Premier Gallant Wants First Digital Gov’t In North America
FREDERICTON–New Brunswick’s government announced today that it is initiating a partnership with TechImpact – an organization made up of local technology business leaders that advocates for a greater embrace of IT literacy and innovation as a strategy for economic growth.
The goal of the partnership will be to transform New Brunswick’s into North America’s first truly digital government.
The partnership will involve the creation of a digital hub for public services in the province with the goal of helping to transform the way people access government information. The government said that the digital hub will use technology as a mode of delivering services that put the user first, while also giving them the smartest and most cost-effective services possible.
Premier Brian Gallant, who is also the minister responsible for innovation, said that the government wants New Brunswick to become a “truly digital province.”
“This is an opportunity for us to attract technical experts and companies to New Brunswick, create jobs and develop highly-secure services for global markets,” Gallant said.
The province says the partnership will also provide a platform to foster innovation in New Brunswick, bringing together expertise from the public and private sector.
TechImpact CEO Ed McGinley says that his organization’s goal is to help develop digital solutions that will make every day things better for the province’s citizens, and that will help its companies become internationally recognized digital experts.
One way that the government and TechImpact hope to do that is with a government-private sector partnership on a unique digital lab project. The goal of the lab will be to develop a strategy for a secure and open digital future for the province, as well as to launch an open data initiative and also to create a digital service accelerator.
“This initiative is the catalytic moment that will kick everything into high gear,” said McGinley.
“Research and development and especially business enterprise research and development are both recognized as key economic indicators. We don’t have nearly enough of this happening in Atlantic Canada: we need to create an environment where this can happen. It is our opinion that this lab / hub will spark that investment.”
The province says that it expects the development of digital services and an increased digital capacity in government to save taxpayers, businesses and the public millions of dollars over the coming decade.
The move forms part of its plan to address fiscal challenges and foster economic growth.