Digital Government Excellence

CHAPTER 2Alex Benay: Canada

 

Alex currently serves as Global Lead, Government Azure Strategy at Microsoft, where he helps governments around the world adopt cloud technologies. Prior to this, he was a partner with KPMG, where he led the national digital transformation practice.

In 2017–2019, Alex was a Deputy Minister at the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat and the Chief Information Officer of Canada, and before that the President and CEO of the Canada Science and Technology Museums Corporation. From 2009 to 2014, Alex was a Vice President at OpenText, Canada's largest software company.

In 2018, Alex was named to Apolitical's international list of the one hundred most influential people in digital government. He serves on the board of the World Wide Web Foundation and is cofounder of CIO Strategy Council of Canada.

He is also the author of books Canadian Failures, an anthology of essays from prominent Canadians openly talking about failure, and Government Digital, an in-depth look at how modern governments are tackling digital change.

 

 

 

With Alex, we just hit right off somehow. He became one of the closest friends in the international digital government gang. We both are straight-talking, too-much-talking, and fast-talking; both appreciate deadpan and satire.

We both are eager to not just kick the can down the road in our work but take on the machinery of government ...