CSPS Digital Academy/CSPS Digital Accelerator

Overview	Build your team	Choose your problem	Meet our team	Cohort 1 Recap

Welcome The CSPS Digital Accelerator is a transformative learning experience designed for product teams, including their leaders, who want to experiment with more collaborative, open, human-centered and iterative ways of defining problems and developing solutions in a modern government era. It combines hands-on workshops, peer learning, coaching and mentoring in support of teams as they explore real business problems and prototype and test solutions with users. The Accelerator builds on the success of the first two cohorts of the CSPS Digital Academy’s Premium program. We launched in Spring 2021, recruiting whole and pre-established teams. We are currently planning the second Accelerator cohort for Winter 2022. Our Values Learn more about the CSPS Digital Academy Overview of the program Onboarding and Skill building (2 weeks) Team building​ Skill sessions​ Introduction to new tools Design Discovery (3 weeks) Problem framing​ Ideation​ Design thinking and user research Deeper Learning (2 weeks) Focused learning opportunities ​ Prototype planning​ Preparation for first pitch Prototyping (3 weeks) Developing and testing working prototypes with users Aftercare (3-6 months) Products progress towards beta or production ​ Access to coaches and mentors​ Access to continuous learning Onboarding and Skill building (2 weeks) Team building​ Skill sessions​ Introduction to new tools Design Discovery (3 weeks) Problem framing​ Ideation​ Design thinking and user research Deeper Learning (2 weeks) Focused learning opportunities ​ Prototype planning​ Preparation for first pitch Prototyping (3 weeks) Developing and testing working prototypes with users Aftercare (3-6 months) Products progress towards beta or production ​ Access to coaches and mentors​ Access to continuous learning How to build your accelerator team Product Team 5-10 people Diverse & multidisciplinary Should bring together: 1) Subject matter experts for the business line or program, 2) Business analysts, designers, or product management, 3) Solutions designers / developers (technical, service designers, policy makers, etc.) Product teams work on their problems full time during the Accelerator and ideally stay together once it is over Steering Team 1 executive champion who participates part time in accelerator activities and fully supports the work of the product team 2-4 other executive supporters who form a governance body and help support the work of the team through: approvals, guidance, unblocking, feedback, upward briefing, and funding. Partners (name TBD) Enablers and partners who can support the product team in delivering their solution Could include: corporate services, security, legal, policy, communications or other forms of expertise The right problems for the Accelerator An actual problem – process, service, issue, or challenge – to be improved Doesn’t have an obvious, simple solution Has room for exploration, space to pivot, and flexible timelines Has a team that will continue to work on a solution once the accelerator ends Is related to the core work of your organization – internal or external Has a business owner open to solution ideas that go beyond the usual Has usable and accessible data to inform exploration and solutions Has the potential to change how people think about and do work Has organizational support and buy-in Has access to users to co-design, explore, and gather insights from Can be explored and shared publicly, with a team who can work in the open Has a manageable scope Meet the CSPS Digital Accelerator Team Nick Scott Executive Director Zoe Langevin (position title) Robyn Paton (position title) Val Gaudreault (position title) Christina Bondi (position title) Khalid Egeh (position title) For general inquires contact the CSPS Digital Accelerator mailbox. Recap of Cohort 1