Program directory · National Research Council Canada
Digital Technologies
- Department
- National Research Council Canada
- Program code
- BNQ24 (NRC)
- Core responsibility
- Science and Innovation
- In Departmental Plans
- 2019-20 – 2026-27 · New since an earlier plan
What it does
The Digital Technologies program makes everyday life smarter and more intuitive for Canadians. It aims to foster a smarter, safer, healthier, and more prosperous society through ethical applications of digital technologies. It is at the forefront of digital technologies research, driving innovation with and for Canadian government, businesses, researchers, and society. Digital Technologies focuses on advanced analytics, computer vision, natural language processing and artificial intelligence technologies.
Source: the department's Program Inventory, via GC InfoBase.
History and lineage
First appears in GC InfoBase's actual spending by program in 2019-20. The data does not record when a program was created; it may be older than its first appearance here, which is limited by the sources (program spending starts in 2010-11, Departmental Plans in 2018-19).
| Program | Relation | Years with data | Actual spending over those years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Digital Technologies | This program | 2019-20 – 2028-29 | $129M |
No earlier or later program in the same department has a similar name.
Significant changes in scope and budget
Detected from the data: renames between plans, programs it appears to replace, merge with or split into (matched by name), year-over-year changes in spending of at least 25% and $5M, or in employees of at least 20% and 25 FTEs, linked budget measures, and results indicators added or dropped.
| Year | What changed | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2021-22 | Indicators added: Citation score of Digital Technologies generated publications relative to world average; Number of patent applications filed; Revenue earned from all external research clients | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2021-22 | Indicators dropped: Number of clients and collaborators working with the Research Centre annually; Number of unique intellectual assets generated by Research Centre employees; Value of external contributions to Research Centre research and development services and scientific and technological infrastructure | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2026-27 | Planned spending $45.1M, against $24.1M in 2025-26 (+87%). | Latest Departmental Plan |
| 2027-28 | Planned spending $28.2M, against $45.1M in 2026-27 (−37%). | Latest Departmental Plan |
Success criteria
The program's indicators from its department's Departmental Results Framework: the target set in each year's plan, and the result reported the following year. Source: GC InfoBase.
Historical: targets against results
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-22 | ≥ 1.15 | 2022 | 1.23 | Met |
| 2022-23 | ≥ 1.1 | 2023 | 1.16 | Met |
| 2023-24 | ≥ 1.2 | 2024 | 1.61 | Met |
| 2024-25 | ≥ 1.2 | 2025 | 1.66 | Met |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-22 | ≥ 2 | 2022 | 9 | Met |
| 2022-23 | ≥ 5 | 2023 | 21 | Met |
| 2023-24 | ≥ 5 | 2024 | 29 | Met |
| 2024-25 | ≥ 5 | 2025 | 33 | Met |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-22 | ≥ $3.5M | 2022 | $4.7M | Met |
| 2022-23 | ≥ $4.3M | 2023 | $4.4M | Met |
| 2023-24 | ≥ $4.3M | 2024 | $6.7M | Met |
| 2024-25 | ≥ $4.4M | 2025 | $8.7M | Met |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-20 | ≥ 20 | 2020 | 18 In line with the NRC’s new strategic direction, in 2019-20, Digital Technologies worked on high-impact projects, fostering long-term relationships with a smaller number of strategic partners. | Not met |
| 2020-21 | ≥ 18 | 2021 | 14 In order to comply with public health measures associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, Digital Technologies (DT) had to restrict on-site activities to focus on pandemic response priority projects, thus cancelling or postponing some projects with clients and collaborators. However, DT continued to work with several additional collaborators through non-invoiced projects with its challenge and superc… | Not met |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-20 | ≥ 83 | 2020 | 91 | Met |
| 2020-21 | ≥ 52 | 2021 | 104 | Met |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-20 | ≥ $3.2M | 2020 | $4.8M | Met |
| 2020-21 | ≥ $4M | 2021 | $3.9M Target was essentially met. | Not met |
Current: the 2026-27 plan's targets
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≥ 1.4 | 2027 | — | Planned |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≥ 15 | 2027 | — | Planned |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≥ $9.3M | 2027 | — | Planned |
Future goals: targets due after 2026-27
No targets with a later due date.
Spending and employees: planned against actual
Spending
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2019-20 | $14.3M | $19.8M |
| 2020-21 | $14.6M | $19.1M |
| 2021-22 | $18.3M | $19.5M |
| 2022-23 | $20.5M | $19.5M |
| 2023-24 | $21.7M | $22.7M |
| 2024-25 | $23.3M | $27.9M |
| 2025-26 | $24.1M | — |
| 2026-27 | $45.1M | — |
| 2027-28 | $28.2M* | — |
| 2028-29 | $26.4M* | — |
Employees (FTEs)
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2019-20 | 88 | 128 |
| 2020-21 | 132 | 130 |
| 2021-22 | 128 | 127 |
| 2022-23 | 137 | 130 |
| 2023-24 | 130 | 148 |
| 2024-25 | 148 | 172 |
| 2025-26 | 170 | — |
| 2026-27 | 163 | — |
| 2027-28 | 163* | — |
| 2028-29 | 157* | — |
Planned spending, plan by plan
Each row is one year's Departmental Plan and its forecast for the next three fiscal years; read a column down to see how the forecast for one year changed. The last row is what was actually spent. Click an amount for its source. Biggest changes in federal spending plans
| Plan | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 | 2026-27 | 2027-28 | 2028-29 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-20 plan | $14,286,967 | $13,655,780 | $13,655,661 | |||||||
| 2020-21 plan | $14,590,427 | $14,746,889 | $14,787,289 | |||||||
| 2021-22 plan | $18,316,389 | $18,338,089 | $18,287,289 | |||||||
| 2022-23 plan | $20,504,143 | $21,495,803 | $21,886,476 | |||||||
| 2023-24 plan | $21,707,838 | $22,228,029 | $22,264,270 | |||||||
| 2024-25 plan | $23,283,022 | $23,526,944 | $23,401,386 | |||||||
| 2025-26 plan | $24,119,860 | $24,030,982 | $23,685,144 | |||||||
| 2026-27 plan | $45,124,651 | $28,207,194 | $26,352,415 | |||||||
| Actual | $19,790,603 | $19,143,242 | $19,531,356 | $19,541,051 | $22,715,187 | $27,934,983 |
Actual spending is from Departmental Results Reports and the Public Accounts, as published in GC InfoBase. FTEs are full-time equivalents.
