The 311 Podcast

 Historically, we've relied on government and the public sector to regulate the development of society-altering technologies, radio, telephone, automobiles, air travel, broadcast, internet have all come under the slow but steady oversight of the public sector. Even social media is being scrutinized and regions like Australia are beginning to legislate age limits for access.

Artificial intelligence is a different animal and it&a...

The Heart of Public Service with Pearl Amanfu

Today my guest is Pearl Amanfu. Pearl is the Digital Inclusion Officer for Metro Nashville. Although Pearl and I just met, she's the model for the type of person I started this podcast to amplify: the humans who believe deeply in community, human thriving and progress, and are willing to do the hard organizational work to create real change through digital enablement. 

Bor...

Today, my guest is Stephanie Deitrick, who is the Enterprise GIS [Geographic Information System] and Open Data Program Manager for the city of Tempe, Arizona.

She's also a program director for the Master's of Advanced Study in GIS program at Arizona State University. Stephanie has her PhD in geography from Arizona State and has spent her career building the next generation of data experts with a focus on GIS, but a broader...

Transforming the Department of Defence with Savan Kong. 

Today my guest is Savan Kong. Savan has a unique resume and set of experiences. He was most recently the first ever Customer Experience Officer for the United States Department of Defense. One of the largest organizations of any kind in the world. 

When the CIO of the DOD tapped Savan to pioneer the new CXO role, Savan brought a design mindset to the job in every way....

 Today my guest is Tim Bouma. Tim is Canada's public sector digital identity expert. He's held key roles in the federal government for years and was a key player in the Pan-Canadian Trust Framework, which brought together regional and federal government players to define standards and best practices for digital identity.

Tim now sits as a special advisor to Canada's Digital Governance Council, Conseil de Gou...

Today, my guest is Tom Henheffer.  Tom is the CEO of the Arctic Research Foundation, a non profit organization that facilitates data collection in Canada's Arctic region.

The Arctic Research Foundation is an essential ingredient in Canada's civil society, working alongside universities, government, indigenous communities, and industry to build our understanding of this critical global region through research and ...

Nicole Janssen on Bridging AI Innovation and Government Solutions

Nicole is co-CEO of one of Canada's AI powerhouse organizations, AltaML. She's a national business leader and one of our experts in AI. 

Her firm is also behind the Alberta government's innovative AI research lab, operating as an R&D hub for the big, complex problems that the government hopes AI can help address. If you're not from Can...

What Digital Transformation for Government Means in 2025

Today, my guest is Vijay Luthra. Vijay is the managing partner of CEVA Global in the UK, and he works to help government organizations in the UK and UAE to develop digital transformation strategies.

 Given the pace of change, particularly in the US, it's hard to say how long our conversation will remain relevant. It's hard to talk about the political side of governmen...

Why government organizations must build digital trust.

Today, my guest is Kate Burns. Kate is the Executive Director of MetroLab Network, a Washington, DC-based nonprofit that connects local government organizations with universities to bring the latest in scientific research and innovation to the living lab of communities. MetroLab is a partnership ecosystem and runs projects to discover, implement, and scale innovative s...

From Ashes to Solutions: The Phoenix Project Revisited

Today, my guest is Alex Benay.  Alex has recently returned to the federal service of Canada to lead the modernization of Canada's federal payroll system.  Starting in 2009 and launching in 2015. The Phoenix project was meant to replace a 40 year old technology stack and save millions of taxpayer dollars each year.  However, after launch it quickly became apparent ...

Scaling Success in Healthcare IT for Alberta Health Services
Today, my guest is Penny Rae.  Penny is the Chief Information Officer for Alberta Health Services.  AHS is the health delivery organization for the province of Alberta in Canada.  AHS is the largest health care delivery organization in North America. And with nearly 150,000 employees and contractors, it's one of the top five employers in all of Canada.  The IT de...

I am really excited today to be talking to Sophia Hoosein and Jessica McQueen, who are two people that I know and respect and who have agreed to come and talk to us about government organizations trying to make digital change. We're going to talk about power and how you get things done, and I'm just really excited.

Thanks to Sophia and Jessica for the open and honest conversation about the actual experience of w...

This is The 311 podcast. I'm your host, Paul Bellows. This is a show about the people that make digital government work. If you'd like to find out more, visit yellowpencil.com.

Today, my guest is Miki Stricker-Talbot. Miki is responsible for intrepreneurship and strategic design in the citizen services branch at the city of Edmonton.

You may ask what intrepreneurship is and my answer is keep listening. ...

Today my guest is Lawrence Eta, Chief Technology Officer at the City of Toronto. Toronto is the fourth largest municipality in North America, behind Mexico city, New York city, and Los Angeles. Toronto is one of the most multicultural cities in the world. And it's the home of much of Canada's media and cultural community, as well as the headquarters of Canada's five largest banks.

Toronto's population i...

Today, my guest is one of Canada's most influential government technologists. Dominique Bohn is the chief officer and assistant deputy minister at the digital innovation office at the government of Alberta.

Dominic has held various executive leadership roles in the government of British Columbia, as well as a director role at global IT leader CGI. Alberta's digital innovation office is a relatively new department...