Slicing the Public Pie: A primer on data representations & issues surrounding their use @HealthCanada Main Menu Introduction coursework, concept of primer, my goal/purpose Perception Bedrock why bother with perception tests/awarness, links to sense-specific pages Data Ideology (AKA Service Standards) ITIL as a professional standard, lead-in to FPS issues The Canadian Federal Public Service intro to the federal public service in Canada Health Canada intro page to HC-related topics FPS 2.0 wrap-up of this scalar book List of Questions Presented questions presented throughout this primer according to subject area References a list of references for works mentioned in this scalar book (APA format)

Generation Gap?

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In terms of being technologically literate in new data representations, one aspect that may shed some light on this is the education level of the FPS in these new technologies. While no public data exists that directly addresses this question, the answer may be extrapolated from another factor, age. The assumption I propose is the older a public servant is, the less likely they were to have been formally educated in the use of more sophisticated data representation tools (for sight and/or sound) at an accredited post-secondary institution (i.e. college or university).

Given Figure 4 (below), taken from the 2014 FPS demographic snapshot conducted by the TBS, it is clear that the significant majority of public servants, who are currently older than 35, would have likely graduated from a post-secondary institution before these technologies were even developed (i.e. post-2007).


Figure 4. FPS Population by Age Band 2009-2014. Taken from "Demographic Snapshot of the [FPS], 2014".

It should clearly be stated that public servants do make use of on-the-job training as well as continue their education at private schools, workshops conducted in the private sector, universities, and colleges (and many times out-of-pocket, not at the taxpayers' expense). However, according to the Canada School of Public Service (a key on-the-job training mechanism for all public servants) does not currently (as of March 2016) offer any nationwide courses in sophisticated data representation tools.

At this point, it may be easy to criticize the FPS for displaying a lack of more sophisticated data representation skills (as seen on numerous Government of Canada websites), but there do exist some working groups that employ them.  One such example is from the Canada Council for Arts, however, many "youthful" public servants were involved in its creation.

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For a general list of questions pertaining to the federal public service and data representation use therein, click here.

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  1. The Canadian Federal Public Service Richard Soulliere

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