My work

My research, teaching and policy engagement examine public administration reforms and citizens’ relationship with the state in the digital age. I answer questions about how governments can more effectively and responsibly harness technology and data to improve public services and design public policies. Within this work, I explore the relationship between the quality of public services, government’s management of technology and data, and citizens’ attitudes toward the state. I also ask how new models of public administration emerging in the digital age might threaten, or alternatively, uphold traditional principles and practices of democratic governance. Across these work streams, my central goal is to build more capable, trustworthy and democratically accountable governments.

About me

I was born in Montreal, Quebec, and raised in Ottawa, Ontario, where I now live. In 2014 I earned my doctorate at the University of Oxford as a Trudeau Scholar. Prior to my academic career, I was a researcher at the Library of Parliament. In that role I wrote reports and briefed parliamentarians on citizen engagement, public administration, and digital technologies.

I’m a recipient of a Government of Ontario Early Researcher Award and a Research Fellow of the Canada School of Public Service. In addition to my other research and teaching duties, I’m the Project Lead and co-founder of a Canada Foundation for Innovation funded high-powered computing lab focused on data-intensive research on digital era governance. In 2021, Apolitical named me one of the 100 Most Influential Academics in Government.

Protecting Public Advice: New report with the Royal Society of Canada

In the past year I've been working with the Royal Society of Canada (RSC) as a member of the Working Group on Protecting Public Advice within the RSC's Task Force on COVID-19. In February my co-authors (Julia Wright, Wendy Hui Kyong Chun, Matthew Herder and Howard Ramos) published our final report, which will also be published as an article in FACETS.

Included in Apolitical’s Top 100 Most Influential Academics in Government

In December 2021, Apolitical released their list of the Top 100 Most Influential Academics in Government. I was thrilled to be included, especially alongside all of the other fabulous researchers celebrated in the list. 

Teaching Public Service in the Digital Age: A Briefing For Potential Research Collaborators

Over the past year I've helped lead a new Research Workstream within the international teaching collaboration, Teaching Public Service in the Digital Age.

To initiate the Research Workstream, Tom Steinberg and I co-authored a Research Briefing, which outlines the key research questions that we think need to be answered to test and refine what have become widely accepted - but rarely empirically scrutinized - best practices in digital era government.