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The Art of the Possible

This site is a place to muse about data, gaming and doing government better, sometimes through technology. It’s going through a bit of a revamp and will probably have more of a mix of gaming, development and government than it used to.

About me

I’m a geek, gamer, developer, data nerd and papa.

I’m also the chief data officer for the Public Health Agency of Canada where we focus on building capacity for ethically and effectively using data to protect and improve the health of Canadians.

I’ve been working in government for 21 years across learning, operations, policing, immigration, national security, policy, major projects, air travel, open source collaboration and leadership.

I’ve been gaming and running TTRPGs for a lot longer than 21 years… and am currently planning a game for my 7 and 8 year olds and another one for my regular group.

I’m a self-driven continuous learner. I play with Rust, Python, Golang, JS, SQL and tinker with Vue.js and React. My passions are network analytics and systems - seeing the connections in our environments and between our organizations.

I’ve taught Web design, network analytics and machine learning at Python meetups, security meetups and conferences. I launched the Digital Academy in the Government of Canada.

You can find me on Mastodon at noc.social/@ToferC.

My posts

My projects

My recent development projects include:

  • Intersectional Data MVP - An exploration of how we might more inclusively and respectfully understand intersectionality in our workplaces.
  • GC Payscales Graphql API - Taking the Government of Canada’s approved payscales, webscraping them and turning them into data as a service as a demonstration projecct.
  • Demystifying Code - a guide to understanding digital concepts through practical coding)
  • Cradle of Heroes - a character creation and management app for the Runequest RPG
  • FoundationsApp - a prototype app for recognizing and rewarding people for learning they do every day
  • CivicEngine - a prototype app for connecting talented people with work worth doing
  • Repository - variety of games, data analytics projects and learning projects.

Data Management, Innovation and Analysis at the Public Health Agency of Canada

I’m currently the Chief Data Officer at the Public Health Agency of Canada. My amazing team is working to build the capacity to ethically and responsibly use and share data to improve and protect the health of people in Canada and beyond. I’m a huge OpenSource and OpenData fan.

The CSPS Digital Academy

I used to lead the development and design of the Canada School of the Public Service’s Digital Academy. Here are some links to past events.