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. And in this episode, he's going to share his mindset and models for how to introduce design infrastructure into an organization as complex as the US DOD. I think you'll like his approach, and in the show notes, we'll be sure to spell out the model he lays out in the episode in great detail. Here's my conversation with Savan.
---

Guest information:
Savan Kong LinkedIn | www.savankong.com
---

Savan's Model
Savan highlighted that design is an intentional act of problem-solving. He applied these principles to explore how the CXO office within the Department of Defense could leverage policy and strategy to enhance customer experience.

While establishing the CXO office, Savan applied four key strategies in his model. Including specific steps in creating design infrastructure that embraces the problem solving nature of design thinking into the CXO infrastructure.

1. Building Alliances: Identify key individuals to understand the organization and advance the CXO agenda.
2. Identifying Leverage Points: Understand the organization's priorities, learn its culture, and identify key levers for initiative momentum.
3. Defining Measurable Outcomes: Establish IT governance, update strategy for investment guidance, implement performance management (including OKRs), create a consistent intake structure for customer feedback, and build a user experience foundation.
4. Developing a Robust Design Infrastructure: Ensure the infrastructure is
   1. authoritative (vetted, signed off, and documented),
   2. sustained (funded, adopted, and continuously improved), and
   3. scaled (impacts many, is agnostic, and normalizes expectations).

Recorded in May, 2025

This is a show about the people that make digital public service work. If you'd like to find out more, visit northern.co/311-podcast/

We're going to keep having conversations like this. If you've got ideas of guests we should speak to, send us an email to the311@northern.co.

Northern LinkedIn

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 Gouvernance Numérique, a member driven nonprofit working on responsible design, architecture, and management of digital technologies for the public service.

Guest information:

Tim Bouma, Special Advisor, Digital Governance Council LinkedIn

Digital Governance Council Website LinkedIn

Public Sector Profile of the Pan-Canadian Trust Framework | Cadre de Confiance pancanadien

The 311 episode with guest and shared friend, Ashley Casovan, that recommended Paul look to Tim Bouma for Canadian expertise in the digital identity area: S1 E1 - Governing A.I. with Ashley Casovan, The 311 Podcast

Additional information on some of the technologies mentioned in the episode:

• Most Minimal Trust Framework, Tim Bouma’s Newsletter
• Trust Frameworks, The Digital ID and Authentication Council of Canada (DIACC)
• Frequently Asked Questions, The Digital ID and Authentication Council of Canada (DIACC)
• Your Guide to Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI), Identity.com
• Decentralized Identity: The Ultimate Guide 2025, Dock Labs
• Border Gateway Protocol (BGP), LivingInternet BGP
• Public Key Encryption, Geeks for Geeks
• What is public key infrastructure?, IBM
• Self­-Sov­er­eign Ide­nt­ity: A New Appr­oach to Dig­ital Ide­nt­ity, DSR Corporation
• Issuer / Holder / Verifier Model, LUNA.CO
• What is Blockchain Technology?, Amazon Web Services
• Chaumian ecash, chaum.com
• Nostr: A Simple Protocol for Dec

This is a show about the people that make digital public service work. If you'd like to find out more, visit northern.co/311-podcast/

We're going to keep having conversations like this. If you've got ideas of guests we should speak to, send us an email to the311@northern.co.

Northern LinkedIn

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 data collection.

The work that Tom and the Arctic Research Foundation does is challenging in logistics, environment, and cultural context, but it's essential and inspiring.

The public sector involves those that work for and within government, but also the many para government organizations that work around and alongside formal government bodies. Without the work of the Arctic Research Foundation, Canada would be limited in its ability to understand the future issues facing the Arctic, as well as limited in its ability to maintain claims of territorial sovereignty.

-----

Guest information:

Tom Henheffer LinkedIn

For more information about the Arctic Research Foundation check out our website Arcticresearchfoundation.ca and ArcticFocus.org (their publishing platform). You can also connect with ARF on LinkedIn.

Resource Links:

• Wrecks of HMS Erebus and HMS Terror National Historic Site - Parks Canada
• Gjoa Haven - Travel Nunavut
• What does Mukurtu mean?
• Tuktoyaktuk - Spectacular NWT
• Exploring Canada's Arctic Jewel - Baffin Island & Iqaluit
•  Canadian Polar Data Consortium (CPDC), previously CCADI
• Arctic Eider Society | SIKU - The Indigenous Knowledge App
• About the Gwich’in
• Qikiqtaaluk Corporation

Location Information Courtesy Wikipedia:

• Gjoa Haven
• Qikiqtaaluk Region
• Kivalliq Region
• Beaufort Sea
• Ungava Bay

This is a show about the people that make digital public service work. If you'd like to find out more, visit northern.co/311-podcast/

We're going to keep having conversations like this. If you've got ideas of guests we should speak to, send us an email to the311@northern.co.

Northern LinkedIn

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 Canada, and maybe even if you are, you may not know that Canada is an AI pioneer. Some of the earliest technology that is powering this new digital economy was conceived of and developed in Canadian universities.

Canada has always had a very strong bond between higher education, the public sector, and industry when it comes to innovation. AI has grown here in this collaborative ecosystem. If you're feeling left behind by the pace of change in artificial intelligence at the moment, then I think you'll find Nicole's overview and perspective helpful.

She lays out what is happening in the AI industry and where things are going, and she also has great advice for government organizations just trying to get a toehold.

Resource Links:

Guest

Nicole Janssen, Co-Founder & Co-CEO, AltaML - LinkedIn
AltaML: AltaML LinkedIn
GovLab

Canadian AI Institutes

• Edmonton - Amii
• Montreal - Mila
• Toronto - Vector

AI for Wildfire Prediction

Digital Transformation at Scale (Book) - Amazon.ca | Indigo | Kobo

This is a show about the people that make digital public service work. If you'd like to find out more, visit northern.co/311-podcast/

We're going to keep having conversations like this. If you've got ideas of guests we should speak to, send us an email to the311@northern.co.

Northern LinkedIn

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 government without taking sides, but we did our best to avoid that

Vijay is, in his words, a former public servant and a recovering politician. He works in social enterprise and has deep expertise in healthcare and transformation. Today we decided to talk about what digital transformation for government means in the chaos that is early 2025.

Resource Links:

Vijay K Luthra LinkedIn

CEVA Global Website | LinkedIn

VUCA: volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity Harvard Busness Review | Wikipedia

The National Programme for Information Technology ( NPfIT )

• Making IT work: harnessing the power of health information technology to improve care in England
• The UK's National Programme for IT: Why was it dismantled?

Marshall McLuhan

• The medium is the message
• The Medium is the Massage: An Inventory of Effects (1967) Marshall McLuhan & Quentin Fiore Amazon CA | Indigo

Dan Honig - Mission Driven Bureaucrats | Amazon CA

Demis Hassabis
Press release: The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2024

Recorded: Feb, 2025

This is a show about the people that make digital public service work. If you'd like to find out more, visit northern.co/311-podcast/

We're going to keep having conversations like this. If you've got ideas of guests we should speak to, send us an email to the311@northern.co.

Northern LinkedIn

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 solutions for local government. Kate has a background in municipal government and in policy, and she's passionate about thriving cities and communities. She worked in Kansas City and Seattle, so understands the many different types of communities that are striving to adopt digital and innovative technology.

Kate and I decided to wrestle with a timely challenge for cities. The evolution of the digital town square. As social media platforms shift in ownership and purpose and as the audience starts to fragment across many separate platforms, it's becoming less clear where the digital town square will be in the future. What was once a common expectation—that journalists, administrators, politicians, and citizens could mingle freely and share ideas and concerns—seems to be eroding or at least changing.

Resource Links:

• Kate Burns LinkedIn
• MetroLab LinkedIn | X
  • MetroLab Network, Data Governance Policy & Practice Guide
• Town and Gown Definition
• Ed Edelman Trust Barometer
• Kansas City Resident Satisfaction Survey Results
• Revenge of the Tipping Point, Malcom Gladwell
  Amazon | Indigo | Kobo
• Streetfight: Handbook for an Urban Revolution, Janette Sadik-Khan & Seth Solomonow
  Amazon | Indigo | Kobo

Recorded in January of 2025

This is a show about the people that make digital public service work. If you'd like to find out more, visit northern.co/311-podcast/

We're going to keep having conversations like this. If you've got ideas of guests we should speak to, send us an email to the311@northern.co.

Northern LinkedIn

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 that there were major inconsistencies and gaps in paying Canada's, 290,000 federal civil servants. The project has continued to be a black eye for the government and costs have continued to bloom. This is the kind of project that most people stay far away from. But Alex is no stranger to courageous initiatives.

Resource Links:

• Alex Benay - LinkedIn
• Cynefin Model
• Goss Gilroy Inc.
• Miramichi
• Accenture
• Edward Guest “It Couldn’t Be Done”
• Industry Partners mentioned:
  • Accenture | Dayforce | EY | CGI
• Audit Reports
  • 2018 Spring Reports of the Auditor General of Canada to the Parliament of Canada
  • Lessons Learned from the Transformation of Pay Administration, Goss Gilroy Inc

Recorded in September of 2024

This is a show about the people that make digital public service work. If you'd like to find out more, visit northern.co/311-podcast/

We're going to keep having conversations like this. If you've got ideas of guests we should speak to, send us an email to the311@northern.co.

Northern LinkedIn

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 department alone is 2,500 people. So the scale of Penny's operation is massive.

Penny has spent the last few years leading a rollout of the EPIC health care management system as a wholesale replacement for hundreds of individual healthcare information management systems. It's one of the largest IT projects in Canada. And in an industry where only 30% of IT projects like this reach success. Penny's approach is beating all the odds.

You're going to hear Penny talk about culture and trust as the driver for success and her own philosophy about how to lead technical teams. I hope you enjoy the conversation.
--
Resource Links:

• Greg Price story, Falling Through the Cracks [2017]
• Cynefin Model
• Sense and Respond
  • Wikipedia | Amazon | Kobo. | Indigo
• Penny Rae - National recognition for AHS Chief Information Officer (2018)
• AHS selected Epic Systems Corporation as the partner for Connect Care. (link to FAQ PDF)
• https://northern.co/311-podcast

Recorded in May 2023

This is a show about the people that make digital public service work. If you'd like to find out more, visit northern.co/311-podcast/

We're going to keep having conversations like this. If you've got ideas of guests we should speak to, send us an email to the311@northern.co.

Northern LinkedIn