“Early open government reforms focused on publishing more government data and information. For governments, the goal was simply to open up as much information as possible, with the expectation that citizens would do the rest.
More and more, governments are recognizing that they need to provide the tools that make government information and data useful and reusable for everyone. (…) There is also greater focus on the importance of citizen participation in government decision-making processes. Governments must not only hear citizens’ questions and concerns; they must listen to them and take steps to address them.”
Canada’s 2018-2020 National Action Plan on Open Government
I am pleased to present the Public Service Commission of Canada’s (PSC) fourth Open Government Implementation Plan (OGIP). This plan is the continuation of our efforts to become an Open PSC, and a leader in Open Government (OpenGov).
The purpose of this OGIP is to present the objectives, commitments and activities needed to pursue a truly Open PSC.
The PSC will continue to promote transparency and accountability in demonstrating how it fulfills its mandate to promote and safeguard a merit-based, representative and non-partisan public service that serves all Canadians.
Inspired by Canada’s latest National Action Plan, the OGIP was developed based on the following principles: inclusive of employees and Canadians’ views; increased collaboration and engagement to improve our policies, programs and services; user-centric in recognition that OpenGov derives its value from its users; accessible to ensure PSC open assets can be used by more Canadians to create value; privacy by design in our approach; publishing with a purpose, and supportive of our employees as we advance OpenGov at the PSC.
This OGIP outlines our commitments for 2022-2024. Let us continue to work together to make OpenGov our own!
At the time of publication of the 2020-2022 OIGP, the COVID-19 pandemic had just begun. As a result, the implementation of the plan was adapted to fit the “new normal”. While we continue to live through a pandemic, the past OGIP allowed us the opportunity to learn how to operate OpenGov in what is now a digital work environment.
Our priority remains PSC employees and supporting the PSC in its continued delivery of its mandate. In this OGIP we have made a concerted effort to identify high value activities that will maximize the impact on openness and transparency while minimizing the impact on employees.
The Open Government Partnership (OGP), founded in 2011, is an international partnership comprised of 78 countries, 76 local government and thousands of civil society organizations who together promote transparency, participatory, inclusive, and accountable governance.
The OGP requires that members submit an action plan that has been co-created with the public every two years and describes commitments for achieving greater transparency, accountability, and public participation. Footnote 1 Canada joined this initiative in 2012 and has since actively participated as a member. From October 2018 to September 2019, Canada served as the co-lead chair of the OGP Steering Committee along with a civil society organization acting as the other co-lead. Footnote 2 Priorities during their co-leadership were. Inclusion, Participation, and Impact. Footnote 3
The Steering Committees’ new leadership, as stated in the letter “Co-Chair Global Call-to-Action for All OGP Members”, calls for members to develop plans that take into consideration marginalized communities as the current pandemic has brought (and continues to bring) social and political inequalities to the fore front. Themes aimed at tackling these issues include “anti-corruption, civic space and participation, and digital governance where they can share their expertise and experience. Footnote 4
Canada has developed four National Action Plans (NAP) in support of the OGP, each provides an overview of the Government of Canada’s (GC) activities for advancing OpenGov. The fifth biennial National Action Plan (NAP), currently in development, is scheduled to be released in June 2022, included public consultations with over 500 Canadians through multiple formats such as consultations conducted in-person, via telephone, email and online through the 76engage and letstalkopengov.ca platforms. Several online events, including a series of public webinars on key thematic areas, and meetings with civil society were also held. The plan will focus on five identified themes Footnote 5 :
The fifth NAP looks to ensure a better future for Canada by tackling important issues facing Canadians today. The PSC’s fourth OGIP was built in alignment with the 5th NAP.
TBS’s Evaluation of the Open Government Program, recommended that the GC OpenGov program “develop a strategic plan… [to] help set priorities and frame strategic communications…across government.” Footnote 6 Following this recommendation, the Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS) partnered with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to develop a plan.
Phase one, carried out by the OECD, included a fact-finding mission using GC departments to identify key elements to include in the strategy. The OECD held interviews with various stakeholders the week of June 7, 2021, including an interview with our President.
Phase two, will build on the input from phase one and look to develop an overarching OpenGov vision, priorities, and implementation plan. These results will also help TBS fine tune the GC’s logic model on the current state of OpenGov. The plan will complement the 5th NAP and take a whole of government approach as opposed to the NAP’s more focused objectives and commitments. The strategy’s approval is planned for September 2022. We will remain flexible in our approach to OpenGov and look to incorporate the ideas put forward in the strategic plan into the PSC’s plan where applicable.
“The objective of the directive is to maximize the release of government information and data of business value to support transparency, accountability, citizen engagement, and socio-economic benefits through reuse, subject to applicable restrictions associated with privacy, confidentiality, and security”. Footnote 7
It requires departments to establish and maintain comprehensive inventories of data and information resources of business value, maximize the release of open data and open information resources, and release data and information in accessible and reusable formats. These requirements are the minimum standard by which we hold the PSC’s open government initiative to.
The Open Government Portal (open.canada.ca) is the GC’s one-stop shop where federal organizations release data and information. It contains a listing of data inventories for federal organizations and has the capacity to store assets related to open data, open information, and consultations. As of Feb 28, 2022, it housed more than 26 988 datasets and more than 3 419 information assets. Footnote 8
While our vision is still for an Open PSC, we want to be viewed as an innovative leader in OpenGov across the GC that produces open data and information for results. We want to ensure that the data and information we share is used and of value. We will achieve this vision by continuing to tailor our OpenGov activities to our needs at the PSC.
OpenGov should be about publishing data and information that, increases the openness and transparency of the PSC and gives Canadians access to what they are looking for, in a usable format. However, we can also look to benefit from OpenGov. By publishing frequently requested data and information and enabling self-serve on the Open Government Portal we can direct departments to OpenGov, instead of having to develop individual reports each time a client requests data that the PSC collects.
We will empower PSC employees with the tools, the knowledge, and the support they need to proactively identify, develop, and publish PSC assets for results, meaning that these assets are informed by public interest and are being used.
Open data and information for results means that we want every asset we publish to be downloaded and used for a purpose, regardless of what it is. Knowing why our assets are being used, for us, is the spirit of open government and is fundamental to us sharing information that Canadians want or need.
Our 2020-2022 OGIP included tailored open government activities centered around four primary objectives. With these activities, PSC employees have been empowered with the tools, knowledge, and support required to proactively identify PSC data and information assets. Now that employees have these tools, the PSC can confidently evolve its vision and roadmap to focus on empowering employees to proactively develop and publish PSC assets with a purpose.
The PSC continued to support GC commitments and expectations under the Directive on Open Government. The Directive on Open Government is incorporated with other GC initiatives such as: the Policy on Service and Digital and the Directive on Service and Digital. This has created a need to remain flexible in our approach to OpenGov to be able to adapt to changes in the policy direction of the GC.
Furthermore, to support GC commitments and expectations we will continue work, to maximize the release of new data and information to the Portal, including updating existing PSC datasets that have been published. As of March 2022, the PSC has published 120 datasets and 20 information assets on the Portal.
We supported our OpenGov colleagues across the GC. We presented to the Open Government Coordinators Working Group (OGCWG) and the Open Government Director General Committee (OGDG) about various aspects the PSC OpenGov program. At the OGCWG we presented our OGIP, which resulted in us meeting with other GC OpenGov teams to share our processes in support of the development of their own OpenGov activities. At the Open Government Director General Committee, we presented an overview of our governance and how executive-level support has greatly contributed to the maturity of our OpenGov program. Finally, we participated in Canada School of Public Service’s Annual Digital Open Government forum on Nov 25th, 2021 where we took part in a discussion about how the workplace of the future is open by design. Footnote 9
Over the past two OGIPs, we have included activities to build the foundation for an open by default culture. We created and published internally (on the PSC’s Intracom site) an OpenGov user guide that outlines and clarifies the roles and responsibilities, the requirements, and processes related to OpenGov. We created an assessment tool to help employees identify valuable assets as candidates for OpenGov.
We created activities to engage employees in OpenGov and encouraged them to participate in the process. Employees have participated by identifying new assets, or by contacting us for advice on the OpenGov release process and the preparation of potential assets. As well, the PSC OpenGov team partnered with the PSC’s Integration and Inclusion Committee (IIC) to pilot embedding OpenGov considerations in committee activities. This included an evaluation and OpenGov discussion for all items presented to the committee as potential candidates for the OpenGov Portal. Participation in OpenGov activities like our annual open house, our internal communication campaigns, and our GCconnex/GCcollab pages continued to increase which in turn increased buy-in to the idea of OpenGov.
We engaged to provide value-added data and information. We engaged with Canadians, through GCConnex, the OpenGov Portal and in consultation, to increase awareness of PSC assets on the Open Government Portal and to increase PSC employees’ awareness around what data and information are of value to Canadians. However, due to COVID-19, we reduced our external engagement efforts and focused on engaging internally. We developed and shared various tools to forums such as Sector Management Committees (SMCs) and through department-wide lunch and learns. These tools included a Themes Deck and assessment tool to help identity assets of value and determine if they were eligible for release, an accessibility guide that focused on document accessibility and many group and one-on-one information sharing sessions. We also successfully held two fully digital Open Houses with over 180 participants joining us remotely each time.
We provided; quarterly updates via GC Collab and Connex, quarterly analytic updates to business owners who have assets on the Portal, responses to questions from the TBS suggest a dataset tool, and responses to questions sent to us. Finally, we continued to piggyback onto presentations of other PSC groups to spread OpenGov awareness, including those held by SSA’s, the Investigations Team and that of our colleagues in DSAD who manage the Public Service Commission's Staffing Dashboard Tool.
To optimize self-service through innovation we developed, and shared tools and resources to support employees and make it easier for them to identify and develop content that can be published on the OpenGov Portal. Resources we shared include: a user-guide to facilitate the OpenGov release process, a “themes of interest” tool to help identify potential assets that could be published to the OpenGov Portal, an accessible communications toolbox in collaboration with our communications team, and departmental templates with accessibility guidelines. We also developed tools such as the Staffing Dashboard visualization tool, Staffing and Non-Partisanship Survey tool, and guidance YouTube videos to support the use of PSC open data.
Although our Open Government Implementation Plans (OGIP) set objectives and commitments for two-year cycles, they do not allow for an organizational assessment of OpenGov beyond measuring the completeness of the identified commitments. Something else was needed to help measure the impact of OpenGov on the organization. A maturity model allows for benchmarking, and measurement of our organizational progress over the term of each OGIP. With this in mind, we developed our own in-house maturity model that was validated by the PSC Internal Audit team. The model allows the PSC to identify areas of weakness and strength and plan future priorities appropriately to achieve our goals. The model and the report from the consultative engagement will be made available on the Open Government Portal.
The model uses six levels of maturity. The six levels range from initial conditions (level 0) to open co-creation (level 5) to ensure that the model captures all possible levels of maturity but still encourages the organization to strive for continual improvement.
Figure 3 depicts the 6 levels of maturity. Level 0 is initial conditions, level 1 is building an open foundation, level 2 is fostering transparency, level 3 is open participation, level 4 open collaboration, and level 5 open co-creation.
The model allows the PSC to rank its progression in all areas of OpenGov. The model has four categories, and each category contains five to eight indicators, which can be ranked from level 0 (Initial conditions) to level 5 (Open co-creation).
Using the maturity model, the Open Government Secretariat (OGS) conducted a self-assessment of the OpenGov program at the PSC. Following the self-assessment, at OGS’ request, PSC’s Internal Audit Team conducted a consultative engagement. The goal of the consultative engagement was to support the OGS in the development of tools and establish a baseline to measure the progress of the OpenGov Initiative. The consultative engagement reviewed and confirmed the validity of the maturity model, and validity of the self-assessment. It is important to note that some of the levels in the self-assessment differ slightly from the self-assessment levels detailed below. These slight modifications were made to better reflect the state of maturity at the PSC at the time of OGIP publication.
Category 1 measures the maturity in data and information formats, organizational planning (i.e., governance, project planning, etc.) and accountability.
The PSC publishes datasets in non-propriety formats, specifically CSV format and publishes information assets in accessible formats including HTML. The PSC data inventory is updated when necessary and OGS iteratively develops OGIPs on a two-year cycle. At the time of assessment, governance and challenge functions were formalized, deadlines were published, and accountability for OpenGov was reflected in the PMAs of all executives and managers.
There is still room for the PSC to mature. Our goal as an organization is to reach a state where available data is linked to other data to provide context, and that information assets are continuously updated and published in formats that reflect the best accessibility practices of the day. Governance and challenge functions should be centralized specifically for OG and deadlines for OpenGov commitments reflected in unit work plans.
Category 2 measures the maturity in organizational culture and transparency (i.e. the sharing of data, information, and finances, as well as proactive disclosure).
Through our OGIPs and other plans we have defined open by default and established standards. With this, we have seen organizational progress but there is a siloed approach to both data and information sharing. Additionally, the sharing of financial information is limited to meet GC compliance. The PSC is abiding by proactive disclosure legislation, however there is an opportunity to go beyond the legislation and have employees proactively participate in releasing additional information or on more frequent timelines.
To achieve an Open PSC, we are continuously working towards organization-wide understanding and implementation of open by default. As the PSC strives to be more open by default, we are also working towards increased data and information sharing, moving from our current siloed approach to proactive identification and sharing of data and information. A similar goal is set in relation to financial information, sharing the most relevant financial details when requested.
Category 3 measures the maturity of our engagement with Canadians. This includes employee awareness, plans/activities, data and information identification, and open dialogue.
Currently, PSC employees participate in OpenGov initiatives when solicited as do target audiences outside of the PSC. An engagement plan was developed, and target audiences are included and provide specific feedback and input on OpenGov initiatives. When feedback is solicited it is considered in future updates and identification of data and information. To support engagement, the foundation pieces for open dialogue have been established.
OpenGov should promote open dialogue between Canadians and the PSC. To continue to engage more with Canadians, the PSC needs to reach a level of awareness where internal and external target audiences proactively participate with OpenGov and its initiatives. We need to engage our target audience so that they pro-actively participate in open dialogue which can then be incorporated into relevant OpenGov policy and products. Specifically, we aim to build maturity in our data and information identification to release demand driven data and information. We strive to build on the foundation we have created for open dialogue and work to achieve active open dialogue between Canadians and the PSC.
Category 4 measures the maturity in innovation, prosperity, and sustainable development in areas such as data infrastructure, data culture, data access, data literacy and data identification.
A data strategy has been produced to address current data limitations, but data is tied to specific applications. A mix of data access methods and data services exist, each independent of each other and access is limited and constrained to the data owner. Policy and governance have been implemented to enable data stewardship, ownership, quality and security, and data that can be shared is identified by the PSC.
To increase our OpenGov maturity, we have set goals of expanding data infrastructure with active user interfaces and data visualizations. In tandem, the culture around data infrastructure must also mature, as we strive for a state where data management processes are core to the PSC and infrastructure enables proactive data sharing through automation. Regarding data access and sharing the PSC is aiming for access to be open and final barriers to data use are removed. Meeting our maturity goals in data literacy and culture means roles relative to data management are part of the data culture and are being optimized. Lastly, our goal is for PSC data to be user-driven and accessible through self-service options, including new data captures, and new collections by the public and the PSC.
To develop this OGIP, we brought together stakeholders from across the PSC and the GC through various means, to collaborate and identify issues, risks, and opportunities. The objective was to create a holistic vision and plan in which employees could see themselves reflected. These consultations highlighted issues and employees’ expectations for the future of OpenGov at the PSC.
The draft OGIP was made available for comment to employees for a one-week period prior to being brought through the Open PSC governance and was approved by the Executive Management Committee (EMC) on March 30, 2022.
The third OGIP saw the PSC commit to OpenGov through four key objectives (figure 2):
With activities formed under the four above objectives, the third biennial OGIP looked to empower PSC employees with the tools, knowledge, and support required to proactively identify PSC data and information assets. Now that employees have these tools, we can confidently evolve our vision and our roadmap to focus on further empowering our employees with the abilities to proactively develop and publish PSC assets with purpose.
Consequently, our objectives and commitments, while still founded on the same principles as previous OGIPs, have been developed with the goal of further advancing OpenGov. This fourth biennial OGIP looks to continue to empower employees with tools knowledge and support they require to proactively develop and publish PSC data and information. Figure 4 outlines the Open PSC Objectives and Commitments for the fourth OGIP.
Our four key Objectives for our fourth OGIP are as follows:
The OpenGov commitments and supporting activities stem from the issues and opportunities identified during employee consultations. For a more detailed breakdown of the corresponding activities, please see Section 10 - Activity Charts.
We have worked to establish the foundational pieces for an “Open by Default” Culture. We have seen a continued increase in the number of data and information assets being identified and released. The processes in place for the identification, development, and publication of data and information are now supported by tools and resources. Much of the process is still initialized and led by the Open Government Secretariat (OGS) and the Information Management Office (IMO).
However, there are still challenges. During consultations, PSC employees stated that they feel there is a lack of clarity regarding the requirements and processes related to OpenGov. Employees also reported a low perception of value for effort, citing worries that it would add to already heavy workloads. We need to continue to work towards an Open PSC, and empower employees to keep identifying and sharing content, we need to make it easy for employees to understand how, when, why, and what to share as well as how to incorporate OpenGov into day-to-day work activities without creating an additional burden.
To foster our “Open by Default Culture” we will:
In the third OGIP, our goal was to engage to provide value-added data and information. The fourth OGIP focuses our engagement efforts towards creating more meaningful relationships with our stakeholders. We need to engage to understand how and why our data and information is being used. The more we know about how and why people are using our data and information, the better we can identify, develop, and publish future products.
Throughout our consultations, employees reported feeling risk-adverse to Open Government and its associated activities despite acknowledging the benefits to their daily tasks, to the GC, and to the wider Canadian public. However, they also reacted positively to the idea of deepening the PSC’s understanding why consumers are using PSC data and how these consumers intend to make use of it.
To engage and maximize the impact of our open data and open information, we will:
Throughout our consultations, employees reported that they still found it difficult to navigate OpenGov and to direct clients and colleagues to OpenGov resources and assets. We need to make it simpler for employees to self-serve. In addition, we need to make it easier for employees to also provide services to their clients and/or stakeholders. Additionally, the GC’s OpenGov action plan has identified a need to make OpenGov more user friendly, and discoverable, specifically around its tools such as the OpenGov Portal. To answer these needs, the PSC OpenGov team will continue do what it can to make OpenGov user-friendly for both producers and consumers of the PSC’s data and information.
To innovate and expand self-service, we will:
Throughout our consultations, employees expressed that they found value in the idea of the PSC supporting wider GC OpenGov goals. Employees were interested in continuing to explore opportunities to form strategic partnerships and/or collaborate with other groups within the PSC, and with the greater GC community, to share more comprehensive data and information. Employees were also favorable to the continued identification and release of open information and data assets as doing so benefits the wider GC Community as well as the PSC’s day-to-day operations.
We will continue to support GC Open Government Commitments such as the GC fifth National Action Plan on Open Government (TBS), the GC OpenGov Strategic Plan (TBS), and the Policy on Service and Digital (TBS).
To support and contribute to GC commitments and expectations, we will:
An OpenGov Champion was first designated in November 2016, by the EMC, to provide leadership and visibility to this initiative. At that time, governance was ensured via the Joint Information Management/Information Technology Committee (IM/ITC), and the Integration and Inclusion Committee (IIC), a committee that was called when needed.
With this OGIP, we recognized that a more stable and streamlined approach to governance was needed and that only going to the IMITC before going to EMC would be sufficient. The primary reason for the switch is because the IMITC is scheduled monthly and therefore allows for OpenGov to have access to a regularly scheduled meeting. Additionally, the Information Management Senior Official (IMSO) and the Chief Data Officer (CDO) sit on the IMITC, and as a result, will be present and informed of any OGS activities. The role of the IMSO is assigned to the Chief Information Officer (CIO), who is a member of the IMITC and the Open Government Champion chairs the IMITC.
To continue supporting the Open Government Champion and the IMSO, the membership of the Open Government Working Group (OGWG) was expanded to include representatives at the working level from all PSC sectors and regions. The OGWG meets quarterly and acts as an informal group to provide guidance and feedback on proposed and ongoing OpenGov activities.
Figure 5 below depicts the revised OpenGov governance which will continue to be re-examined to ensure expediency and efficiency while maintaining privacy, legal, and security requirements.
As we mature and evolve as an Open PSC, some risks may grow or diminish accordingly. Therefore, the mitigation strategies listed below may be modified over the course of the fourth OGIP.
Publication of data/information that should not have been released (e.g., data/information that is sensitive, incorrect, or lacking context) and/or possible misuse or misinterpretation of released data/information
Delays and challenges in responding to user feedback such as:
Lack of data literacy skills to use PSC data
Inability to measure impact of OGIP due to lack of performance measures and reporting on progress through governance.
Due to the continued global pandemic related to COVID-19, the timelines identified for each activity and their respective deliverables will be reviewed and revised in partnership with each of the Leads on a regular basis. The OGS will remain flexible to accommodate the business units.
The creation of the OGIP is the result of an intensive cooperation between the Information Technology Services Directorate (ITSD), OGS and other internal directorates at PSC. As part of this collaboration, the 2022-2024 OGIP will continue to evolve as an evergreen document and, through an iterative process, will be elaborated to reflect the GC Policy on Service and Digital as well as the Directive on Service and Digital that incorporates the Directive on Open Government.
We will continue to collaborate on the development of the OGIP, and while versions may go through governance committees, it will continue to evolve.
Figure 2 outlines Open PSC objectives and commitments from the PSC’s third OGIP 2020-2022. There was a total of four objectives. Objective one was to support GC commitments and expectations. This objective had three commitments: Maximize the release of data and information, align with GC direction, and to plan the next OGIP. Objective two was to create an “open by default” culture. This objective had one commitment: clarify OpenGov roles and responsibilities, requirements, and processes. Objective three was to engage to provide value- added data and information. This objective had one commitment: enable “publish with a purpose”. Objective four was to optimize self-service through innovation. This objective had two commitments: make OpenGov user friendly internally for employees and make OpenGov user friendly externally for Canadians.
Figure 4 outlines the Open PSC objectives and commitments for the PSC’s Fourth OGIP 2022-2024. There are a total of four objectives for this OGIP. Objective one is to foster our “Open by Default” Culture. This objective has two commitments: Increase PSC employees’ confidence and understanding of the OpenGov process, and to measure progress. Objective two is to engage to maximize the impact of our open data and information. This objective has two commitments: gain an understanding of what PSC OpenGov assets are being used for and engage internally. Objective three is to innovate and expand self-service. This objective has one commitment: to make PSC Open data and information assets more searchable, usable, and discoverable. Finally, Objective four is to support and contribute to GC commitments and expectations. This objective has three commitments: collaborate with the larger GC OpenGov community, maximize release of data and information of value, and plan for the next Open Government Implementation Plan.
Figure 5 outlines the revised Open PSC governance. The reporting structure is as follows. The Open Government Secretariat reports to the Open Government Working Group. The Open Government Working Group Reports to the Information Management/ Information Technology Committee (IM/ITC). The Open Government Secretariat reports to the Open Government Champion/ Chief Data Officer (CDO). The Open Government Champion/CDO reports to President.
The Information Management Office reports to the Information Management Senior Official (IMSO)/Chief Information Officer (CIO). The IMSO/CIO reports to Vice-President Corporate Affairs Sector.
The IM/ITC reports to the Executive Management Committee (EMC).
The membership of the committees are as follows. EMC membership includes: The President, and Open Government Champion/CDO. The IM/ITC includes: The Open Government Champion/CDO and the Information Management Senior Official/CIO.
Collaboration occurs between the Open Government Secretariat and Data Management Office (if necessary). Collaboration also occurs between the Open Government Secretariat and the Information Management Office (if necessary).
Nathaniel Heller, Executive Vice President for Integrated Strategies at Results for Development.
