Minister of Technology and Innovation mandate letter

In her letter, the Premier outlines her expectations that Alberta innovators and entrepreneurs are supported in helping Alberta realize its potential and asks Minister Glubish to deliver on a platform commitment to attract more venture capital to the province by investing an additional $100 million into the Alberta Enterprise Corporation.

The Premier also tasks Minister Glubish with:

• Leading government implementation of the Alberta Technology and Innovation Strategy to ensure Alberta is the destination of choice for innovators, entrepreneurs and investors, and to encourage the commercialization of new technologies in Alberta, with the goal of creating more technology jobs, attracting more technology investment and diversifying Alberta's economy.

•  Working with the Minister of Health, who will be the lead, to perform an independent review of the effectiveness of the IT systems used throughout Alberta's health system and to provide recommendations on how to strengthen Alberta's health-care system with the use of technology.

• Exploring the feasibility of creating Alberta health spending accounts to improve health outcomes for Albertans, with support from the ministries of Health and Treasury Board and Finance.

•  Continuing to develop and implement a government-wide digital strategy that respects and places the security and privacy needs of Albertans at its core while accelerating the adoption of technology and innovation to deliver better, faster and smarter services, provides Albertans with more control over their personal information and data, saves them money, makes government more efficient, and makes Alberta the most modern and innovative jurisdiction in Canada.

•  Exploring options to address poor cellphone coverage on major highways across Alberta.

•  Continuing to implement the Alberta Broadband Strategy and working with the federal government to each invest $390 million to ensure all Albertans have access to reliable, high-speed internet. 

•  Exploring options to ensure Alberta is competitive in attracting investment in the video game/interactive digital media industry.

• Working with the Minister of Advanced Education, who is the lead, to ensure appropriate governance of software engineers that will not hamper the efforts of tech companies to attract these needed professionals from competing jurisdictions.

•  Working with the Minister of Jobs, Economy and Trade, assist in designing a ministry-specific job-attraction strategy to raise the awareness of young Albertans (aged 16 to 24) and adults changing careers of the skilled trades and professions available in each economic sector, including pathways for education, apprenticeship and training.