#DigitalGovernment Reflection Modernization GovernmentofCanada

[stevenaeng-blog]

Module 1 Reflection

What is Digital Government

Prior to our first-class last Wednesday, I had a vague idea of what digital government is. I had always heard the term being thrown around, and understood instances of what it entailed, however, I feel as though I hadn’t sufficiently grasped the concept of digital government, especially as it relates to fully modernizing the ways in which the government carries out its services to citizens.

Although, one example of how I had interpreted ‘digital government’ prior to our first class relates to health-care services. For example, allowing citizens to have full access to details regarding their health, allowing them to see test results online, book appointments online, etc. However, it wasn’t until our last class that I really began to think about the implications of applying digital government to not only healthcare but other potential and existing services.

Additionally, as part of our last class, I felt that I got a really good understanding of the varied ways in which the Ontario and Canadian Government, as well as other entities like Amazon have both pushed the boundaries of digital service, but also how they have much room to grow. For example, It had never occurred to me how amazing it is that we can predict how much OSAP aid we could be eligible for, or how awesome it is that in regards to PESTO, we can load our cards online; both of which require no human interaction at all.

Additional Thoughts

Although Canada has a long way to go towards fully embracing a ‘digital government’, I feel as though our last class and the potential of a fully digital Canadian government got me simultaneously excited and concerned for the future of society.

On the one hand, a fully digital Canadian government, for all intents and purposes, should help Canadians access services more easily and enable them to devote time that would have been spent navigating through bureaucratic processes. Conversely, I feel as though a fully digital Canadian government, like the process of automation taking over fast-food and retail industries could also serve as a detriment, in the sense that it would reduce social connectedness, and increase isolation as it’s another aspect of life in which would not require human interaction.

All in all, I’m extremely excited that we live in this time period, in which we will hopefully see Canada embrace a ‘digital government’ even further, and excited to see the tangible effects of this modernization on my own life.