Canada's newsletter to public servants regarding the Blueprint 2020 initiative. (I'm a citizen who got a hold of them...this isn't a government account)

1. Spotlight on Blueprint 2020
Editor’s Corner
October 2014
Issue 1
In this issue
Editor’s Corner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 1
Spotlight on Public
Service–Wide Initiatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 2
Spotlight on Departments
and Agencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 3
Welcome to the first edition of
Spotlight on Blueprint 2020, an
e-newsletter connecting public servants
from coast to coast and showcasing
progress in achieving the Blueprint 2020
vision. Launched in June 2013 by the
Clerk of the Privy Council, Blueprint
2020 is a vision for a world-class public
service equipped to serve Canadians
now and into the future. What you have
done to date to bring about change has
been absolutely incredible. The first
edition of Spotlight on Blueprint 2020 will
feature updates on public service–wide
initiatives, concrete actions undertaken
within departments and agencies, and
events taking place across the country
that will help make the Blueprint 2020
vision a reality.
I recently joined Employment and Social
Development Canada from Finance
Canada and am seeing first-hand
how the work of public servants directly
touches Canadians daily, across all
regions of Canada.
Transforming how the Government
of Canada does business for the
21st century is no small feat and will
require doing things differently. We all
have a role to play.
As we “change the channel” from
consultation on our shared vision to
implementation, think about how you
can use the Blueprint 2020 vision as a
platform for change. We hope you enjoy
Spotlight on Blueprint 2020 and seeing
what you have accomplished thus far.
Happy reading!
Louise Levonian
Chair, Board of Management and Public
Service Renewal Sub-Committee on
Public Service Engagement
Read about how
the new Clerk of the
Privy Council Janice
Charette supports the
Blueprint 2020 vision.

2. Spotlight on Blueprint 2020
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October 2014 Issue 1
Spotlight on Public Service–Wide Initiatives
Modern Technology for a
Modern Workplace
Shared Services Canada (SSC) is proud to contribute
to the modernization of the public service. The delivery
of its mandated services in the key areas of email,
data centres and network infrastructure will lay the
foundation for a more connected workplace. Within
the Destination 2020 agenda, SSC is focusing on
cross-cutting initiatives (see video) that include
enhancing the Government of Canada’s electronic
directory; enhancing desktop videoconferencing
capabilities through a common portal and infrastructure;
expanding the capabilities of GCconnex, GCpedia and
other networking tools; establishing a shared intranet
portal; and rolling out a secure Wi-Fi service to support a
mobile workforce by the end of 2016–17.
Progress to date
SSC has already advanced some of these
initiatives. You may have already
seen the enhanced version of
the Government Electronic
Directory Services (GEDS) that includes options for a
detailed employee profile. SSC has redesigned GEDS to
provide a more accurate, up-to-date listing of employees
to improve Canadians’ access to services and resources.
It is equipped with an improved search function, which
helps public servants find, connect to and work with
others.
A self-service videoconference service that enables
employees to host video meetings from their desks
or a videoconference room is available from the SSC
Serving Government website. The service will be
expanded to provide guidance to users on how to access
training materials and find information on how to obtain
a webcam and the required software.
SSC committed to rolling out a secure Wi-Fi service
to approximately 40 percent of public servants by the
end of 2016–17. Wi-Fi service is already available for
1,430 employees and activities are in progress to
expand service to 30,000 workers across
29 organizations (partners and SSC)
by the first quarter of 2015–16.

3. Spotlight on Blueprint 2020
3
October 2014 Issue 1
Spotlight on Departments and Agencies
NRCan’s Blueprint 2020 Action Plan was released
in February 2014, reflecting input from 30 sector,
committee and network submissions and more than
100 engagement activities across Canada. The Action
Plan introduced a new set of operating principles for the
department and identified three Areas for Action, each
containing a number of specific projects or initiatives:
•• Talent Development
•• Science, Policy and Program Entrepreneurship
•• Enabling Environment
To support the department in this endeavour, NRCan’s
Action Plan announced the creation of an Innovation
Hub with an 18-month mandate to “serve as a learning
hub, network enabler and experimental space for new
ways of working, supporting sectors, committees and
communities in advancing NRCan Action.”
NRCan’s Innovation Hub became operational in
April 2014—the first initiative of its kind under Blueprint
2020. The Hub adopted the name IN•spire—a bilingual
acronym referencing NRCan’s tag line “Inventive by
Nature” and the team's focus: support, partnerships,
ideas, research and experiments. IN•spire’s mission
statement is “to inspire a critical mass of employees
to explore and adopt new ways of working in order to
measurably improve NRCan’s ability to innovate for the
public good.”
IN•spire employs five staff in the National Capital Region
as well as one person who teleworks one day a week
from Denmark. Despite its relatively small size, IN•spire
leverages partnerships both inside and outside the
department to deliver on its many signature projects.
Details on projects can be found on IN•spire’s network of
GCpedia pages, where the team hopes to illustrate new
ways of working interdepartmentally by making much
of its content available government wide. A number
of IN•spire projects are based on interdepartmental
collaboration and interdepartmental colleagues are
invited to attend all IN•spire learning events.
IN•spire is committed to helping NRCan succeed in a
rapidly evolving, hyper-connected digital age, and it
provides support to NRCan employees, divisions and
sectors in navigating this complex terrain. IN•spire’s
Performance Framework lays out three key value
propositions for its 18-month mandate:
•• Building Awareness and Capacity
for New Ways of Working
•• Leading and Supporting Solutions
and Improvements
•• Driving and Sustaining Change
For more information on IN•spire, including our
Quarterly Report, Project Tracker and Performance
Framework, please visit IN•spire’s site on GCpedia, which
also contains an Innovation Lexicon, Sortable Database
of Innovation Examples, Innovation Map and Innovation
Toolkit. You can also find IN•spire on GCconnex, where
the team shares blog posts, photos and discussions with
the GC community.
IN•spire: Making Good on
NRCan’s Blueprint 2020
Commitment to Create an
Innovation Hub

4. Spotlight on Blueprint 2020
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October 2014 Issue 1
On June 17, 2014, Canada Economic Development
for Quebec regions (CED) held its very first edition
of CED Dragons’ Den! The activity, organized by the
Destination 2020 Committee for National Public Service
Week, was a resounding success. Seven new initiatives
were presented by intra- and inter-directorate teams
to a panel of four enthusiastic Dragons as an audience
enraptured by the originality of the ideas looked on.
All ideas were aimed at improving the workplace and
reflected the different pillars of the Blueprint 2020 vision.
In the end, the Dragons—who were members of the CED
Executive Committee or their representatives—opted to
sponsor four of the projects, noting that the three other
proposals already have mechanisms in place
for initiation.
The chosen ideas were:
1. ”Healthy CED,” a project that promotes health in
the workplace.
2. “Management Exploration Program,” a program
aimed at demystifying the role of the manager
and learning about what is needed to perform
optimally as a manager in the public service.
3. “Move to Motivate—The P.M. Beats,” an activity that
encourages employees to move to music for a
few minutes in the afternoon in order to maintain
energy levels.
4. “Bright Ideas,” a program that enables the
exchange of innovative ideas and support
between colleagues from different directorates.
The sponsored teams are now conducting a feasibility
study for the implementation of their projects.
Canada Economic
Development for Quebec
Regions’ Dragons’ Den!
If this Dragons’ Den event piqued your
interest, check out these links to read about
other similar events!
Justice Canada
Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada
Blueprint 2020 has shown the power of public
servants working together. The 2014 Charitable
Campaign is our campaign—and it provides another
opportunity to demonstrate our support for our local
communities. Follow the charitable campaign on Twitter
@PSGives_SPDonne and GCconnex, or learn why your
fellow public sector employees give to their favourite charities
by following the #iGive or #jeDonne photo, text and video
testimonials.
Photo: Andrew Treusch, 2014 Charitable Campaign National Chair

5. Spotlight on Blueprint 2020
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October 2014 Issue 1
An Undercover Operation
with Service Canada
What happens when an Acting Assistant Deputy
Minister goes undercover in her own organization?
Well, according to Anne Milne, a few things happen in
rapid succession. “First, you get some pretty funny video
and photos, and then you realize that you are getting
incredibly thoughtful feedback and you start to wonder
why you didn’t try this sooner.”
As Acting Assistant Deputy Minister in Service Canada’s
Western Canada and Territories Region in early 2014,
Anne was touring the Region conducting town halls
and having face-to-face discussions with staff about
Blueprint 2020 and Service Canada’s Vision 2020.
“The town halls were great from a scheduling
perspective,” said Anne. “ I was able to hear lots of
opinions at once and walk away with a list of ideas, but
I wasn’t getting the whole story—I wasn’t giving folks
the opportunity to be honest and direct. It wasn’t until
I started sitting down one-on-one with folks that
I started to connect and understand the ideas and
perspectives I was hearing.”
It was simple; make the time to genuinely connect and
everyone benefits. Anne wanted to share this “ah-ha
moment” with her management and leadership teams
in a creative way that highlighted the importance of
“putting yourself out there” and stepping outside your
comfort zone.
Armed only with a wig and a camcorder, Anne
committed to “not take herself so seriously” and jumped
in feet first to make a short parody of the Undercover Boss
television series. The results were remarkable.
For Jeremy Arbuthnot, one of the staff participants from
Vancouver, BC, who appeared on camera, it was the
effort that meant the most to him. “I thought the whole
thing was encouraging,” said Jeremy. “It’s great for senior
leaders to have informal discussions with staff when
they are visiting an office. Making that connection is
something that I really appreciate and if leaders get in
the habit of doing it more often, then it becomes more
natural.”
While Anne doesn’t expect anyone to dress up and
infiltrate a working group, she wants leaders to know
that trying new things can produce amazing results. “All
our participants had great attitudes about the project,”
said Anne. “I was impressed how every person embraced
the opportunity to share their thoughts and tell me what
they liked and didn’t like about our future, our culture
and how we serve Canadians.”
For Service Canada staff in the Western Canada and
Territories Region, Anne’s video highlighted that
engagement doesn’t always require grand efforts or
elaborate planning. Engaging staff can be as simple as
making time to sit down and talk.
“Staff didn’t seem to care about the wig or the video
camera,” said Anne. “They just wanted to share their
concerns and ideas.”

6. Spotlight on Blueprint 2020
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October 2014 Issue 1
Blueprint 2020 in Motion
It’s been an exciting year in many departments
and agencies since Blueprint 2020 was launched.
In the spirit of innovation, some organizations have
developed videos to showcase the work they’ve done.
Of course, they are just getting started. The future looks
promising (and fun).
What’s New
•• Department of Fisheries and Oceans
•• Employment and Social Development Canada
•• Health Canada
•• Public Works and Government Services Canada
•• Videos on the Public Service–Wide Commitments
in Destination 2020
Keep in Touch
Want to know more
about what’s happening
with Blueprint 2020?
In response to the
tremendous interest in
knowing more about
Blueprint 2020, we’ve
introduced a new “What’s
New?” section of the
Blueprint 2020 GCpedia
page! Here you will find
the most up-to-date
information on innovative
engagement activities and
actions taking place from
coast to coast to coast—
updated weekly!
Share your thoughts on this newsletter with us by email,
GCconnex or Twitter!
Email: Blueprint 2020 National Secretariat
Website: GCconnex and GCpedia
Twitter handles: @BlueprintGC2020 and @ObjectifGC2020