What are good problems for the Accelerator?
We’ve defined a list of criteria for business problems that are a good fit for the CSPS Digital Accelerator. This list will help guide the selection of business problems for your organization. We’re looking for problems that:
- are actual problems, not solutions
- have room for exploration, space to pivot and flexible timelines
- don't have an obvious, simple solution
- have a business owner open to solution ideas that go beyond the usual
- have usable data, accessible by the team, to inform the problem definition and solution
- go beyond the purely technical, and can potentially result in a deep change in the way people think about or do their work
Our Partner Success Lead can help you select problems. Feel free to reach out to Zoe at zoe.langevin@canada.ca.
What do we mean by team?
Product team. These are the 5 to 10 people from your organization who will frame the problem during the Discovery phase, and work full time on prototyping a solution during the Alpha phase of the Accelerator.
It’s up to the participating organization to decide who will make up the Product team: employees from a single work unit, or employees from different parts of the organization assembled for the duration of the project. Either way, an ideal Product team is:
multidisciplinary, with expertise and knowledge in different areas
diverse (e.g. age, gender, background, experience), to ensure multiple perspectives
The Product team is empowered to make decisions and iterate freely. Although it generally includes a Product owner, this person plays a different role than what is typically expected of a government manager. The managers assigned to Product teams in the context of the CSPS Digital Accelerator will be exposed to this new role and what it implies.
Supporting team. This team is made up of all the specialists (e.g. UX, AI) and corporate enablers (e.g. IM/IT, HR, comms, legal) who support the Product team throughout the Discovery phase and especially the Alpha phase of the Accelerator. They are not expected to work full time on the project.
Steering team. This team is composed of EX01 to EX03 who play the role of champions, guides, connectors and “roadblock busters”. Each project has its own steering team of 3-5 people, including the executives (director general, director) attached to the Product team, and the primary stakeholders of the potential solution.
Spring 2021 Intake
Departmental coordinators need to complete a few steps before they fill out the Team Intake form:
- Confirm business problem(s)
- Confirm the names of the Product team members
- Confirm the name of the manager who will be assigned to the Product team
- Confirm the names of the director general and director who will be assigned to the Product team
- Have a brief description of the problem handy containing the following elements (max. 250 words):
What the problem is
Who it affects
Why it’s important to solve it
Please note that departmental coordinators have until
Wednesday March 10 to complete the Team Intake form. If they need help, they can contact the CSPS Digital Accelerator Partner Success Lead at
zoe.langevin@canada.ca. Zoe will be available from March 1 to 10 to answer questions and provide guidance.
Spring 2021 Cohort Key dates
- March 1: Departmental coordinator is confirmed. Name is sent to Zoe.Langevin@canada.ca. Start of team intake and learner registration
- March 2-8: Daily Q&A sessions from 11:30-12:00, to help organizations select problems and teams
- March 10: Deadline for completing the Team Intake Form (departmental coordinators)
- March 12: Deadline for completing the Registration Form (learners)
- March 15: Learners receive confirmation of registration
- March 19: Deadline for completing the Digital Readiness Self-assessment
- March 22-April 15: Learners complete Discover Digital modules
- April 8*: Welcome and official launch of the Discovery Phase
*Not confirmed yet. Could be subject to change
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