The Information Management Round Table {PRIVATE } Government's Role in the Knowledge-Based Society

Transcription

1 The Information Management Round Table {PRIVATE } Government's Role in the Knowledge-Based Society October 21, 1998 The first meeting of the Information Management Round Table featured Frank McKenna, partner with the Moncton law firm of McInnes Cooper & Robertson and Premier of New Brunswick between 1987 and According to Mr. McKenna, the time has come for the federal government to champion a new national agenda aimed at making Canada the most knowledge-rich country in the world. Canada's lagging productivity and lower levels of R & D relative to the United States require that the public and private sectors work jointly in seeking solutions to these persistent problems. Drawing upon his experience in New Brunswick, Mr. McKenna outlined several key strategies and lessons -- including the need for universities to become agents of change, the importance of sensitizing the public to technology, and the necessity of political leadership -- that should be integrated into a new national strategy. Opening Remarks Mr. McKenna began his remarks by highlighting the need for a new national agenda that aims to make Canada the most knowledge-rich country in the world. Given the government's recent success in controlling the deficit and its present search for new priorities, fostering the nation's "knowledge-base" should assume increased attention. The desirability of such a strategy, he argued, is driven by economic imperatives. The United States, for example, has been much more successful in fostering innovation, leading to an economy with virtually full employment and a strong commercial orientation despite a highly-valued currency. The US is also investing almost twice as much money (per capita) into R & D, with double the number of researchers relative to Canada. Akin to the US, Canada must overcome the belief that its industries can be the lowest cost producers of goods. Instead, Canadian business must strive to add value and creativity to its outputs. The lower-paid Mexican worker is not the nemesis of the Canadian worker. The latter 1

2 must instead utilize skills that are entirely different, drawing upon mental rather than manual expertise. Mr. McKenna believes that the Canadian government can play an important -- if not essential -- role in creating a culture of learning and in sensitizing citizens to the uses of technology. He outlined elements of a national strategy aimed at making Canada the world leader in fostering and applying knowledge. Canada must expand aggressively into the area of electronic commerce. While sales through this medium are now valued at $20-25 billion per year, it is estimated that this figure could grow to $1 trillion. Canada needs to invest considerably more money in the area of R&D. This could be done, in part, through greater use of tax credits. Universities must be encouraged to become better agents of change, especially in fostering technological innovation. Many of the great cities around the world are building around their educational institutions. Canada must do the same. Mr. McKenna believes that universities are presently constrained by their internal governance processes and insufficiently responsive to the demands of the marketplace. Examples of this include duplication of programming at universities in the same regions as well as hesitancy of universities to accept course credit from outside institutions or for acquired learning. As a result, alternative educational resources -- such as online learning and community colleges -- are becoming much more popular. McKenna conceded that it may have to be the private sector that forces universities to equip students with skills of relevance in the present workplace. The government should define key programs that urgently require the application of technology to services. One prime candidate is the health industry sector. At present, there is little connectivity between hospitals, doctors and pharmacists. Failure to link these occupational groupings leads to considerable inefficiencies, as evidenced by the over-prescription of drugs in some communities (especially amongst native Canadians). While there are isolated pockets of excellence in the health industry -- e.g. tele-medicine - - there have been limited efforts to connect information on a system-wide basis. Despite provincial jurisdiction over health, McKenna believes that the provinces would likely welcome federal leadership and funding on this issue. Doctors too would likely overcome their resistance to technological change. One of the purposes of this initiative would be to free up front-line care by improving the administration of the health care system. Mr. McKenna subsequently outlined his experience in fostering a "knowledge-rich" society in New Brunswick. Given the economic impediments faced by the province -- such as the absence of significant oil or gas royalties and the distance from large metropolitan centres (65% of New Brunswick's population is rural) -- Mr. McKenna quickly realized that the fostering of knowledge 2

3 would be central to the economic development of New Brunswick. He highlighted a number of specific initiatives: The provincial government subsidized the purchase of personal computers for individuals citizens, between $ per unit. Approximately 20,000 computers were purchased during the first six months of this program. The government made computer literacy a standard for graduation from high school in the province. The Community Access program, instituted jointly with Industry Canada, set up a series of computer and internet access sites around the province in community centres and schools. Single-window service centres -- called Service New Brunswick -- were established to provide on-line access to a range of government services, enabling citizens, for example, to renew driver's licenses or purchase hunting permits. The centres presently link sixteen provincial government departments. Improved electronic administration of the welfare process, through contracting with Arthur Anderson Consulting, allowed public servants to have more time to interact directly with citizens. The government used technology to create a more integrated justice system. This permitted officials to track the offender from arrest by the police, to prosecutor s office, to the courts, to the prison, to the parole service and back to the police. The government used information technologies to increase their 911 emergency services throughout the province 24 hours a day. Most observers have concluded that the outcomes of these initiatives have been very successful. The most visible impact has been the creation of approximately 10,000 jobs in the information technology field during the last ten years. New Brunswick is now servicing the world through information technologies; five companies, for example, are now assisting international clients in making their computer systems compliant with the Year Additionally, improved service delivery has been evident throughout the public sector, evidenced by increased departmental revenues and high levels of customer satisfaction. According to Mr. McKenna, the above initiatives have also created a society much more comfortable with the use of technology. Mr. McKenna believes that New Brunswick could well serve as a microcosm of what the federal government might do to foster knowledge-based industry throughout Canada. Summary of Discussion 3

4 A number of diverse issues arose during the discussion period, which may be grouped under the following themes: Canadian business culture, administrative impediments, and resource requirements. 1) Canadian business culture A number of participants addressed the relationship between the size of companies and technological innovation. While the government might play a role in encouraging small businesses to adopt new forms of technology, current experience -- particularly in the United States --demonstrates that many small innovative companies are often bought by larger ones. The possible predatory intent of many of these larger high-tech firms, typified at present by Microsoft, raises troubling implications about the ability of governments to foster sustained technological innovation at the local level. Another participant commented that large Canadian firms (with over 500 personnel) are generally as successful as US firms in adapting to technology. Small and medium Canadian enterprises, by contrast, are less successful despite the existence of government incentives to invest in high-tech areas. Perhaps cultural attitudes and lower tendencies toward risk-taking account for Canada's comparative weakness in championing technological innovation amongst small businesses. Mr. McKenna pointed to two key factors that may account for Canada's lag in technological innovation. The first is less synergy between universities and local industries than in the US. While some of Canada's larger companies have had close linkages to the research capacities of universities (perhaps in part accounting for the lower degree of R&D in Canada), they are far less integrated relative to certain American centers (e.g. Boston or Silicon Valley). The second factor relates to the continued high resource dependence in Canada, an economic sector that has traditionally been less technologically intensive than others. Canada may have been "inflicted" with too many natural riches, leading to insufficient development of both secondary and tertiary industries. McKenna also conceded that cultural differences do account for varying receptiveness towards technology in both countries. The private sector in the US, for example, better "leverages" government, evidenced by Microsoft's efforts to connect schools across California. While Canada has even higher levels of computer ownership and cable access than the US, Canada's technological innovation and productivity levels still trail behind. McKenna argued that high levels of income support -- at the individual, regional, and corporate levels -- have created a harmful dependency on government assistance and dampened innovation. 2) Administrative impediments A number of comments centred around administrative barriers to championing technological change, particularly within the public service. Seamless service delivery to the public is hampered by enduring "silo" mentalities within government departments or by jurisdictional "turf" disputes between various levels of government. Only in rare instances, usually during real 4

5 or perceived crises, are these impediments overcome (e.g. war, Y2K problem). Pockets of technological excellence exist within governments, but too often these pockets are not linked due to political and managerial norms. A number of participants similarly alluded to the propensity of government and business to think a great deal about technological issues (such as PKI - Public Key Infrastructure) without acting on them. "Getting ideas to the market" tends to be a difficulty faced by both the private and public sectors alike. Mr. McKenna urged that governments adopt both a horizontal and vertical perspective, thinking first of the needs of citizens rather than the defence of constitutional powers. The experience of New Brunswick exemplifies how administrative barriers often overshadow technological constraints. Leadership in the province often meant that decisions came from the top down, as illustrated by the creation of an Information Highway Secretariat as a central agency. Key priorities were run out of the Premier's office to ensure quick and efficient implementation of programs and policy. As McKenna admitted, the consensus model of decision making in both cabinet and caucus proved ineffective in tackling pressing problems. The downside of this management style, however, meant sometimes intervening in issues of limited relevance to the province as whole. In one instance, departmental gridlock and disputes over "turf" demanded that the Premier personally intervene to aid in the restoration of a local clam-bed fishery! 3) Resource requirements Mr. McKenna asserted that federal efforts to enhance the use of technology in government services require serious commitments of resources, perhaps amounting to between $500 million and $1 billion per year. These resources are required to entice other levels of government to look beyond their "turf" and to adopt national protocols. Political leaders and citizens alike must be educated to the long-term cost savings that will ensue, given the likely disenchantment that many will feel towards money spent in anything other than direct service delivery. Initiatives might include, for example, integrating welfare rolls across provinces (thereby reducing "claimjumping") and improving health information systems (thus freeing up more resources for improved front-line care). Political leaders must trumpet the benefits of these initiatives, McKenna claimed, in order to ensure that they resonate amongst the public. As Premier of New Brunswick, he used television ads to demonstrate the benefits of using information technologies in the home and even encouraged taxi drivers to serve as "salespersons" for the province. Public servants must provide the road-map for using IT in innovative ways; elected leaders must then serve as the personalities selling this vision. Mr. McKenna also alluded to a number of key public-private partnerships that were crucial to spreading technology and innovation across the province. As mentioned earlier, Anderson Consulting worked closing with the New Brunswick government in "wiring" the province. The potential of this firm to form strategic alliances with other companies around the world -- in addition to its technological expertise -- proved to be a crucial factor in its selection. It should also be noted, however, that forming partnerships with local companies, or having a local firm as part of a consortium, was a specific requirement in many contracts awarded by the provincial 5

6 government. McKenna also mentioned that some major companies were not always in a position to fulfill their defined responsibilities -- as occurred with the integrated justice initiative. In public-private partnerships, it is often the public side which acts as the more secure partner. Conclusion Mr. McKenna reiterated his belief that, upon assuming the premiership, the government had no option but to pursue the path of knowledge creation as a tool of economic development in New Brunswick. New skills had to be inculcated amongst the public that would assist them in breaking the legacy of dependency, in rejoining the labour force and in attaining jobs with promising futures. For the government, and Premier in particular, this meant championing an interventionist approach to knowledge creation -- through public-private partnerships, partnerships with other levels of government, reforms to the educational curriculum, improved access to computers in rural communities, and assertive salesmanship at political levels. Many lessons can be gleaned from this experience. First, implementing technological change often requires overcoming administrative barriers. This entails recognizing financial inefficiencies and duplicative services and then overcoming bureaucratic "turf" to improve delivery to the public. Second, enduring knowledge creation in a society requires creating a sensitivity to technology amongst the public. Governments must demonstrate both the utility and accessibility of technology, even amongst rural or remote users. Finally, implementing such an initiative demands a long-term commitment from the most senior levels of government. According to Mr. McKenna, the time is now ripe for the federal government to create and implement a vision of Canada as the leading knowledge-based society. 6