Sean Boots (he/him)
Former federal public servant
Open government program manager, Government of Yukon
From 2016 to 2023 Sean Boots worked at the Canadian Digital Service (CDS). He previously worked as a product designer with VOTO Mobile, a Ghana-based social enterprise focused on empowering under-heard communities, as a developer at Global Affairs Canada working on the Travel.gc.ca website redesign, and in a variety of other technology and policy roles.
He rejoined the federal government in fall 2016 to help launch CDS as a new digital service delivery initiative. Sean has played a core role in building the culture of CDS, equipping colleagues with modern equipment and software, and launching and scaling services including GC Notify and COVID Alert. His work on COVID Alert through 2020 and 2021 included a number of federal government firsts related to security, privacy, and working in the open. He led the development and writing of CDS’s two major strategic publications, Beginning the Conversation and Roadmap 2025. In 2022 he was a Public Servant-in-Residence with Carleton University, analyzing trends in federal government contract spending and publishing policy recommendations to improve the government's procurement practices.
Sean is a co-founder of Ottawa Civic Tech, studied Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa, and enjoys working at the intersection of technology and public policy. He writes about government technology efforts at sboots.ca.