Lisa Williams

Lieutenant Commander Kent Penney is head of the Combat Camera team, which shows the public through photography and video the work that the Canadian Forces is doing in Afghanistan and around the world. In Part 1 of InterGovWorld's Spotlight on Penney, he sits down with senior writer Lisa Williams to discuss how he got his start in the Armed Forces, and how Combat Camera is an important tool not just for the media and public, but for members of the military as well.

For Doug Horner, politics and agriculture are in his blood. Alberta's Minister of Advanced Education and Technology, Horner and three generations before him have been involved with agriculture. His father, Dr. Hugh Horner, was a former minister of agriculture, and several uncles were also politically active. In conversation with senior writer Lisa Williams, it's clear that Horner is passionate about investing in education and technology.

Ronald Phelps would be the first to admit he's not an IT guy. But the NASA executive does know a thing or two about the strategic role of information technology in the launching and control of space missions. He also knows there's no need for rocket science in managing an IT project.

Speaking with Art Stevenson, the theme of collaboration keeps on popping up. There's a reason for this, as senior writer Lisa Williams discovered in conversation with one of Canada's most renowned senior public administrators. There's no science about collaboration, and there's often no sign where it might lead. As the founding executive director of the Commonwealth Association for Public Administration and Management, and currently executive director of the Institute for Citizen-Centred Service, Stevenson looks back on an extensive career grounded in the right mix of people skills, financial and IT management, and good governance.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Ga., are looking to implement software from SAP AG for a vaccine and immunization system, to be used by approximately 44,000 provider offices across the United States.

Speaking with Art Stevenson, the theme of collaboration keeps on popping up. There's a reason for this, as senior writer Lisa Williams discovered in conversation with one of Canada's most renowned senior public administrators. There's no science about collaboration, and there's often no sign where it might lead. As the founding executive director of the Commonwealth Association for Public Administration and Management, and currently executive director of the Institute for Citizen-Centred Service, Stevenson looks back on an extensive career grounded in the right mix of people skills, financial and IT management, and good governance.

Spotlight on Anil Arora, director general of the census program at Statistics Canada. In conversation with senior writer Lisa Williams, Arora explains how good project management practices prop up the national census, what was behind the controversy surrounding the outsourcing deal with Lockheed Martin, and how StatsCan mobilized a powerhouse task force to address urgent questions on procurement.

A decision by the Ontario government to ban access to Facebook for staffers from their computers has been deemed a knee-jerk reaction by experts in the social networking field. However, it appears the Ontario government hasn't completely thought this through, suggests Dan Latendre, CIO and technology officer for the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI).