We are the “last that can end climate change”, urged former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
“We’re taking advantage of the strides we’ve made in digital service delivery to examine how we can accelerate climate action,” says Joyce Murray, Canada’s Minister of Digital Government.
“There are over 150 environmental applications of artificial intelligence in agriculture, energy, transport, and water,” she notes.
The government is also using big data and AI to prepare the country’s infrastructure for electric vehicles, says Murray.
This makes rolling out new public services much quicker, and data exchange across ministries easier, Singapore’s GovTech wrote.
It provides templates for officials to send updates to citizens quickly and cheaply, and currently serves 23 departments.
This open source tool was the product of cross-department efforts, led by the Canadian Digital Service.
Citizens without computers or internet access could dial a toll-free number to find out how to receive government support in the pandemic.
Canada is set to launch a new Digital Strategy in the coming weeks, Murray tells GovInsider.
All Canadian civil servants use Microsoft Office 365 tools, which enable them to communicate and share files securely.