First Data Science Network Directors' Committee Meeting

By: Allie MacIsaac, Statistics Canada

On November 25, 2020, senior managers involved in many facets of data science gathered (virtually, of course!) for the first directors' committee meeting of the Data Science Network for the Federal Public Service. This meeting was an important stepping stone for the Network, as it continues to grow and expand its reach in the public service and beyond.

Participants represented a broad range of departments and partners: Bank of Canada; Canada Border Services Agency; Environment and Climate Change Canada; Department of National Defense; Employment and Social Development Canada; Industry Canada; Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada; Public Health Agency of Canada; National Research Council Canada; Natural Resources Canada; Privy Council Office; Public Service Commission; Statistics Canada; Shared Services Canada; Transport Canada; and Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat.

Statistics Canada, the agency spearheading the network, conducted the meeting. Opening remarks were provided by André Loranger, Assistant Chief Statistician of Analytical Studies, Methodology and Statistical Infrastructure at Statistics Canada. André noted that "the federal public service needs to adapt now to address society's growing need for timely analytical outputs to support Canadians and policy makers."

The opening remarks were followed by a presentation featuring the network's goals, objectives and areas of focus.

Goals and objectives

The goal of the Data Science Network is to establish the foundations of a public-service-wide data science ecosystem.

How will this be achieved? The Network aims to:

• Build data science capacity
• Share knowledge and expertise
• Establish best practices and standards
• Ensure participation by provincial and territorial groups
• Ensure participation of academic institutions and international partners
• Use resource more efficiently and effectively.

The next portion of the presentation focused on the governance and sustainability plan and included a discussion of the funding model and the plan to schedule regular directors' committee meetings. A draft copy of the Network's Terms of Reference was also provided to participants, which outlines the committee's membership and mandate.

This was followed by a lively discussion about the Network's five areas of focus:

• Talent management—Participants discussed the importance of aligning competencies for data scientists across the public service.
• Training and learning—Participants shared information on how training is done in their departments and discussed ideas for sharing data science resources and the need for continued engagement with existing data literacy efforts.
• Information sharing—Participants discussed plans for sharing information within the Steering Committee.
• Collaboration—The Data Science Network established a GCwiki page for all members to facilitate collaboration.
• Joint services—Offering services to other departments was seen as a potential future area of opportunity.

The Data Science Network's five areas of focus

The meeting ended with a discussion about the upcoming 2021 Data Conference and how the Network could contribute to this important event (including leading panels and workshops).

The members were eager to discuss next steps, and have already begun to share resources and ideas.

The group looks forward to reconvening in March 2021 and continuing to work together to advance data science in the Government of Canada and beyond. For more information on how your organization can get involved in the Data Science Network, please email statcan.dsnfps-rsdfpf.statcan@statcan.gc.ca.