International assistance and aid can help bring people out of poverty, build peace and security, and drive economic prosperity. For Canada, it's also a major source of its soft power globally. In fact, Global Affairs Canada delivers around $15 billion dollars a year in international assistance, of which approximately $6 billion is delivered through what is known in the federal government as “Grants and Contributions” to non-governmental agencies, charities, and other partners around the world. And while the amount and form of international aid given by Canada can sometimes be a divisive political topic and a difficult policy challenge, it’s fair to say that everyone wants to see those international assistance dollars used as effectively as possible.
So why are we talking about international aid and assistance on Let’s Think Digital?
There's a really interesting digital transformation project happening right now at Global Affairs Canada. This multi-year initiative, being undertaken in partnership with the public interest tech non-profit, Code for Canada, is hoping to transform how Global Affairs administers its Grants and Contributions programs. The goal is to completely modernize what have traditionally been outdated, siloed, manual processes, leading to more effective international assistance programs.
It's a pretty interesting project that has aspects of many common challenges we see in government digital transformation. To tell us all about it, we spoke to Brandon Lee, Director General of the Grants and Contributions Transformation Initiative at Global Affairs Canada, and Dorothy Eng, CEO of Code for Canada and friend of the podcast. We spoke to them last November on site at the FWD50 Conference in Ottawa.
Watch on YouTube
https://youtu.be/J8R0zES1COE?si=lFMGqzMU99MQA7Hq
Related Links
Chapters
00:00 Introduction
02:01 Brandon Lee and Dorothy Eng
03:37 Challenges in Grants and Contributions
09:43 Code for Canada's Role in the Transformation
15:37 Implementing Agile in Government
23:36 Expected Outcomes and Success Metrics
29:45 Digital Diplomacy and Broader Impacts
32:43 Conclusion and Closing Remarks
