Opinion
It’s time for government to get its head in the cloud
By Michelle Lajeunesse January 14, 2020
Everything digital runs on the cloud. Whether it’s an artificially intelligent chatbot helping to expedite a renewal of your passport, or a voice-messaging system that lets you know where you are in the queue with Canada Revenue Agency. These tools enable governments to move out of administrative tasks and into high value work.
Until recently, nobody but your local meteorologist worried about the cloud. But the past decade has completely changed the tech landscape, writes Michelle Lajeunesse. Photo by Helloquence on Unsplash
It’s 2020, and with the threat of data breaches looming, organizations in highly regulated industries, along with government, are grappling with the complexities of fast-changing global regulatory needs. There’s growing pressure to meet rising consumer and employee expectations—something that requires the agility, resiliency, and scalability benefits of cloud computing. As this newfound confidence in digital transformation emerges in businesses across Canada, there is increasing pressure on government to do the same. Governments around the world and at home view the cloud as a way to meet Canadians’ needs in an era of increasing demand for online services. But we also know that it’s not easy. Public institutions face a number of unique challenges as they transition to the cloud.
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