The Ontario government has appointed a task force to investigate how large-scale government information and information technology (I & IT) implementations can be significantly improved.
After reviewing the government’s experience with such projects, the task force will recommend best practices for the future. The expert panel will look at I&IT projects that cost millions of dollars, require significant system development, and have a strong impact on the delivery of government business.
The objective, according to Management Board chair Gerry Phillips is to ensure that “the government receives value for its IT investments and provides the best possible service to the people of Ontario,”
The task force will be chaired by L. Denis Desautels, a former Auditor General of Canada and also includes Carol Stephenson, dean of the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario, and David Johnston, president of the University of Waterloo.
Its report is expected early next year and will be available to the public.
The Ontario government uses IT across all its projects and processes – for everything from driver and vehicle registration, to delivering health care to remote locations, to helping police track offenders. At any given time there may be between 20 and 25 large-scale I&IT projects underway in the Ontario Public Service.
Such projects, noted Phillips, are extremely complex. “We want to ensure that Ontario’s are well-planned, governed and managed.”
The task force members are highly qualified and bring wide ranging expertise and skills to the job.
At the time of his appointment, Desautels was Ernst & Young’s regional director of consulting services for the Province of Qu