The recent throne speech, for the first time in several years, contained no direct mention of IT. Though levels of concern vary, the consensus among experts is that the Government On-Line (GOL) project and the government’s commitment to information technology is safe for the time being.
Gaylen Duncan, president of the Mississauga, Ont.-based Information Technology Association of Canada (ITAC), was not surprised by IT’s lack of mention.
“There is no way that a bureaucracy that is losing 20 per cent of its most experienced people in the next decade can deliver increased access to both new and existing programs from health to welfare reform to education, unless you radically reform the delivery systems. And that means investing in IT.”
Duncan said he spoke to government of Canada’s CIO Michelle D’Auray. She told him there was no need to mention IT since it has been repeatedly mentioned in previous throne speeches and budgets.