Lisa Williams

Marc Plamondon has no background in IT, but his leadership skills have been recognized with the 2007 Share Award for Excellence in Technology. In conversation with senior writer Lisa Williams, Plamondon talks about why an IT project can be so political and how he managed to win hearts and minds. He also reveals his "techie" side.

In Gatineau, Que., citizens can stay connected to city government with an inside view of Council from the comfort of their couch. In Part 1 of InterGovWorld's Spotlight on Marc Bureau, the Mayor of Gatineau discusses the many reasons why his city has been short-listed as one of the world's most "intelligent communities."

Treasury Board Secretariat has launched a full investigation with Canada Revenue Agency into the software bug that brought down the national e-tax filing system for 10 days earlier this month. Gordon O'Grady, deputy assistant commissioner with the IT branch at CRA, talked this week with InterGovWorld senior writer Lisa Williams about the main culprit of the glitch, why it took so long to fix the faulty patch, and the processes behind its post mortem with Treasury Board.

Toronto has signed onto the Digital City Network in a collaborative agreement with San Francisco, with the goal of stimulating innovation of new technology within the ICT sector, according to City of Toronto spokesperson Rob Berry.

In Part 1 of InterGovWorld's Spotlight on Donna Achimov of Service Canada, we discussed read-to-me access to information and how a degree in journalism kickstarted a degree in public sector management. In Part 2, we look at how focus-testing can finetune services for citizens, how Service Canada employees stay connected even when they're way up North, and how being a "techie" can help if you want to work in the public sector.

Biometrics and encryption aren't exactly new. For most of us, neither is wildly exciting either. But the prospect of combining these two security pieces has sparked a call to action by Ontario's privacy commissioner.

A Quebec medical practitioner says Canada's biggest problem with e-health is the lack of leaders among physicians to motivate the use of IT in their practices. A physician's work is more art than science, he says, and governments should open their coffers, offer more assistance and toughen their stance with legal requirements.

The glitch that has plagued Canada Revenue Agency for the past two weeks appears to be fixed. The agency was able to restore their tax processing systems a day ahead of schedule.