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INTERNATIONAL

your abilities, and just go for it. Also For example, we have developed and We are well aware that cyber-crime
seek out a mentor or advisor in the deployed enterprise solutions that fa- and terrorism are ever-growing
industry and your peers for support. cilitate sharing information quickly threats and that protecting the Uni-
and securely. An enterprise resource ted Nations' data, resources and rep-
Q: As Chief Information planning system called Umoja— utation is vitally important. There-
Technology Officer in the "unity" in Swahili—is transforming fore, we have developed an action
UN, what is your vision? the way the United Nations manag- plan and have made significant prog-
I am a big believer in the transfor- es its physical, financial and human ress in strengthening the security and
mative power of information and resources. We also have launched a performance of our network, infra-
communications technology (ICT). 24/7 global service desk—Unite Ser- structure and critical applications.
My vision is that innovation and vice Desk—for strategic systems and
technology be fully leveraged to ad- services. These include Unite Con- Q: Finally, how would all
vance the mission of this great or- nections and Unite Docs, collabora- these IT reforms affect
ganization, from using data to see- tion tools that are transforming the the life of those working
ing things we couldn't see before, to way we do our jobs. Connections is with or for the UN around
providing the latest technologies to a comprehensive platform that com- the world?
our peacekeepers and humanitar- bines a variety of powerful social An ICT strategy means a more ef-
ian aid workers in the field. We must tools, including communities, fo- ficient and responsive United Na-
harness relevant and cutting-edge rums, wikis, and others. Unite Docs tions. There are so many talented
advancements to support the impor- is a secured enterprise content man- people who work at the United Na-
tant work of the United Nations—in agement system. tions. They could take those skills
peace and security, humanitar- and work anywhere, but they chose
ian aid, human rights, international We are also committed to stimulating to come here because they believe in
law and sustainable development. innovation through greater collabo- the mission. The changes we are put-
We have an obligation to make the ration between the United Nations, ting in place, the services and tools
world we leave to our children, and academia, the private sector and we are providing our global work-
their children, a better place than it the general public. Unite Ideas is a force will allow them to be more
is today. And we now have the tools crowd-sourcing platform that issues agile and mobile, and focus more of
to make that a reality. challenges to the global community their time on making that mission
of data scientists to utilize data ana- a reality. I truly believe that when
Q: The UN is undertaking lytics and visualization to accelerate our workforce is better supported
some huge projects in the discovery and uncover new knowl- by modern tools and processes, and
IT sector. Could you tell edge. Our first two challenges re- we are collaborating across bound-
us a little more about it? sulted in more than thirty-five open aries, the whole world, and future
The United Nations' ICT strategy source solutions, many of which will generations will benefit.
is based on three key foundational be leveraged by the United Nations
elements: modernization, transfor- or shared with Member States.
mation and innovation. These are
underpinned by strengthened gover-
nance and optimized resources. It's a
five-year roadmap for technology in "We have an
the organization and we are only in obligation to make
year one, but already there have been
the world we leave to
many tremendous accomplishments.
Obviously, this is a huge undertak- our children, and their
ing that very much requires a team children, a better
effort, and the level of assistance and
support we have received throughout place than it is today.
the organization has been incredible. And we now have the
We have collaborated with colleagues
around the world to strengthen in- tools to make that a
formation security, upgrade ICT in- reality."
frastructure, roll out key enterprise
systems, and streamline and consoli-
date services globally.

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INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMAT - DIVA