Page 123 - 2020 CXC Annual Report
P. 123

Public Relations and Stakeholder Relationship Management






            Information Services Division






            Strategically                                       support the changes in administration this year, the functionality
            The IT function, previously part of the Corporate Services Division,   of the ORS Application was extended, and several new Reports
            was restructured to provide greater support to the Council’s   were  added  to  internal  Systems.    On  the  customer  facing  side,
            accelerated e-Transition Strategy. The technological capacity   the Resource Management System (RMS-2020) was put into live
            of the Council was reshaped this year with the creation of the   production and the Student Results Portal was redesigned to
            Information Services Division and the appointment of a Director of   remove the historic bottleneck.
            Technological Innovation in February. The new structure separated
            the  IT  Operations  and  Enterprise Solutions  and  Application   Despite some delays due to the mandatory lock-down at both
            Development functions.  IT Operations focused on maintaining   offices, the division advanced major infrastructure upgrades at
            core infrastructure and providing end-user support while the   both offices to improve performance, reliability and security. Along
            Enterprise  Solutions  supported business applications  alignment   with the infrastructure upgrades, a project to digitise vital records
            and IT projects implementation. In keeping with the digitisation   at the Jamaica Office started in the last quarter of 2020 and should
            effort, in July, the Archives and Records Management Unit (ARMU)   be completed early in 2021. Supporting the digitisation effort,
            previously subsumed under the Finance and Office Management   ARMU is in the process of completing a Records Inventory of all
            Department, was joined with the technology team to improve the   departmental storage devices at both Offices, bringing full visibility
            Council’s RIM strategy.                             to the Council’s information.  These initiatives will not only allow for
                                                                better preservation, but will also improve access to the Council’s
            CXC® began planning for the development of the 2021 – 2025   Institutional Records.
            strategy in February and by September; the divisional strategies
            were being refined to give sharper focus to building the digitally   Future Outlook
            transformed Council and a vision of “CXC, a Regional Enterprise”.   The restructuring of the IT functions, the building of internal capacity
            The Information Services Division leads on two major objectives   in  Agile/Scrum, DevOp  and Data  Governance, along with  the
            in the 2021 – 2025 strategy, Improve Technology and Improve   strengthening our core infrastructure, has positioned the Division
            Business Continuity.  To ensure there was the capacity to drive   to adequately support the new strategic plan of the Council.   In
            the strategic thrust, the staffing of the division was significantly   the short-term, the on-boarding of an e-Authoring tool will support
            improved through the appointment of three Developers in June,   the growth of a more robust e-Qbank.  The efficiency and security
            a Business Analyst in October and the recruitment of a Senior   of the administration of examinations will be further strengthened
            Manager (Enterprise Architect) to head the Solutions Department.   through the redevelopment of the EPS-Core and the creation of
                                                                tighter interfaces between Registration, Marking and the Grading
            Operationally                                       processes.  Further, on the horizon, plans are advancing to deploy
            While the onset of the pandemic, COVID-19, adversely affected   a new e-Credential Portal and to offer a Self-Registration Module
            our region, the IT function was pressed into overdrive to support   that Local Registrars may adopt to improve operational efficiency.
            remote working and to develop several core-business and
            customer facing applications at very short notice.  While the   The Division will continue to collaborate with both internal and
            platform for remote working was set over 10 years ago, it was   external stakeholders in the fulfilment of our mission, “To provide
            successfully scaled rapidly to accommodate 100% of staff at both   innovative information management and business solutions
            Jamaica and Barbados Offices in less than a week. Similarly, to   that enrich our Stakeholders’ value.”



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