SureSkills Sponsors DPI Professional Development Week Canada
Each year, DPI holds its annual 3-day Professional Development Week (PDW), a premier training event for IM/IT professionals. PDW is attended by approximately 1,000 delegates ranging from technical analysts and policy makers to senior managers who all share a common goal: self-development.
The role of today’s IT specialist is changing and continues to change. People strive to become more innovative, agile, and think outside the box. They are challenged to build solutions that are adaptable in order to be able to change with time, but also contribute to whole-of-government or to oversee solutions built externally. How can IM/IT professionals continue to be open to these changes? Adapt to these work cycles? And always be ready?
This year’s theme for Professional Development Week, Open 24-7 – Today’s world of IM/IT, explores these challenges by touching on the different meanings of Open. The event runs from the 25th of May to the 27th in the Shaw Centre in Ottawa. How does Open apply when talking about Open Government, around the clock Service Delivery and the competencies required by today’s public servant. SureSkills as a sponsor of the event addresses these challenges every day in providing service solutions that are dynamic and add real value for government. 
“In a digital age we need to break down the silos and walls between knowledge and information to be effective, innovative, agile and value focused” says Ruaidhri McSharry, President SureSkills Canada. He added “SureSkills is a thought leader in providing real value in the dynamic of people, process, technology and partners which all need to work together”.
Open Government is about governments of all levels being accountable and committing to making their information and services more open and accessible, and ultimately being responsive to citizens and their needs. Ensuring your organization is focused on these elements is becoming increasingly important; using Open Data, Big Data, analytics, streamlined information, systems and services.
The last decade has seen the landscape of IM/IT change quicker than it ever has, we need our systems to support our work outside of the regular 9 to 5, whether it be wirelessly or via telework, and we work on more global scale now. Organizations have embarked on ambitious projects to consolidate systems and consolidating on-line assets pushing us to adapt to a work cycle that continues 24/7. 
There is also an increased focus to be put on building up the core competencies of the public service in order to foster a high functioning workplace. This is highlighted in the clerk’s 22nd Annual Report to the Prime Minister, where Janice Charette states: “We need to be deliberate and methodical in developing competencies such as project management, vendor relations, and shared service delivery, which are playing an increasingly significant role in how we do business.”
Promoting collaboration, mobilization, and innovation, while upholding integrity and respect for our colleagues and workplace are leadership skills essential at all levels to help IM/IT professionals through this high time of change and need for openness. SureSkills is proud to be involved and to support this year’s DPI event.