Dear Members,
As part of the upcoming territorial election, Tech Yukon reached out to each political party with a series of questions focused on the growth and sustainability of Yukon’s technology sector. Our goal was to better understand each party’s level of commitment to supporting the industry, and to learn more about their plans to foster its continued development.
The questions we asked covered key areas including education, telecommunications, data literacy, digital government, and workforce development.
They are outlined below
Education:
If elected, how do you plan to adjust the current curriculum to reflect a changing world i.e., coding classes, AI, Data Science, etc. to get ahead of the stem curve?
Telecommunications:
Many governments are trying to bring solutions to the digital divide by making the internet ubiquitous, affordable, reliable, and accessible. How will your government support the ongoing investment in telecommunications infrastructure, including access to affordable and reliable internet and cellular coverage?
Analytics / Data Literacy:
The application of modern business intelligence and analytics tools to Yukon Government operations holds great potential to improve the quality and effectiveness of public services delivered to Yukoners. What is your plan to raise the level of data literacy within the Yukon public service and implement modern business intelligence and analytics tools across government?
What is the level of commitment of your party to use modern business intelligence and analytics tools to share knowledge across departments and create a more unified and real-time approach to Yukon Government service delivery?
Digital Government:
Modern governments are implementing digital service delivery online with digital identity to improve service and lower costs. What is your commitment to implementing online services to make government processes more efficient?
Recruitment / Employee Retention:
Many local IT based businesses have had challenges recruiting and retaining employees. Local talent in the north is limited and many businesses have had to recruit outside the territory. How will your party help resolve these challenges and what steps will you take to ensure there are proper training and educational opportunities to grow the local talent pool?
In addition to these questions, Tech Yukon also provided a document outlining the challenges local businesses face when working with Yukon Government procurement processes, along with recommendations for improvement.
You can find both this document and the responses from each party at the links below:
