ISSA Webinar: The Acceleration Hub of the Employment and Social Development Canada, Winner of the 2020 ISSA Good Practice Award for the Americas

13 May 2021 | Virtual

ISSA Webinar: The Acceleration Hub of the Employment and Social Development Canada, Winner of the 2020 ISSA Good Practice Award for the Americas

13 May 2021 | Virtual

Thursday, 13 May 2021, 16:00–17:15 (UTC/GMT+2 or CEST)

Languages: Simultaneous interpretation in English, French and Spanish
(Simultaneous interpretation available using the Zoom App only)

Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) won the 2020 ISSA Good Practice Award (GPA) for the Americas, a competition that set new regional records in member and country participation, and a new global record of submitted entries since the ISSA organized the GPA competitions in 2008.

Fostering collaboration, innovation and creativity to instil organizational agility and responsiveness are primary objectives for social security institutions in today’s rapidly changing environment.

The Acceleration Hub of ESDC, the winning entry featured at this webinar, achieved this objective. It mainstreams agile and immersive design thinking in the institution and provides a platform that supports the comprehensive, multi-year Service Transformation Strategy of ESDC.

Established in 2017, the Acceleration Hub was ahead of its time in anticipating the workplace of the future: presence-based and teleworking staff working hand-on-keyboard with digital technologies in a physical-and-virtual environment that transcends geographical boundaries.

This virtual-and-physical environment facilitates an institution-wide, collaborative and creative approach to innovation and design. The Acceleration Hub has since broken down organizational silos, encouraging stronger collaboration and teamwork within ESDC as well as stronger relationships with other public agencies providing related services, and ultimately simplifying and providing better services to all Canadians.

COVID-19 abruptly made that future workplace the reality of today.

In an increasingly complex and shifting environment, the Acceleration Hub is enabling ESDC to continue responding with speed, and with spot on, innovative and creative solutions.

This webinar will present not only the outcomes but also the rationale and the implementation journey of the ESDC’s Acceleration Hub.

Speakers

Benoît LongBenoît Long, Chief Transformation Officer, Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Employment and Social Development Canada
Natalie McGeeNatalie McGee, Director General, Transformation, Transformation Management Branch, Employment and Social Development Canada
David ToddDavid Todd, Acting Executive Director of the Digital Futures and Foundations Accelerator, Employment and Social Development Canada

This webinar will examine the following questions:

  • What does agile and immersive design thinking mean? How does ESDC do it? How has it affected teamwork and the working methods of ESDC staff?
  • How did an already developed design-thinking capability help the ESDC weather the pandemic?
  • ESDC created a design space dedicated to innovation. How is the ESDC keeping this going in a virtual environment?

Agenda

  • Welcome by Marcelo Abi-Ramia Caetano, ISSA Secretary General
  • Introduction to the Acceleration Hub by Benoît Long, Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Employment and Social Development Canada
  • Acceleration Hub video
  • Panel discussion
  • Q&A
  • Closing remarks by Marcelo Abi-Ramia Caetano, ISSA Secretary General
Raúl Ruggia-FrickModerated by Raúl Ruggia-Frick, Director, Social Security Development Branch, ISSA

Practical information

The webinar is open to delegates of ISSA member organizations and invited institutions without registration fee.