Québec partners with Université Laval to tackle digital transformation challenges

Creation of the Académie des transformations numériques

Québec City, June 11, 2018 – The digital revolution will transform the labour market in the next few years. Many jobs are expected to change while others will be created. In order to understand the impact of this revolution and how we should adapt to it, the Government of Québec has partnered with Université Laval and created the Académie des transformations numériques.

With this partnership and a planned investment of $6 million from the government, there are two objectives to achieve:

• Prepare knowledge and skills acquisition coaching for personnel to ensure that they can meet the challenges of the Québec public administration’s digital transition;
• Establish a research chair whose role is to study the impact of digital transformation on public sector jobs, in order to anticipate the training and skills needed to ensure an optimal level of service in the future.

This announcement is part of the Stratégie pour une administration publique numérique (digital public service strategy) unveiled last year, which aims to position Québec as one the most modern and innovative public administrations in order to facilitate its relationship with the public.

This move is in line with Stratégie des ressources humaines 2018-2023 – Innover.  Se renouveler.  Se démarquer (the 2018-2023 human resources strategy), in which one of the objectives is to take advantage of changes in the labour market to organize work in a way that suits new realities.

Quotes:

Employees in the public sector, particularly administrators, need to be aware of digital technology’s potential in order to integrate it into their policies. The majority of the population uses smartphones and tablets, and the government must be able to adapt to this reality. The digital revolution is underway and will evolve quickly in the next few years. Now is the time for the Government of Québec, the province’s largest employer, to analyze the impact that such a change would have on jobs and to ensure that its employees will have the right training to meet this challenge.

– Pierre Arcand, Minister responsible for Government Administration and Ongoing Program Review and Chair of the Conseil du trésor

The Académie and its future research chair will certainly further fuel our desire to be early adopters in the public administration digital revolution. In the next few years, the government will transform all of its activity sectors, one by one. It must take time to educate and train all of its employees so that they can use digital technology to their full potential. We will guide public administration personnel so that they are ready to work with this technological development.”

– Robert Poëti, Minister for Integrity in Public Procurement and for Information Resources

Today’s announcement is in line with Québec’s Digital Strategy and the Digital Action Plan for Education and Higher Education, giving us the tools to confront the digital revolution. I look forward to this partnership with Université Laval, which has developed niche expertise in digital and information technology over the years. We must act promptly and meet the challenge with the help of recognized experts, which is what Université Laval has to offer.

– Sébastien Proulx, Minister of Education, Recreation and Sports and Minister responsible for the Capitale-Nationale region

The Government of Québec’s commitment to our university confirms our leadership in digital education technology and our role as frontrunners in public sector training. Thanks to the financial support allocated to this ambitious initiative, we will build, with our partners and other educational institutions, the largest offering in continuing education in Québec to meet the challenges of our society’s digital revolution and to answer the many needs emerging from the mass arrival of digital technology. By combining our forces and resources together, we will make the Académie des transformations numériques a powerful tool for social and economic development in all fields of human activity.

– Sophie D’Amour, Rector of Université Laval

Key points

• The public service is largest employer in Québec, with 61,422 employees.
• The public service has over 400 specialties.
• The goal of the 2018-2023 human resources strategy is to make the public sector more attractive through:
  • More stimulating work environments;
  • A teleworking policy;
  • Increased digital technology use;
  • More focused training;
  • An increased target for visible and ethnic minority representation, from 9% to 18%.
• The budget for the implementation of this strategy is estimated at $41.5 million over five years.
• Université Laval has established niche expertise in digital and information technology, with no less than 118 researchers and 32 research centres, laboratories and affiliated chairs. Almost 40,000 users have access to its digital learning platform, monPortail, where some 6,500 courses are already available, including more than 900 distance courses.