Being a highly placed federal government employee comes with some benefits. In addition to liquor allowances, Canadian officials might also be walking away with iPads next year. Go Canada.
The justification is quite obvious: making the system more efficient. But, let’s be real for a second. Top level government employees are only as efficient as those who work beneath them. I’m all for revamping government agencies with more efficient technology, but when employees have to cater to the technology needs of upper management without having access to the proper tools to do the job themselves, the system’s going to break. Are agencies going to get access to scanners that convert to PDF? What are the bureaucrats going to do when they have to access intranet applications built on non-webstandard technologies?
Treasury board spokesman Pierre-Alain Bujold argues that “The goal of the project is to determine whether the iPad could replace the printing of massive quantities of documents for meetings.”
He’s right. The iPad could solve all of those problems, but the real problem isn’t solved by making a select 6,700 employees more efficient. Ask a Canadian government employee about the hoops they have to jump through to get Firefox on their systems instead of Internet Explorer 6. Better yet, how are these bureaucrats going to get their digital documents on the iPad when their computers can’t even run iTunes, and a good portion of them can barely run two programs at a time.
Yup you read that right. While all the “big bosses” get the latest and greatest technology to get their jobs done, the people doing actual work spend their time on computers that barely function in a modern world.
How about we start arming the people who make this country a better place with better technology instead of those people who aim to be career-politicans for the perks. It could be a better place to start.
Article Via The Niagara Falls Review
