The 311 Podcast

From Ashes to Solutions: The Phoenix Project RevisitedToday, my guest is Alex Benay.  Alex has recently returned to the federal service of Canada to lead the modernization of Canada's federal payroll system.  Starting in 2009 and launching in 2015. The Phoenix project was meant to replace a 40 year old technology stack and save millions of taxpayer dollars each year.  However, after launch it quickly became apparent that there were major inconsistencies and gaps in paying Canada's, 290,000 federal civil servants.  The project has continued to be a black eye for the government and costs have continued to bloom.  This is the kind of project that most people stay far away from. But Alex is no stranger to courageous initiatives.Resource Links:Alex Benay - LinkedInCynefin ModelGoss Gilroy Inc.MiramichiAccentureEdward Guest “It Couldn’t Be Done”Industry Partners mentioned:Accenture | Dayforce | EY | CGIAudit Reports2018 Spring Reports of the Auditor General of Canada to the Parliament of Canada Lessons Learned from the Transformation of Pay Administration, Goss Gilroy IncRecorded in September of 2024This is a show about the people that make digital public service work. If you'd like to find out more, visit northern.co/311-podcast/ We're going to keep having conversations like this. If you've got ideas of guests we should speak to, send us an email to [email protected]. Northern LinkedIn

Scaling Success in Healthcare IT for Alberta Health ServicesToday, my guest is Penny Rae.  Penny is the Chief Information Officer for Alberta Health Services.  AHS is the health delivery organization for the province of Alberta in Canada.  AHS is the largest health care delivery organization in North America. And with nearly 150,000 employees and contractors, it's one of the top five employers in all of Canada.  The IT department alone is 2,500 people. So the scale of Penny's operation is massive. Penny has spent the last few years leading a rollout of the EPIC health care management system as a wholesale replacement for hundreds of individual healthcare information management systems.  It's one of the largest IT projects in Canada. And in an industry where only 30% of IT projects like this reach success. Penny's approach is beating all the odds. You're going to hear Penny talk about culture and trust as the driver for success and her own philosophy about how to lead technical teams.  I hope you enjoy the conversation. --Resource Links:Greg Price story, Falling Through the Cracks [2017]Cynefin ModelSense and RespondWikipedia | Amazon | Kobo. | IndigoPenny Rae - National recognition for AHS Chief Information Officer (2018)AHS selected Epic Systems Corporation as the partner for Connect Care. (link to FAQ PDF)https://northern.co/311-podcastRecorded in May 2023This is a show about the people that make digital public service work. If you'd like to find out more, visit northern.co/311-podcast/ We're going to keep having conversations like this. If you've got ideas of guests we should speak to, send us an email to [email protected]. Northern LinkedIn

I am really excited today to be talking to Sophia Hoosein and Jessica McQueen, who are two people that I know and respect and who have agreed to come and talk to us about government organizations trying to make digital change. We're going to talk about power and how you get things done, and I'm just really excited. Thanks to Sophia and Jessica for the open and honest conversation about the actual experience of working in government. --This is a show about the people that make digital government work. If you'd like to find out more, visit yellowpencil.com. We're going to keep having conversations like this. If you've got ideas of guests we should speak to, send us an email to [email protected]. Government is about all of us. Let's keep making a better world. This has been the 311 podcast and I'm your host, Paul Bellows.-- LinksSophia Hoosein: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophiahoosein/Jessica MacQueen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicamacqueen/This is a show about the people that make digital public service work. If you'd like to find out more, visit northern.co/311-podcast/ We're going to keep having conversations like this. If you've got ideas of guests we should speak to, send us an email to [email protected]. Northern LinkedIn

This is The 311 podcast. I'm your host, Paul Bellows. This is a show about the people that make digital government work. If you'd like to find out more, visit yellowpencil.com. Today, my guest is Miki Stricker-Talbot. Miki is responsible for intrepreneurship and strategic design in the citizen services branch at the city of Edmonton.You may ask what intrepreneurship is and my answer is keep listening. That's what we'll be talking about. In addition to organizational design, kindness, privilege, and generally how to make change from within an organization rather than just top down. I know that our podcast theme is on digital government and the people who are making change. And while digital isn't part of Miki's purpose in the organization, I think that the mindset she brings to making change is what's necessary for any digital worker who is feeling frustrated and like they can't do their work in the right way. Like they don't have the right supports. Miki's work has been recognized globally and Apolitical recently named her as one of the 100 most influential people in government.  If you've come across, Miki's work on UNICORNS, that's an acronym that I'll let her unpack, then perhaps you've come to understand why the way she thinks and works is so important to pay attention to. In particular with digital work, government is on the same talent hunt as the rest of the startup and software world but without the salaries and profit sharing that the private sector can sometimes offer. I think it's more and more important to think about the kind of organizations that we're creating to operate our public trusts. We need government to be the first place that passionate and talented people think about spending some or all of their career.And if we have more people like Miki in positions of influence, then maybe we can make that come true. I loved having this conversation. Miki is a colleague, but also a friend. We had to edit out a few moments where we were just having fun, but I think you'll like what we left in. I hope you enjoy the conversation.---Thanks so much for listening. If you want to learn more about Miki's work and in particular, find her now infamous blog post on unicorns or read about unlearning, we'll have links in the show notes.Government is about all of us. Let's keep making a better world. This has been the 311 podcast and I'm your host, Paul Bellows.---LinksUnicorns: https://apolitical.co/solution-articles/en/saving-unicorns-making-government-less-lonely-for-the-trailblazersUnlearning: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxBLlDOKfZYThis is a show about the people that make digital public service work. If you'd like to find out more, visit northern.co/311-podcast/ We're going to keep having conversations like this. If you've got ideas of guests we should speak to, send us an email to [email protected]. Northern LinkedIn