Skip to main content
Innovate On Demand

Innovate On Demand

By Todd Lyons, Val Sosa, Nat Crandall

With hosts Natalie Crandall and Valeria Sosa, Innovate on Demand is a podcast series centralized around the theme of Innovation – the good and the bad. In line with the Canada School of Public Service’s mandate for learning, this podcast will allow public servants, passionate about innovation, to learn and share “on demand” and their convenience. Produced by Todd Lyons on behalf of the Canada School of Public Service. An accessible version of this podcast can be found on the Canada School of Public Service’s external facing website.
Available on
Apple Podcasts Logo
Castbox Logo
Google Podcasts Logo
Overcast Logo
Spotify Logo
Currently playing episode

On a Mission

Innovate On DemandApr 16, 2021

00:00
23:19
The Opportunity of Longevity

The Opportunity of Longevity

Ending the series in the same way it started -- with a round-table of Canada's Free Agents -- Nancy Pawelek reflects on lessons learned over a long career.

Oct 07, 202221:00
Digital Modernization

Digital Modernization

A chat with Brenna Maher, Director of Marketing and Digital, Trade Commissioner Service, Global Affairs Canada.

Oct 07, 202226:21
Unlocking Data

Unlocking Data

A fascinating conversation with Ryan Hum (CIO and VP of Data) and Jose Ribas Fernandes (Technical Specialist) from the Canada Energy Regulator.

Oct 07, 202223:33
Trust

Trust

A conversation with Aaron Schull, Managing director and general counsel, Centre for International Governance Innovation.

Sep 30, 202121:52
Inclusive Design

Inclusive Design

Jutta Treviranus, Director, Inclusive Design Research Centre discusses  the centre's purpose, vision and mission of ensuring that emerging  technologies and their associated practices are inclusive of everyone.

Aug 11, 202122:40
The Black Box

The Black Box

Kaveh Afshar discusses his experience working in the Chief Data Office at Environment and Climate Change Canada, and how that team works toward solving data problems through computer science, math and statistics.

Jul 13, 202121:53
On a Mission

On a Mission

Christiana Cavazzoni, Associate Assistant Deputy Minister and Deputy Chief Information Officer from the Department of National Defence, reflects on her ten year career in the public service, and how innovation has evolved.

Apr 16, 202123:19
Data Literacy

Data Literacy

How can we map data literacy within the public service, and how can organizations analyze their data competencies to further their data  readiness and maturity?

Mar 04, 202124:33
A Culture of Experimentation

A Culture of Experimentation

In today's day and age, organizations must make experimentation an  integral part of business to keep pace with market leaders. But if it's  so vital, why aren't more organizations taking this approach? Nurturing curiosity, empowering every employee to spearhead change, and embracing failure can seem risky and inefficient.

Feb 03, 202122:36
Unicorn Quest

Unicorn Quest

Have you ever had an idea that has the potential to innovate the public  service, and wished you had a peer group to act as a sounding board in  developing and presenting it? On this episode, Tracey Snow, Acting  Manager with the Canada Revenue Agency, talks about her experience with  this.

Jan 01, 202127:29
A Conversation with Anil Arora

A Conversation with Anil Arora

In this episode, we sat down with Anil Arora, Chief Statistician of  Canada, to discuss transformation within the public service and its  impact on the way we use and interpret data.

Dec 02, 202027:04
Digital Literacy, Mobility, Sovereignty

Digital Literacy, Mobility, Sovereignty

In the digital sphere, the public service has come a long way in facilitating internal collaboration and adopting best practices from other governments and organizations. What skills and knowledge should we strive to increase, because as we discussed on a previous episode, what got us here isn't going to get us to the next level.

Nov 01, 202019:26
From the Grassroots

From the Grassroots

In an ideal organization, innovation can grow from the grassroots. Any person, at any level of the hierarchy, has the potential to shape the future – if their idea has potential. But is there room for meritocracy in a hierarchy?

Oct 06, 202022:05
OneTeamGov Canada

OneTeamGov Canada

You may have heard of their breakfast meetups, virtual coffees or their unconfernence, and wondered who are they? What do they do? Or perhaps even... why should you care? 

Aug 04, 202018:34
Better Humans

Better Humans

Innovation can be personal. New ideas, such as Emotional  Intelligence, can evolve and transform us. What can we do to to be  better humans, individually, and foundationally as a species?

Jul 06, 202034:58
Developing with Empathy

Developing with Empathy

Some of the most valuable lessons we learn are shaped by specific  experiences, both good and bad. On this episode, Keith Colbourne, Product Manager at the RCMP discusses how growth gained through personal experiences can lead to professional change.

Jun 04, 202022:51
Predictive Hiring

Predictive Hiring

How do you hire the right person for the job? In our federal public  service, the conventional method demands that applicants use a rigid  format, using specific keywords to map their education, skills and  experience onto a defined list of essential and merit criteria. Canada's  Free Agents went another way, assessing applicants against a set of  behavioural characteristics, to great success. Our guest this episode  says that whatever process we try to implement, in the end, it all comes  down to first impressions.

May 04, 202050:19
Consensus Hiring and Surge Teams

Consensus Hiring and Surge Teams

A Surge Team is a group of employees with no ongoing files. Instead,  they exist to tackle priority initiatives identified by Deputy Ministers  and other senior government officials. The assignments are time  sensitive, complex and innovative, and as such, depend on employees  suited to this type of dynamic work. But how do you find the right  people to perform in an environment of frequent change?

Apr 07, 202019:02
Working in the Open

Working in the Open

In 10 years, we've transformed from a public service where individual  blogging and tweeting was considered career-endangering activity, to one  that now hosts public-facing professional networking and collaboration  platforms. Our guest this episode was at or near the centre of the  projects that orchestrated our transformation from then to now.

Mar 10, 202030:32
Virtual Leadership

Virtual Leadership

Telework remains a contentious issue in the public service. Some  groups use it extensively. Others grant it only in extreme circumstances  and for limited periods of time, requiring proof of need in order to  prolong the arrangement, because after all, how can you manage people  you can't see? And how could a manager ever possibly consider  teleworking?

Feb 11, 202047:58
Regulatory AI

Regulatory AI

Whether you're a citizen or a business, wading through policy,  regulation and legislation can be difficult. How can a human being  navigate thousands of words written in complex formal and legal  vocabulary? Well, increasingly, we're trying to delegate that difficult  work to a helper better suited to the task: software. By converting  rules into code, we can concentrate instead on asking AI to provide us  with the details pertaining to our situation, such as eligibility,  benefits, obligations, and restrictions.

Jan 10, 202043:00
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Public Service

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Public Service

The Lead of the Paper Plane Exchange at the Canada School of Public Service, talks about how work and volunteer experience outside of the Government of Canada can contribute to meaningful innovation within the public service. An accessible version of this podcast can be found on the Canada School of Public Service’s external facing website.
Dec 05, 201928:48
Survival of the Most Adaptable

Survival of the Most Adaptable

Our guest this episode worked for a mega corporation before joining the public service and experienced first hand how any organization can be bogged down as it scales up in size and complexity. He believes that success is tied to a willingness to adapt, so what has his experience been like since joining the public sector? An accessible version of this podcast can be found on the Canada School of Public Service’s external facing website.
Nov 08, 201934:31
Self-Help

Self-Help

Reflections, realizations, and suggestions for a path forward for those who've struggled to innovate in the public service: what to look for in other people and within yourself when the frustration makes you feel like quitting. An accessible version of this podcast can be found on the Canada School of Public Service’s external facing website.
Aug 01, 201926:28
Individual Innovation

Individual Innovation

It can be daunting, even depressing, to be a person with an idea inside a massive organization. After all, what can one individual to do effect change from within? On this episode of Innovate on Demand, Dana Landry asks us to consider the power of one. An accessible version of this podcast can be found on the Canada School of Public Service’s external facing website.
Jul 09, 201936:22
Human-Centred Impact Evaluation

Human-Centred Impact Evaluation

What's an Innovation Lab? What is Rapid Impact Assessment, and how is it different from Iteration? And how can acknowledging failure increase connectedness to the people affected, and bring a better outcome? More honest experiences from the field, on this edition of Innovate On Demand. An accessible version of this podcast can be found on the Canada School of Public Service’s external facing website.
Jun 12, 201924:28
Field of (Broken) Dreams

Field of (Broken) Dreams

What does innovation even mean? Is it the magic bullet for any problem that some people make it out to be? Is it something we should even be attempting in the public service, given what's at risk? Or is it the latest shiny thing we feel pressured to chase? An accessible version of this podcast can be found on the Canada School of Public Service’s external facing website.
May 03, 201926:09