, identifying threats ahead of time.   

One key proactive measure they’ve implemented from the beginning of their move into the cloud is multifactor authentication. Another is staying focused on the basics of good cyber hygiene: implementing security patches, monitoring services, and ensuring that the latest versions of software are always up and running.  

However, with more services digitized by Alberta, the more opportunity there is for information theft, identify theft, or fraud. They are committed to detecting cyberattacks early and dealing with them effectively, especially knowing the damage that cyberattacks can cause. Since using Microsoft Security tools, they have stopped at least 1,000 attacks each month.

With the aggressive moves they’ve made, Alberta’s standard practice is now digital by default, with 95% of new solutions implemented securely in the cloud. Up next, Alberta is looking closely at their security posture as they prepare to expand their public-facing side. “We are implementing Microsoft security tools that have been well accepted and that integrate very well within our environment. We have moved way faster than we would normally have,” says Dinel, adding, “I think we probably would have been hit with some successful attacks without Microsoft.” 

Embrace proactive security with Zero Trust. Evaluate your security posture today: 

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With technology playing a greater role for frontline agencies, it is imperative that these organizations are equipped and connected with the tools they need to keep both themselves and the community safe while maintaining transparency with the public. In a sector that has traditionally been risk-averse and sometimes a late adopter of technology, advancements around cloud services, diverse and reliable communication networks, data and analytics, AI and IoT are all helping to foster innovation. 

The pandemic has created unforeseen challenges for public safety and justice agencies, driving them to prioritize and accelerate digital transformation so their staff can work remotely while staying secure to continue everyday operations. As they embrace these new technologies, departments are also uncovering new capabilities, efficiencies and cost savings. This new way of operating – although born out of necessity – is proving to be an effective way of serving people and communities.

Evolving frontline emergency response

At Microsoft, it is our mission to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more, which includes working with agencies worldwide to align technology to the drivers of change in public safety and justice.

Agencies are leveraging Microsoft Azure’s data analytics and cloud technology to enable modern emergency-response and proactive crime reduction systems. Using cloud-based analytics, workers can automate and optimize procedures for increased efficiency and situational awareness to analyze, recognize and appraise risk more effectively. This can help law enforcement officials identify emerging trends, help fire services deploy equipment dynamically and allow emergency medical personnel to be more responsive.

A vast, global ecosystem of partners 

 While all these technologies ensure our frontline is equipped with the tools that they need to create safer communities, we need to also ensure agencies have the connectivity they need – no matter where they are located – to fully take advantage of these toolsets. At Microsoft, we fuel a powerful ecosystem of partners that understand the unique needs of the frontline.

One of these partners is Dejero, a company with over 140 employees based in Waterloo, Ontario that aggregates diverse connectivity paths to deliver enhanced reliability, expanded coverage and greater bandwidth using cloud-based technology. When it comes to public safety, Dejero leverages Microsoft Azure to deliver mission critical connectivity for first responders. When responding to a scenario in harsh or remote environments, there are often connectivity challenges, including network coverage gaps, compromised or damaged cellular infrastructure or network congestion. Dejero Smart Blending Technology addresses these hurdles by blending any and all available network connections – including 3G/4G/5G and satellite – to create a single virtual “network of networks” optimized for speed and reliability.

Another Microsoft partner, Hitachi Solutions worked with the Barrie Police Service in Ontario to develop the Officer Reporting application. Built with Microsoft Power Apps, the solution is designed to replace obsolete tools while enhancing functionality, improving efficiency in operations and supporting agile growth when developing a police report.

Empowering cross agency collaboration 

We’re also empowering the frontline with Microsoft Teams for cross-agency collaboration. With Teams, agencies are reducing the risk of infection for users by sharing data, services and innovation across jurisdictions ultimately enabling frontline workers to operate more efficiently and provide more effective citizen service. When agencies share crime, fire, or other incident data, they collectively build data models that apply to community and geographical risks in turn reducing the cost and effort of large-scale data matching and reactive resource allocation.

This data can also help determine where to increase staffing, develop richer community engagement and pre-position safety equipment. Leveraging Teams has also provided greater mobility with workers able to attend meetings from home or in the field and has digitized paper-based processes – like changing shifts or filing activity reports – so workers can focus on more high-impact tasks. 

With public safety organizations worldwide prioritizing the digital enablement of their teams, it is imperative to build technology support structures that ensure consistent and resilient communications between command and frontline.

For more on how Microsoft is enabling digital transformation on the frontline, download this e-book on the future of public safety and justice: Future of Public Safety and Justice | Microsoft 

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A survey of 658 business decision-makers from Canadian organizations – including public sector, private sector and non-profits – shows the majority of decision-makers in government and public sector (67 per cent) understand the importance of data and agree that it’s integral to an organization’s success. But while understanding among those in the public sector ranks higher than the overall survey respondents (61 per cent), less than a third (31 per cent) of these decision-makers say their organization has a comprehensive data strategy and even fewer (22 per cent) feel their organization is data-led.

Over the past two years, government agencies of all types and sizes have invested in technology such as the cloud and AI to manage disruption in response to the pandemic. For many public sector organizations, this represented a dramatic acceleration of their digital strategies. Whether it was enabling employees to work remotely, migrating paper-based processes to the cloud or scaling citizen services, adopting new solutions has not only resulted in greater efficiency and cost-savings, but has also yielded unprecedented amounts of data. However, our findings show that only a quarter of decision-makers (25 per cent) say their organization has rethought its data strategy since the start of the pandemic. Now, as we transition to the post-pandemic economy, it is crucial that government leaders take the next step in their digital journeys – to optimize their investments in technology and take advantage of their most valuable asset: their data.

DRIVING DATA STRATEGY IN GOVERNMENT

Almost half (44 per cent) of respondents in government and public sector say their organization aims to become more data-savvy in in the foreseeable future. To unleash the full potential of data within the public sector, we’ve established the Microsoft Government Innovation Centre located in Ottawa. Operating under the umbrella of our Data Innovation Centre of Excellence (DICE) in Toronto, the Microsoft Government Innovation Centre will bridge government customers and partners with Microsoft expertise to address the technical, architectural and service delivery challenges that are unique to public sector leaders.

Our goal is to empower government organizations at all levels with the tools to derive actionable insights and make more informed data-driven decisions to help sustain Canada’s momentum as we continue to recover from the pandemic. At Microsoft, we understand that those in the public sector must often navigate additional layers of complexity to drive innovation, especially when it comes to security, compliance and implementation. Yet, many government organizations who have already prioritized their data strategy are seeing powerful outcomes.

Transport Canada and NRCan (Natural Resources Canada) are two examples of effective public and private technology sector collaboration. NRCan leverages Microsoft technology to apply digital solutions to support their sustainable development and client action research. Using cloud, data and artificial intelligence (AI) they are developing a platform for national and global science cooperation.

Transport Canada uses Microsoft technology including Power Apps and Dynamics 365 to better improve their central mandate which is to safeguard Canadas’ transportation corridors. This technology is increasing the productivity of the agency’s operations including their inspections process, without sacrificing data security or employee safety.

Collaborating with organizations like Transport Canada and NRCan truly illustrates what we can achieve when the public and private sectors work together to power a more innovative, resilient and ultimately stronger government for all citizens.

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With an ever-increasing caseload and a new demand for enabling virtual proceedings, Canada’s court systems are leveraging innovative digital solutions to unlock new capabilities, boost efficiencies and democratize justice proceedings. This accelerated modernization has transformed the way public safety and justice organizations engage with their communities and ensure the continuity of service. And with the rapid pace of global digital transformation, our court systems cannot afford to slow down. 

The future of court proceedings is virtual, and we are working closely with our partners to create justice solutions that help people make better, data-informed decisions and deliver trusted outcomes that increase safety, accountability and transparency within communities. 

Digitizing case management  

Court systems are burdened by new and long-standing challenges, such as a heavy reliance on rigid and time-consuming paper-based processes and procedures. Digital case management is facilitating faster, more secure access to documents. As a result, it is also empowering courts to enable remote processes, provide dashboards for judges and other officials to track proceedings and perform analytics on all court-related data to generate insights.  

Secure electronic documentation also eliminates the cost, effort, and inefficiency of producing, transporting, and storing paper. And, importantly, reduces accidental or intentional data tampering, which can lead to financial and reputational consequences.  

Streamlining trials 

Beyond enabling continuity of operations during the pandemic, the impact of a virtual courtroom can be felt throughout the entire judicial process as the pace and quality of justice improve. Virtual attendance has solved some longstanding issues associated with in-person court appearances. Police officers, for example, often need to provide testimony, but the time that they put into travelling to and from the courthouse reduces their time spent engaging with citizens and on patrol in communities. Other witnesses have struggled with finding childcare and transportation. 

With trials conducted through Microsoft Teams video conferencing, hearings are not limited to court room availability, and it is easier to obtain witness testimony. In addition, live translation and transcription with Teams and Azure Cognitive Services can improve and expedite transparency and accessibility for those involved.  

Virtual trials also eliminate the cost and security risk associated with transporting detainees to hearings and trials, and prisons can hold virtual visits between inmates and visitors. 

Ensuring fairness and equity 

Judges want to ensure their decisions are fair and based on the foundations of law and prescribed, measured sentencing. Access to data analytics can help judges make fair and just decisions based on the foundations of law. Judges can draw on insights from similar cases to ensure that penalties align with modern ethical expectations, while data from specialty courts can enable more rehabilitative behavior and address problems at their root. 

Leveraging data to inform sentencing can help ensure defendants receive effective and appropriate sentences. Judges can confidently apply the correct penalties, knowing that they are backed by data.

Complete case management solution 

At Microsoft, we are committed to working with our partners, like E Lex Ratio who has worked with courts in Australia, Canada, Europe, and the Middle East, to fuel innovative solutions that empower courts to modernize operations and better serve local communities. Leveraging Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Service and Power Platform, E Lex Ratio Brief is a complete case management app that covers all aspects of the court process: from initiation and e-filing court data to finalization and publication of judgments. As a fully managed service, this end-to-end solution has been designed to maximize of low code, no code solutions once implemented and can be rapidly configured to any jurisdiction’s approach.  

Learn more about the future of court operations and the partners who bring it together to modernize court systems: Public Safety and Justice Solutions | Microsoft Industry 

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Recently at FWD50 2021, Chris joined the Microsoft Canada team to lead an interactive workshop that explored how new technology can play a crucial role in building capacity for resilience and how we can apply these learnings in the public sector. The discussion focused on the importance of evidence-based policy, the increasing need for open collaboration and what societal resilience means for Canada’s public sector.

Evidence-based policy

One of the greatest levers we have to achieve societal impact at scale is policy; Chris notes that evidence-based policies are more likely to have beneficial impact than those focused on assumptions. To this end, Microsoft Research’s Societal Resilience team is developing open-source software tools and infrastructure that are aimed at empowering non-technical experts to address challenges that accompany crises. From global pandemics and climate change, to corruption, cybercrime, misinformation and human trafficking, these tools will allow experts to organize their data and leverage real-world evidence to engage in real-time causal analysis, and share insights with others for decision-making that is grounded in real information.

Breaking down silos for collaboration

Secure and compliant digital platforms that allow for open data sharing and offer aggregate insights are critical to enabling effective collaboration – not only within an organization, but between organizations and across global borders.

• Within organizations: Many public sector organizations need to move away from the current system, which measures performance and outcomes in silos, towards an open data system that better understands the impact across the organizational structure.
• Between organizations: Cross-industry collaboration with the private sector, public sector and academia is more important than ever. Siloed data is incomplete and constantly evolving, and the coordination between different groups who need access to data is complex. A policy ecosystem that is grounded in science requires tools built for the speed and scale of a crisis, such as open-source platforms that uphold the privacy, accessibility, interoperability and validity of data.
• Across global borders: Our biggest resilience challenges are global in nature. To help solve these challenges we need to enable global collaboration and combine individual expertise with a collective problem-solving approach.

Resilience in Canada’s Public Sector

Discussions during the FWD50 workshop made it clear that the pandemic created a new, digitally-enabled model for collaboration that offers significant benefits for the ecosystem. We have seen diverse stakeholder groups across Canada’s public sector work together on a single, urgent cause for society. This was supported by a cultural shift to adopt, adapt and learn together, with a prioritization around digital skilling at scale and at speed.

This cultural shift has had broader implications and has demonstrated the value of establishing a flexible, hybrid working environment that breaks down barriers and geographic restrictions to collaboration. We’ve also gained better understanding of employees as “whole persons”, recognizing diverse working styles, motivations and ways to support each other. And, importantly, it has brought greater awareness of, and attention given to accessibility and inclusion.

Opportunities to strengthen Canada’s resilience

As we look forward to the year ahead, leaders within Canada’s public sector are leveraging the lessons learned and are prioritizing strengthening digital platforms that enable better collaboration. From our workshop, we have identified four key opportunities for our government organizations:

1. Step boldly up to big challenges, building a cross-industry ecosystem with common goals
2. Use data to improve collective understanding, response and results
3. Measure outcomes (not outputs), report and share transparently
4. Include diverse stakeholders (internal and external) and industry experts to define the challenge, and in developing the solution

As the Federal government works to achieve its mandate goals in 2022, it’s clear that strengthening Canada’s resilience aligns to its efforts to solve big problems, such as climate change, systemic discrimination and inequality, and deliver results for Canadians.

Where to go from here The world has forever changed, and our public sector needs to change with it. Every organization has unique needs, challenges and opportunities for societal resilience. We are working alongside our customers to assess their organizational resilience through tailored workshops that focus on areas of highest value and priority. To learn more about Microsoft’s Societal Resilience research, visit http://approjects.co.za/?big=en-us/research/group/societal-resilience/

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Security and compliance are top priorities for governments around the world. The Government of Canada has adopted a Cloud-First strategy, and has defined a security and compliance standard that departments must adhere to for hosting Protected B data and applications in the public cloud (Canada’s Protected B / Medium Integrity / Medium Availability (PBMM) Security Control Profile).

To be compliant, each department is required to implement the required foundation and controls within their public cloud tenant, as well as provide attestation (through the SA&A process) to achieve an Authority to Operate (ATO). Furthermore, government departments are also responsible for continuously auditing their cloud environment to ensure continuous compliance and monitor drift.

Government organizations need to adopt modern cloud tooling and capabilities to achieve the required posture efficiently and, more importantly, in a continuous and sustainable manner.

To support Canadian public sector and government organizations to achieve this, the Microsoft Canada team has worked on a purpose-built Azure reference implementation for Canadian public sector departments. This reference implementation provides a core set of capabilities out of the box to help departments achieve their PBMM compliance and Authority to Operate approval faster. It also enables continuous monitoring and auditing of their environment. This reference implementation has been used with multiple departments already and has been open sourced to allow for ease of adoption and compliance acceleration.

Here are some of the capabilities and possibilities inherent in this reference implementation:

• Just-in-time, and continuous, audit: leveraging Azure’s governance capabilities through Azure Policy, the organization can take a snap shot audit of the environment (all the way down to the resource/machine/service level) from the lens of a number of built-in policies such as ITSG-33 regulatory compliance by using NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 4 and Canada Federal PBMM. This audit report can be accessed, and exported, on-demand from the Azure Portal directly (see sample screenshot). Alerts can also be set up for critical issues.

• Central logging, monitoring, and SIEM: through Azure Monitor, Microsoft Sentinel and other solutions, the reference implementation provides the full set of capabilities to enable CloudOps and SecOps.
• DevOps and DevSecOps: the structure of reference implementation allows for completely segregated environments (subscriptions) to reside within the Azure Landing Zone to enable development agility and velocity while maintaining compliance, as well as the ability for integration to promote applications between environments/subscriptions in a true continuous delivery model. This, combined with the security and policy capabilities, provides the recipe to adopt DevSecOps practices.
• Modular support for Archetypes: The reference implementation provides a hub and spoke model where different archetypes (at the spokes) can be established to support applications and workloads while inheriting all the controls and governance from the management hub. Archetypes are solutions comprised of multiple services and components to deliver a capability. An example of that would be providing a full Machine Learning (ML) environment that enables ML models as well as data pipelines, storage, and governance as needed. This also allows for extensibility in the future. Currently, we have the following archetypes already established:
  • Machine Learning (supporting any ML-based use cases)
  • Healthcare (specific controls for Canadian healthcare workloads)
  • Generic Subscription (used for any workloads)

Get Started! Enable your department’s journey to a compliant cloud implementation more quickly by:

• Reviewing the reference implementation architecture design document
• Using the onboarding guide for Azure DevOps to test drive the automation
• Deploying the reference implementation to your environment: https://github.com/Azure/CanadaPubSecALZ/
• Reaching out to your Microsoft representatives for additional support

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Industry leaders and senior government decision makers from across the country will gather virtually at the MISA BC 2021 Fall Conference to collaborate and engage in important discussions around effective and innovative applications of technologies at the municipal level. This event comes at a pivotal time for the public sector; after 18 months of accelerated digital transformation, local governments must now consider how to enable long-term strategies that leverage robust technological solutions.

Increasing Citizen Engagement: Parkland County

Digital transformation across industries means consumers have elevated expectations when dealing with businesses; the same is true for citizens when dealing with local governments for all types of service delivery. For Parkland County, Alberta, modernizing and automating processes not only created tremendous efficiencies, it has enabled the municipality to deliver the highest-quality digital services to its residents.

Serving more than 32,000 people, Parkland is at the forefront of digital transformation with a roadmap that stretches to 2025. In 2019, the city sought a solution that it could apply across its operations to increase efficiency and standardize how it works – and that could grow to support its long-term transformation efforts. To achieve these ambitious goals, Parkland adopted Microsoft’s cloud-based Dynamics 365 and Power Platform. Since the upgrade, the city’s digitization program has accelerated and swiftly modernized its antiquated and paper-based processes, replacing previous systems and improving data analysis.

Beginning with its 3-1-1 service, which provides information for residents, Parkland deployed Dynamics 365 Customer Service to facilitate a single point of contact, with queries routed to the right department for response. Now, most departments within the organization are using CRM to manage citizen contacts, providing a standardized backbone across the business.

Through the Dynamics 365 platform, Parkland is also leveraging the Project Management module to develop processes that both meet departmental information needs while directly linking and aligning at a corporate level. It’s also using the Finance and Human Resources modules to streamline its financial operations and manage its workforce more efficiently.

As part of the journey, the municipality’s plans span mobile and citizen-facing applications. On the mobile side, Parkland has extended CRM to its field workers – by integrating Dynamics 365 Customer Service with its GIS, it automatically pinpoints the job location and allows workers to access and close tickets around jobs from their mobile devices without needing to return to the office.

With a long-term transformation strategy in place, these digital solutions offer Parkland the availability and scalability to maintain continuity during future periods of disruption, meet changing internal needs, and deliver a wider range of citizen-focused services.

Learn more about transforming municipalities

Microsoft will be sponsoring and sharing more stories and use cases like Parkland County’s digital journey at this year’s Municipal Service Delivery Officials conference, promoting excellence in municipal service delivery in Canada. Please join us by registering for the conference here or connect with Microsoft at cdnmunicipalities@microsoft.com to kick off a conversation on your digital transformation journey.

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