I’m going to pass this to the other panelists, who I think will have better answers.

Estonia’s doing some interesting stuff with their e-citizen system, that anyone can become a citizen of Estonia. Businesses can as well. That’s really shifting the idea of borders as well. I’m not really answering your question, but I am acknowledging that I think you’re touching on something that we’re going ...

We’re trying to figure out what that exactly means. I think is going to force us to really reimagine what nation-states look like, or if they exist in the future. I think these are actually all really interesting questions.

There’s a collective identity that’s developing as we become more and more interconnected. The Internet’s forming this societal, global human brain that’s really challenging our concept and nation-states and borders.

Could we imagine a digital nation? I think so. I’m trying to think of the author. I’ve been reading a bunch of authors who’ve been talking about this concept, about how the Internet is causing us to almost become like an interconnected organism.

Thanks, guys.

Thanks, guys. Actually, could someone repeat the question? I could only get bits and pieces of it. Short version of the question.

Each of these words and how I understand them within a cultural context is fluid. It changes with time. I think privacy is going to be the term that’s really going to be reimagined over the next 5, 10, 15 years. I don’t know where that’s going, but I am ...

Giving people the information to allow them to protect their privacy when they want to, or to engage in spaces made much more open when they want to. I think an interesting question that I’m curious, in response to that question, is how our understanding of privacy is going to ...

That each person is able to choose how and when they share their data, and what that looks like. I think the other part of it is being clear what spaces are public spaces, what spaces are private spaces, and what spaces are pseudo public/private, and how that works within ...

I love how I keep going first, too. I don’t get much of a chance to warm up here. I think a couple things. I think part of it is giving people more control over their data will be a key thing to helping ensure their privacy.

Honestly, I don’t know. I’m not sure what can be done. I think we’re still figuring this stuff out. This is a new space. We’re still learning the rules. We’re still learning the role government needs to play in this space. I don’t think I have, actually, a very good ...

We have an election coming up next year, so that’s one area of focus. I think your question was actually beyond that, looking at what’s government doing to protect citizens against this type of stuff? I don’t know. That’s a really good question.

The big one in Canada that has shaken things up is what’s happened in the US with the last US election. That put everybody on notice that this is a thing. This can happen anywhere. There’s definitely teams within the government of Canada who are working on...

That’s a big question. The short answer is yeah, there’s definitely people working in the government of Canada on this question around protecting citizens, protecting government from digital espionage, organizations meddling in the digital space.

It’s going to take some time, and some failure. We’re going to make mistakes as we try to figure this out. It’ll be interesting to see the repercussions of when you make mistakes with money. How that plays itself out will be interesting.

That’s how we’re designed. We’ve already got preset processes, relationships, and stuff like that that direct us towards these larger more traditional tech companies. Now, we’re trying to rewrite the processes to allow us to have more nimbleness. It definitely takes time.

It’s definitely a tricky one, particularly because governments are entrenched into certain ways of moving resources. One of the big challenges we have in the government of Canada is, historically, we have invested a lot into digital tech through a lot of major companies.

There’s going to be a lot of experimentation. I know when I was in the UK, they’re also experimenting with new ways of doing procurement that allows for this lightweight, quick shifting of resources. It’s definitely a tricky one. [laughs]

Small-scale procurements that allow us to more nimbly support civic tech spaces, for example. This is one the things that, with the municipal innovation pilot project I’m working on, we’re hoping will help, is it’s four different vehicles in which governments can move smaller amounts of resources into spaces like ...

That’s hard. That takes time, because procurement is tied to policy, rules, and regulations, and those take a while to change. One of the things we’re trying to figure out is, how can governments do more micro procuring?

The short answer is, procurement is one of the big sticky things. When we talk about creating a digital nation, government becoming more digital, one of the key pain points, key sticky points on this, is going to be completely transforming how procurement happens.

Wow, start off with an easy question. Thanks, guys.

I’m going to stop there. I look forward to digging more into this in the Q&A. Thank you so much, guys, for this opportunity to present this idea. I hope you guys are interested. Please reach out if you want to learn more, and I’d love to work with you ...

They can just bring that in. Hopefully, the platform will be interoperable, and be able to part of this ledger ecosystem. This allows for more experimentation. It allows for more personalization, and it makes it easier for all sorts of different groups to build pieces that they see missing, and ...

They can also choose to adopt proprietary software as well. Maybe they’re already in an arrangement, some type of sole contractor that’s given them a platform that they’re paying for, and they’re already in for a three-year contract.

It allows them to choose the digital platform, the digital tool that they want to use, and then just build it into this ecosystem of interconnected platforms. This means that groups can go open source, which is what we always encourage.

Then each of these is different type of tools. It’s a micro service model, so it’s a series. Each tool has a specialized use case. It’s more of a toolbox, as opposed to a Swiss army knife. What this allows people to do is it allows them to mix and ...

You see you’ve got the enterprise authentication. That’s your doorway in. That’s your toolbox to get into your set of tools. That then connects you with your profiles and service. That’s your profile that helps you then personalize your access to the different tools.

I think I’m going to stop there for now. Oh, one more slide I should show you guys. This is one I get really excited about. For me, this is how I envision, when we talk about what is this Open Accessible Digital Workspace, this slide for me helps visualize ...

To allow all sorts of different groups, so they can start adopting it in these open source platforms, so over time, we develop this large suite of open source digital tools that help us do our job. They’re all interconnected and woven for this Open Accessible Digital Workspace.

Then have those municipalities collectively together invest in supporting the development of that open source solution, which then gets adopted into the Open Accessible Digital Workspace. Of we can show how that model works, that becomes something that can be replicated anywhere and everywhere.

That’s the big question we’re working on this year with strategic partnerships. We’ve got a series of different pilot projects we’re working on. One of the things I’m working on right now is finding ways to bring municipalities together to identify a common pain point, and then identify an open ...

How do we create space for different organizations and governments to start sharing with each other, and collectively build this interweaving network of open source platforms and tools to create this digital public sphere that allow us to work?

Taiwan, you guys have got a bunch of different platforms that you’re using to do a lot of really cool stuff that makes it easier for citizens to participate actively in co-creating policy and programs. These are platforms that we can adopt and be part of the Open Accessible Digital ...

For example, when I was in France, France is using Riot. We’ve got an instant messaging platform that I’ve been working with, and doing great work on it. Maybe we let France really develop that, and that becomes the instant messaging platform for the Open Accessible Digital Workspace that we ...

This is something that needs to be, the true potential of this lies when we come together and collaborate across different groups. The strategic partnership team that I’m part of is really working hard to find ways of connecting the dots between the work that other groups are doing.

These are the base foundational tools that we’re currently working on to try to build that foundation for an open accessible workplace. That’s where we’re at right now, but we recognize that we can’t do this on our own.

It’s like an open source version of Slack. It’s an instant messaging platform, and just adopted it, and started using it as a team to help us work better. Then word got out within the government. All of a sudden, all these other teams started using it and adopting it.

Another thing was one that actually developed quite by accident. As a team, we realized we needed instant messaging to more effectively connect and collaborate together, and get our work done. We, after a couple of months of testing different options, ended up selecting the open source platform, Rocket.Chat.

There’s a ton of different ideas and skill sets. How do we more effectively connect those skill sets with the opportunities that exist? We’re developing a base platform that does a lot of that. That’s another that we’re building as a base foundation.

Where are we doing this? We’re using the open source platform, L, and we’re actually working on it with the government of the Netherlands to develop this base foundational platform. Another thing we’re working on is, we’re calling it Kruger Marketplace, but it’s the idea of connecting talent with opportunities.

The next one that we’re working on is this idea of an open collaborative space, a base foundational collaborative space, that allows people to connect form groups around issues and projects they’re working on, and share files, and have discussions, and that base level of collaboration.

This connection of a single account sign on with a profile as a service, for me, I view as this being a digital toolbox. This is a container that the tools then sit within that give you access to the tools to be able to move and shape them, and ...

We’re thinking, what are the base, important tools needed for a digital nation? Here’s our first crack of what this can look like. First off, the idea of a single sign-up, authentication, a way that you can identify as you as yourself, that then connects you to a profile, a ...

Then you have some base tools that are the foundational tools. If you going to build a house, you’re probably going to need a hammer. That’s pretty much a standard tool. You’re probably going to need a tape measure. There are some base tools.

Where do we start? How do we build this Open Accessible Digital Workspace collectively together? With a real toolbox, there are certain base elements. First, you need a toolbox that help you organize and access the tools that you want.

That’s the idea of Open Accessible Digital Workspace. That’s the broad vision. We pitched this through our governments internally in the spring, and we were given a three-year runway and some base funding to see if we could take this from a conceptual and into actually something practical that we ...

The idea of the Open Accessible Digital Workspace is to create a suite of open source digital tools that are free and accessible to everybody, and that integrated, so that collectively, they develop this common platform experience that allow us to connect, to collaborate, and to do and be governments ...

You guys are using Slido, I believe. That was mentioned earlier. That’s another type of digital tool. Email, instant messaging, these are all digital tools that we’re starting to use to help us get things done and do things together in a digital world.