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OK, I haven't posted here for some time, and I don't tend to write personal reflections here, mainly snide comments on other content. I thought I would write out some thoughts about running a site like this on the side of my desk, now as a sector worker rather than as a consultant.

At the March 2025 Metropolis Conference I participated with Peel Newcomer Strategy Group (PNSG) on a panel presentation. If you weren't in the room, you may think you missed it. But, thankfully recently ran a similar panel and the 2024 P2P conference, virtually, so there is a recording. I didn't participate then, but I also have a recording of a very similar presentation I did on the topic of digital inclusion/equity and digital transformation in the sector.

Presented at the 2024 Pathways to Prosperity conference, this session explored where we’ve been and where we are going when it comes to digital transformation in the settlement sector, as well as emerging and promising digital practices in service provision.

This report explored the contexts in which IRCC Settlement Program services could be offered online, which newcomer clients could be best-served through remote services, and whether online services can be offered in a responsive, effective, and efficient way.

This session was part of AMSSA's 2023 BC/Yukon Summit: Collectively Envisioning the Future of Settlement and Integration. Panelists discussed how a hybrid in-person/digital service delivery model can help organizations in the settlement and integration sector to create accessible, flexible and more choices for clients to access the services that they need. Knowing and understanding what is needed for digital transformation in the settlement and Integration sector would help the organizations in the sector to move towards the future of digitization of the sector.

In this episode of the Technology and Human Services podcast I’m speaking with Sampada Kukade from Skills for Change, a Toronto based settlement and employment organization that is no stranger to technology innovation. However, what you’ll find in this conversation, and what I find infinitely useful is that even organizations who are large and growing such as Skills for Change still need support in their digital transformation. And as part of their support, Skills for Change joined a pilot project called Charity Growth Academy run by CanadaHelps, which has been providing organizations, nonprofits, specifically, and charities with support around their digital transformation.

In this newsletter update I provide links to a number of upcoming events related to digital transformation, along with tech-related news and reports, and some immigration and diversity-related stories.

The next IRCC national call for proposals is coming. It might be later this year. It might be next year. Funding could roll out as soon as 2024. It might be in 2025. I'm starting to hear rumblings of sector consultations. This call for proposals is crucial. It will indicate how serious IRCC is about sector digital transformation and hybrid services. So what we can we learn from past consultations?

Digital transformation is more than the tech or software used to deliver services: it’s approaching current models for service delivery in ways enabled by technology. This makes digital transformation a human process as well as a technical one, requiring human support to implement. A settlement sector organization in Nova Scotia, ISANS, is addressing the human element of digital transformation in their support of staff and clients.