uSiNg IcT tO CoMpEtE iN tHE gLobAl EcOnOmy

KUALA LUMPUR: Local businesses must make use of the latest information and communication technology (ICT) solutions to enhance their productivity and to compete in the global economy, said SME Corp Malaysia CEO Datuk Hafsah Hashim.

She said one of the criteria for developed countries was that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) should contribute to at least 40% of the gross domestic product (GDP), but local SMEs currently contributed 31% to GDP.

“This means that SMEs have to grow 1% or more per annum to reach the desired 40% by 2020 (the year Malaysia aims to achieve a developed-nation status). We need a leapfrog growth driven by innovation and productivity,” she said at the launch of Microsoft's Office 365 cloud computing service.

The launch marked the beginning of a private-public partnership between SME Corp and Microsoft Malaysia to enhance the take-up of cloud computing among Malaysian businesses.

Office 365 is Microsoft's newest ICT solution that utilises cloud computing to integrate business function over four primary products - office, sharepoint online, exchange online, and lync online.

“SME Corp and Microsoft will also promote the cloud service through joint roadshows as well as a Microsoft booth in SME Corp's new one-stop referral centre in KL Sentral,” Microsoft Malaysia managing director Ananth Lazarus told StarBiz.

Hafsah also said SME Corp would use the SME Competitiveness Rating for Enhancement (Score) programme to evaluate the ICT effectiveness of SMEs. SME Corp will take the lead in adopting cloud computing by using Office 365 in their KL Sentral office.

Articles by John Loh

- The Star Online-

Samsung strengthens partnership with ECS Ffor ICT distribution in Malaysia

on Jan 25, 2011

ECS to distribute Samsung notebooks and Galaxy Tab via its distribution channel of 2,500 resellers nationwide
Samsung aims to be the top five notebook brands in Malaysia by 2012

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 25 January 2011 – Global leading consumer electronics provider, Samsung has strengthened its partnership with leading ICT distribution hub ECS ICT Berhad (“ECS”, “佳杰科技”; Bloomberg: ECS MK; Reuters: ECSI.KL) to distribute the entire range of Samsung notebooks and Galaxy Tab to the Malaysian market.

Samsung’s Malaysia unit, Samsung Malaysia Electronics Sdn Bhd today signed the distribution agreement with ECS Astar Sdn Bhd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of ECS. In addition to distributing Samsung notebooks, ECS will also be the authorised distributor for Samsung’s Galaxy Tab through the IT channel in Malaysia.

Prior to this, Samsung Malaysia had appointed ECS as its distributor for LCD monitors in 2005, printers and consumables in 2009, and Large Format LCD monitors in 2010.

ECS Managing Director, Foo Sen Chin, said, “ECS is deeply honoured to be entrusted with distributing another exciting range of Samsung high-value products, and believe that this is the result of our excellent performance in the past. We expect these additional Samsung products will contribute positively to the Group’s financial performance in FY2011 and onwards.”

Foo added, “ECS will continue to keep up our commitment to enhance our reseller base, to enable our suppliers to leverage on our wider distribution network nationwide. We at ECS take pride in being the distributor of choice for an extended range of Samsung products, as it reinforces our position as a leading ICT distribution hub in Malaysia.”

Samsung Malaysia’s Managing Director, Yu Jai Sul, said, “The Malaysian market is very close to our hearts, with its thriving business community, and ever-growing population of technologically-savvy users. This strengthens our resolve to introduce new products, and make them more accessible to the man on the street.”

“Our collaboration with ECS in the past 5 years has yielded very positive results, and we hope to repeat this success with the range of notebooks and tablet. In fact, with this reinforced collaboration with ECS, we target to increase our market share to be among the top five notebook brands in Malaysia by 2012,” continued.

aRtIcLeS FrOm SAMSUNG

MSC Malaysia, NEF to list Bumiputera ICT Companies in first-time directory

MSC Malaysia and the Malaysian Association of Bumiputera ICT industry and Entrepreneurs (NEF) are now calling for all Bumiputera companies in multimedia, technology and ICT to register their companies for inclusion in the Bumiputera Technology & Multimedia Directory 2010/2011.

The directory will include companies in software development, games, mobile content, web content, e-commerce and other related fields. Registration is free and can be done online.

The Directory will be launched towards the end May and made available online, in hardcopy and in CD format. The hard copy version of the directory will also be distributed to all Malaysian Government ministries as well as agencies such as MIDA, SME Corp, and others.

The directory will add value to the expanding Bumiputera ICT community, said Roslan Bakri, MDeC´s Director of Technopreneur & Enterprise Development.

"It is also part of a larger effort by MSC Malaysia and NEF to fertilise the growth of Bumiputera Technopreneurs, which is in line with the Prime Minister´s vision of the New Economic Model," he added.

Published Date : 20 April 2010  

Source : MSC Malaysia, NEF press release

aRtCiLcEs FrOm MY GADGET PLANET

zImBaBwE keEn To lEaRn ICT gLoBaL bEsT PrAcTiCeS fRoM MaLaYsIa

BUKIT JALIL, June 21 (Bernama) -- Zimbabwe will soon send a technical team
to Malaysia to learn global best practices in information and communications
technology (ICT), its Deputy Prime Minister, Arthur G. Mutambara said.
He said its technical team would stay in the country for a month to
understand the ICT business model and the impact on economic growth.
"We want them to return and document the plan to implement ICT to foster
economic growth," he told Bernama after visiting MIMOS Bhd here.
MIMOS is a research and development organisation which functions as an
advisor to the Malaysian Government on technologies, policies and strategies
relating to ICT.
"We are now learning how to use science and technology to leap-frog Zimbabwe
into the information and knowledge economy, particularly in agriculture, mining
and manufacturing," said Mutambara.
In 2009, ICT contributed 15.2 per cent to the country''s gross domestic
product, after agriculture which was 15.5 per cent.
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe''s Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority
Director-General Charles Sibanda urged Malaysian ICT equipment and related
services provider to tap the African market.
He said currently, there was a dire need for animal detection sensor
equipments and financial business software.
"If selling good and affordable products and services is not a big challenge
for your company, Africa can provide that opportunity," he noted.
-- BERNAMA
MI MI GR

-ArCtIlCeS FrOm YAHOO NEWS MALAYSIA

Kenya Learn From Malaysia about ICT & Infrastructure Development

PUTRAJAYA, June 19 (Bernama) -- Kenya is keen to learn from Malaysia on how
the country developed its information and communications technology, and
infrastructure sectors, as it planned to emulate the experiences to diversify
its economy.
Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka said Kenya was looking forward to gain
experience and learn from Malaysia on ways to embrace development at the ongoing
Langkawi International Dialogue 2011 (LID2011) here, today.
He said Malaysia was trully an excellent model of economic transformation.
"Trading and smart partnerships, in terms of ICT, is really what we want to
look for in order to diversify the economy as well as eradicate poverty.
"We are giving priority to the growth of infrastructure such as roads in
Kenya and Malaysia again is a very good example in this sector of development,"
he told Bernama after the official opening of LID2011 by Prime Minister Datuk
Seri Najib Tun Razak here today.
Kenya, Malaysia''s fifth largest trading partner after South Africa, Egypt,
Nigeria and Mauritius in the African continent, is also keen to spur more
business, trade and investment collaboration between the business
communities of both nations.
"For instance, the Kenyan Chamber of Commerce together with the Malaysian
International Chamber of Commerce have planned programmes for greater
collaboration for the later part of the year.
"In terms of socio-economic contact, we see a lot of interaction between
Malaysian investors and Kenyan students," Musyoka added.
The country exports soda ash, tea, marine products, tobacco, lime and
cement to Malaysia and in turn imports electronic goods, textiles, natural gas
and fats.
-- BERNAMA
STP VMD
Articles from Yahoo Malaysia News

TeChNoLoGy gIvEs uSeRs tHe uPpEr HaNd

Automatic Identification and Data Capturing (AI/DC) applications, along with advanced technology and brand-new devices, are making their way into almost all departments in all sectors. These applications bring along cost advantage, followability and measurability.

New technologies, in conjunction with ever-increasing and more complex human needs, cause radical changes in the traditional applications of technology. The recent automatic identification and data capturing (AI/DC) applications provide good examples of this phenomenon. The increasing popularity of RFID applications and the variety and the capability of mobile devices inspire innovation in AI/DC applications.
Onur Erduran, CEO at Boer, an expert company in AI/DC describes AI/DC as “the sector that is used by corporate users to collect field data”. He points out that “elimination of bandwith and speed problems in WAN applications with the use of GPRS, EDGE and 3G applications, and increasing competition amongst GSM operators, which reduces costs and provides an incentive for people to use the internet, remove obstacles to mobile business applications”. The 90s popular mobile applications, such as warehouse management, inventory and asset tracking, are no longer sufficient to describe the new scope of activity. The most important parameter influencing the transfer of collected data is the bandwidth and the speed of communication infrastructure. The method used to collect field data is equally important. “We have been using the barcode method for years and will continue using it for a long time”, Erduran adds.
He also says “Instead of the familiar one dimensional (1D), we often come across two dimensional (2D) barcode applications. Owing to the “imager” type of readers, which read by capturing the image and are capable of storing much more information in a smaller space, cell phones or PDAs can scan barcodes. The most notable expectations in the sector are the ones concerning RFID. Despite the high cost of certain applications, RFID has become much more applicable and some RFID applications are already available to users. Mobile terminals can read RFID tags that range from Low Frequency (LF) ear tags on animals to High Frequency (HF) chip enhanced personnel ID cards or contactless credit cards, and Ultra High Frequency (UHF) tags on warehouse pallets.

PREFERRED CHOICE IN ALL SECTORS

Altan Gezeroğlu, Deputy General Manager at Perko, an RFID solutions company, says that the latest technology trends focus on service processes. In this respect, all of the companies that provide field service-maintenance processes are either using mobile devices or considering using them. Speed is becoming an increasingly more important factor and mobile devices support this trend. Mr Gezeroğlu’s example explains how the mobile chain works:
“GPS sends a customer’s call over the 3G network to the nearest service vehicle. Service-maintenance details, parts and changes, etc. are entered and recorded using the handheld terminal. This makes subsequent services to the same customer easier and quicker. What is noteworthy here is the fact that the application increases the number of entries in the field, and hence, makes the field investment much more efficient and valuable.”
According to Mr Gezeroğlu, recently, the financial sector has made some big investments in field cash management. The aim is to observe, direct and control the cash flow in field services, and mobile devices play the most significant role in this. Mr Gezeroğlu states that work on facilitating RFID applications to control the cash flow processes is near completion, and that the courier-freight sector is also considering using RFID applications.

Ahmet Sinan Ekinci, Marketing Manager at Mobit, claims that “AI/DC products are now indispensable to businesses”. Embracing mobile technologies increases the importance and the popularity of GPRS, particularly of 3G broadband technologies. Mr Ekinci says “ We believe that RFID technologies will have a leading role in the sector. In the mobile sector, there is a tendency to use NFC applications, which go hand in hand with the fact that RFID and credit cards have improved payment systems. Some other improvements in the sector are: finger print scanners, smart sensors that can detect the movement of a device, low-input VGA monitors, smart battery monitors, high performance wireless networks that are as safe as wired networks, an increase in the use of 2D barcodes for automatic identification in medicine, logistics and stock take, and last but not least high IP rating panel PCs that collect frequency domain data, and can be used in industrial domains. The industrial type PCs, tablets and various sensors are gradually replacing PLCs that are used in quality management systems to collect data on pressure levels, temperature, raw material specification, linespeed and other related variables.

TO INCREASE EFFICIENCY…

These new technologies benefit businesses in a number of ways. Altan Gezeroğlu points out to the importance of speed. He also claims that the companies that provide solutions should place emphasis on references from related sectors, and the companies that require such services should pay attention to it. Onur Erduran believes that the most notable benefit of new technologies for users is “improved performance” and he explains further with an example:
“ If you cannot make fast and right decisions by observing the immediate data from the field, it is not possible to minimize the costs and to improve performance. It is possible to evaluate the success of a commercial by monitoring the weekly or monthly sales; whereas a mini-survey consists only of 2-3 questions and conducted by hundreds of field workers with handheld terminals will give you the same results within some hours.”
Ahmet Sinan Ekinci draws attention to the changes in the form of AI/DC applications that were inspired by mobile solutions. He says, “The changes that are experienced in mobile technologies have a direct influence on the AI/DC sector”. Low-cost mobile communication devices and services also caused an increase in the demand for mobile businesses because the new framework saves time and minimizes the risk of making mistakes. 3G eliminates most of the obstacles to collecting field data. In addition, as Ekinci pointed out, there is variety of new solutions including distance education. It is evident that the developments in mobile technologies will cause the spread of such solutions. Increasingly fast communications infrastructures will make instant field data collection possible. Such solutions in return will increase the efficiency of field workers.
The use of RFID, NFC and GIS technologies in mobile devices will generate efficient performance.

NEW PROJECTS STAND OUT

Onur Erduran says that they are currently working on some interesting projects besides carrying out their existing workload. One of the projects (ESHOT) is designed for the Municipality of Izmir. It involves surveillance of public transport buses with RFID tags, automatic recording of busses’ terminal entry and exit times and tracking service-maintenance data of the busses using RFID. The next project is the result of collaboration with Atlasjet. It made it possible for passengers who go through the check-in process online, to automatically print out their boarding cards at a kiosk at the airport by using the barcode that they receive on their cell phones. A project for Caykur helped to locate fake tea in the chain of distribution by using holograms and 2D barcodes on tea packets. We can also mention port automation projects for Marport, Limar and Gemport; using LF RFID ear tags to collect data for Banvit cattle farms; for Atabay Ilac (Atabay Pharmaceuticals) the conveyor module that generates and scans square codes, automatically rejects defective products and can handle up to 200 boxes per minute; and various other projects realized for Batik Orme, Federation of Motorsports (Motor Sporlari Federasyonu) and Anadolu Transport (Anadolu Ulasim). Altan Gezeroğlu adds to the list of projects carried out by Perkon :
“Our most prominent customers in field services are central heating/boiler producers, generator producer companies, companies offering POS and GSM services. In the financial sector, we provided products and services to banks and companies that offer cash management services. We put our signature under a big parcel-tracking project for a public institution. It was a very successful project involving the installation of semi active tags in 19 different locations.”
Mobit, a company that consistently works with an Ar-Ge team, introduced “Mobile Work Order Application” supported by 3G, GPS, and GIS infrastructures, on a Viliv tablet PC. The supporting infrastructures are used mainly in the electricity sector, which is Mobit’s largest current market.

Article from ICT NEWS (http://ictnewseurasia.com/466-technology-gives-users-the-upper-hand.html)

Good Management of IT Leads To Efficiency in Public Institutions

It is strictly required for public institutions to go over the decisions they take in the management of information technologies. Projects that are planned poorly and not conducted elaborately are doomed to fail.

The use of information and communications technologies has been developing in the public sector along with all the other sectors. Public services have finally gained a new face thanks to new technologies used and the recent e-state applications. Rapid improvement in technologies have also increased the demand by the public. This has further been supported by the launch of Web 2.0 of the state, which aims to interact with citizens much more efficiently. In fact, it is not a very good idea to underestimate this process of advancement solely with reference to e-state and mobile-state applications. Right now, public institutions are moving rapidly towards electronic and mobile media, where the WEb 2.0 is only one of the constituents.

The above-mentioned vision is inevitably making it necessary for the public institutions and managers to reconsider their work habits and the processes they have applied so far in information technologies. At this point, new laws are urgently needed to improve the rules and regulations that may have had a binding effect on the use of information technologies by citizens. Public managers seriously need to take immediate action to catch up with new trends and developments. The only way to release the tension deriving from this urgent need to catch up with the fast pace of information technologies is to add one’s own value to the process going on around the whole globe.

When the issue of finding urgent solutions to such complicated problems becomes inevitable, companies begin to develop interdisciplinary methods. The advice given by IT companies to public companies also show variations. In the past, public institutions used to utilize their own infrastructures and systems to fulfill their own needs. Nowadays, they focus on the ability to work with other public institutions, to have more citizen-oriented systems, and to present more profit to their shareholders.

The essential issues introduced by the sector at this point will be the necessary solutions to create more collaborative systems, citizen-oriented approaches, data management and the creation of added value. While achieving these aims, it is vitally important to utilize IT resources in parallelism with the strategical aims of the institution, and to plan the IT infrastructures in accordance with institutional strategies.

What distinguishes IT Management in public sector from the private sector is that the private sector is able to adapt to new technologies at a faster pace. Undoubtedly, what lies beneath this difference is the factors of customer contentment and competition in the private sector. However, in recent years, the rising globalization has also included the public sector into this new area of competition. The competition is primarily based on the demands of the citizens. You may think of this as a domino effect. The public sector optimizes its work, which leads to the optimization of the citizens, which result in the government’s inevitable involvement into what’s going on in this sector. The fact that the government also gives importance to optimization is a must in today’s world. Cutting down on public expenditure, and completely closing the already narrowing circle may only be possible through the right use of IT.

For example, the number of car sales via ASBIS (Vehicle and Driver Information Systems), presented by Security General Directorate in Turkey is over 3,300,000. The citizens are now able to fulfill the necessary procedure when buying an automobile in Turkey in 5 minutes, while they did that in 3 days in the past, thanks to the Vehicle and Driver Information Systems. In order to calculate the time saved, you may simply multiply the minutes saved by 3,300,000. Another example is that thanks to the e-tender project, the government is expecting a saving of 5 billion Turkish Liras.
These numbers prove the fact that Management of IT in the public sector is gradually gaining more and more importance. The public projects that lack the necessary planning and policies are doomed to fail.

Article from ICT News

TyPeS Of bRoAdBaNd

(1) Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) DSL is a wireline transmission technology that transmits data faster over traditional copper telephone lines already installed to homes and businesses. DSL-based broadband provides transmission speeds ranging from several hundred Kbps to millions of bits per second (Mbps). The availability and speed of your DSL service may depend on the distance from your home or business to the closest telephone company facility. The following are types of DSL transmission technologies: Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) used primarily by residential customers, such as Internet surfers, who receive a lot of data but do not send much. ADSL typically provides faster speed in the downstream direction than the upstream direction. ADSL allows faster downstream data transmission over the same line used to provide voice service, without disrupting regular telephone calls on that line. Symmetrical Digital Subscriber Line (SDSL) used typically by businesses for services such as video conferencing, which need significant bandwidth both upstream and downstream. Faster forms of DSL typically available to businesses include: High-data-rate Digital Subscriber Line (HDSL); and Very High-data-rate Digital Subscriber Line (VDSL). Advantages:  Easy to install Disadvantages:  Downloading information is much faster than sending (2) Cable Modem Cable modem service enables cable operators to provide broadband using the same coaxial cables that deliver pictures and sound to your TV set. Most cable modems are external devices that have two connections, one to the cable wall outlet and the other to a computer. They provide transmission speeds of 1.5 Mbps or more. Subscribers can access their cable modem service simply by turning on their computers without dialing-up an ISP. You can still watch cable TV while using it. Transmission speeds vary depending on the type of cable modem, cable network, and traffic load. Speeds are comparable to DSL. Advantages:  Easy to install Potentially the fastest connection Disadvantages:  Only available in cities and large towns (3) Fibre Fibre, or fibre optic, is a newer technology available for providing broadband. Fibre optic technology converts electrical signals carrying data to light and sends the light through transparent glass fibres about the diametre of a human hair. Fibre transmits data at speeds far exceeding current DSL or cable modem speeds, typically by tens or even hundreds of Mbps. The actual speed you experience will vary depending upon a variety of factors, such as how close to your computer the service provider brings the fibre, and how the service provider configures the service, including the amount of bandwidth used. The same fibre providing your broadband can also simultaneously deliver voice (VoIP) and video services, including video-on-demand. Telecommunications providers (mostly telephone companies) are offering fibre broadband in limited areas and have announced plans to expand their fibre networks and offer bundled voice, Internet access, and video services. Variations of the technology run the fibre all the way to the customer's home or business, to the curb outside, or to a location somewhere between the provider's facilities and the customer.

(4) Wireless Wireless broadband connects a home or business to the Internet using a radio link between the customer's location and the service provider's facility. Wireless broadband can be mobile or fixed. Wireless technologies using longer range directional equipment provide broadband service in remote or sparsely populated areas where DSL or cable modem service would be costly to provide. Speeds are generally comparable to DSL

and cable modem. An external antenna is usually required. Fixed wireless broadband service is becoming more and more widely available at airports, city parks, bookstores, and other public locations called “hotspots.” Hotspots generally use a short-range technology that provides speeds up to 54 Mbps. Wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) technology is also often used in conjunction with DSL or cable modem service to connect devices within a home or business to the Internet via a broadband connection. Mobile wireless broadband services are also becoming available from mobile telephone service providers and others. These services are generally appropriate for highly-mobile customers and require a special PC card with a built in antenna that plugs into a user's laptop computer. Generally, they provide lower speeds, in the range of several hundred Kbps. Advantages:  Not restricted by the local telephone exchange Fast connection for downloading and sending information Disadvantages:  Requires an experienced technology provider to set up and maintain the network Can suffer from interference in built-up areas if there is another network nearby used for something other than internet access (5) Satellite Just as satellites orbiting the earth provide necessary links for telephone and television service, they can also provide links for broadband. Satellite broadband is another form of wireless broadband, also useful for serving remote or sparsely populated areas. Downstream and upstream speeds for satellite broadband depend on several factors, including the provider and service package purchased, the consumer's line of sight to the orbiting satellite, and the weather. Typically a consumer can expect to receive (download) at a speed of about 500 Kbps and send (upload) at a speed of about 80 Kbps. These speeds may be slower than DSL and cable modem, but download speed is about 10 times faster than download speed with dial-up Internet access. Service can be disrupted in extreme weather conditions. Advantages:  Available anywhere Disadvantages: Expensive Bad weather can cause connection problems (6) Broadband over Powerline (BPL) BPL is the delivery of broadband over the existing low and medium voltage electric power distribution network. BPL speeds are comparable to DSL and cable modem speeds. BPL can be provided to homes using existing electrical connections and outlets. BPL is an emerging technology, currently available in very limited areas. It has significant potential because power lines are installed virtually everywhere, alleviating the need to build new broadband facilities to every customer.

School ICT lessons a ' turn-off ' - RoYaL SoCiEtY

ICT lessons: Inspiring pupils for the future or turning them off?

Information technology lessons in UK schools are so dull they are putting pupils off the subject and careers in computing, top scientists warn.

The Royal Society said the situation would lead to an unskilled workforce and threaten the UK's economy.

Launching a study of how lessons might be improved, the society said the number of pupils in England doing ICT GCSE had fallen 33% over three years.

And there was a 33% fall, between 2003 and 2009, in ICT A-level candidates.

Now the Royal Society, the UK's national academy of science, is embarking on a new study: Computing in schools and its importance and implications for the economic and scientific well-being of the UK.

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

We are now watching the enthusiasm of the next generation waste away through poorly conceived courses and syllabuses”

Professor Steve FurberRoyal Society

Researchers will look at curricula for ICT and computer science in schools, current exams and assessment processes, training for teachers, as well as the facilities and resources available in schools and colleges.

The study will report back in the autumn next year.

The research is supported by 24 organisations, including the Royal Academy of Engineering, BCS Academy of Computing, the Council of Professors and Heads of Computing, Google, Microsoft Research and several of the UK's leading universities.

'Poorly conceived courses'

Chair of the study, Professor Steve Furber, said: "The UK has a proud history of leading the way in the field of computer science and associated disciplines, from the development of the world's first stored-program computers to more recent innovations such as the invention of the world-wide web.

"However, from this bright start, we are now watching the enthusiasm of the next generation waste away through poorly conceived courses and syllabuses.

"If we cannot address the problem of how to educate our young people in inspirational and appropriate ways, we risk a future workforce that is totally unskilled and unsuited to tomorrow's job market."

Professor Matthew Harrison, Director of Education at the Royal Academy of Engineering said: "Young people have huge appetites for the computing devices they use outside of school.

"Yet ICT and computer science in school seem to turn these young people off.

"We need school curricula to engage them better if the next generation are to engineer technology and not just consume it."

Article from Professor Steve Furber, Royal Society

BBC News

Plan to Modernize ICT and Boost Its Impact in the Secretariat

Friday, 03 December 2010 21:19

General, and now under consideration by the General Assembly, aims to substantially improve the United Nations Secretariat’s information and communications technology (ICT) operation and services, while taking critical steps to achieve efficiency gains in years to come.

The win-win opportunity – not only to gain substantial efficiency and service improvements but also to do so in a way that lowers the curve of projected budget growth in the future – was revealed by an unprecedented new study of the Secretariat’s ICT capacities, completed earlier this year.

For the first time ever, the “ICT Structural Review” – undertaken by the Office of Information and Communications Technology (OICT) as part of the Secretariat’s overall ICT Strategy – took inventory of all the ICT staffing, systems and other capacities that exist throughout the Secretariat’s departments, offices and field missions worldwide. It found an immense diversity of separate ICT environments, revealing the opportunity to take steps that would create a more unified environment and obtain major improvements in ICT service, manageability, impact and effectiveness.

Many valuable benefits would become possible upon the establishment of a more uniform, cohesive, standardized ICT environment across the Secretariat, including:

• Better ICT services and tools for the Secretariat’s substantive programmes and missions around the world;
• A 24/7 global service desk interface (comprised of locations across the globe);
• The capacity to take advantage of economies of scale;
• Smaller-footprint data centres;
• The ability to leverage technology and automation across the entire Secretariat;
• A shift toward higher-value, higher-impact work by ICT staff, yielding better service and support to substantive programmes.

The plan to achieve these results would consist of four proposed projects for 2011-2015:

Globalize Service Desk. Create a unified service desk interface, comprised of locations across the globe, to provide a single point of contact available 24/7 with multilingual service. This initiative will not only greatly improve the quality of service but also provide significant cost reduction opportunities.

Streamling Data Centres. Improver server and storage management to increase the quality and responsiveness of services, and correspondingly decrease the infrastruction footprint and reduce costs.

Rationalize ICT Organization. Rationalize the ICT organizational structure across the Secretariat to improve ICT personnel planning, effectiveness and productivity; and to create better growth opportunities for ICT staff, by implementing an improved ICT staffing model developed in collaboration between OHRM and OICT.

Strengthen OICT: Strengthen OICT’s capacity to oversee and guide strategic ICT activities, reduce fragmentation and enable increased ICT innovation across the organization and broader utilization of enterprise-wide solutions.

These proposed projects and the funding would be needed to launch them are currently under review by the General Assembly.

Sources by OICT