Be a Part of Drafting Principles for Digital BC

By Eseohe Ojo on January 29, 2020 | Tagged with , , , ,

The Digital Tattoo Project was recently invited by the Government of British Columbia to review and share feedback on the Draft Principles for Digital BC and you can too!

 

The Digital Principles in Context

These Digital Principles are envisioned to be part of an interconnected set of guidance and standards for all BC Public Service employees engaged in applying the culture, processes, business models and technology of the digital era to meeting the needs and expectations of the people of British Columbia:

  • The British Columbia Public Service Oath of Employment and Standards of Conduct
  • These (DRAFT) Digital Principles, which explicitly and very intentionally incorporate the Draft Principles that Guide the Province of British Columbia’s Relationship with Indigenous Peoples;
  • As called for in the Digital Framework, an in-development Service Standard, intended to guide digital era teams to create and run great public services, no matter the channel through which those services are delivered (i.e. whether digital or not); and
  • Modelled again after leading jurisdictions, for those using technology to build government products and services, an in-development Technology Code of Practice, a set of criteria to help government design, build and buy technology. This Code of Practice is intended to be used as a cross-government agreed standard for the development of new digital (IMIT) products and services.

 

Why this is important for you and you should engage with the process

The draft principles guide the government of B.C.’s digital future which youth and students are at the heart of. As digital technologies transform the way British Columbians live, work and play, the government is working to meet changing expectations.

The government is aiming to use the modern tools and technologies of the time to deliver the services people want and maximize the power of data to improve the services people need. As young people in particular, technology is involved in everything we do making this an important process to participate and be involved in.

 

About the Draft Principles

An initial draft of the principles, v. 0.1, was posted in November 2019 but this has been refined in response to feedback from the community. The latest draft, v. 0.2, is available on GitHub and future iterations will be included on https://digital.gov.bc.ca/.

British Columbia’s approach to Digital Government is a work-in-progress and as part of the work to accelerate digital change in the Government of BC, the Ministry of Citizen Services is leading the process of co-creating a set of digital principles.

The initial framework for digital government in BC is set out at https://digital.gov.bc.ca/. Following this is the draft set of principles – fundamental propositions – are to serve as the foundation for a system of behaviors to guide the work of the Digital BC community.

These principles are intended to align government organizations and partners around a common vision for digital government.  The hope is that the principles will help shape how information, technology, programs and services in the Internet age are managed.

The process has leveraged content from leading jurisdictions, input from BC public servants, and elements that are important for BC. We were excited to see connections between the principles and issues mentioned by Hillary Hartley, Chief Digital Officer and Deputy Minister for Digital Government, Ontario Public Service highlighted in our earlier blog post “Good Government in the Digital Age should be about the User”. Although in the early stages, these principles have also been linked with Alberta’s Digital Transformation Principles which are also a recent development from Alberta’s Digital Innovation Office.

For Digital Tattoo, this was a great opportunity to engage and energize students, internally and with our community to participate in the process of change. It was useful for the DT team to review the principles and share our feedback as a team.

Being recognized for our work and leadership in supporting digital change in BC was also an opportunity to reflect on our early advocacy, commitment to education on digital identity awareness, providing information about important digital issues, creating a space for thoughtful engagement, and, when the opportunity arises, being a part of processes of change and a space for digital rights advocacy.

Feedback and comments are welcome from all preferably by January 31, 2020 via GitHub, the blog post on Medium, or by email at IM.ITPolicy@gov.bc.ca. These will be used to refine the principles.

More information on the draft principles can be found on:

Written by: Eseohe Ojo

Edited by: Samantha Summers

Featured Image from Tumisu used under Pixabay License

Read More | No Comments

Leave a Reply