Current conversations in my organisation around information systems

My organisation is a government funded agency, and is responsible for entrepreneurship promotion and small enterprise development. As a public sector institution, we have to comply with a number of laws and regulations. Current focus areas around information systems have been shaped to a large extent by the King III Report on Corporate Governance, and discussions within the Government Information Technology Officer Council (GITOC). The growing realisation within the organisation on how technology can transform small enterprises is also fast gaining momentum. Information systems discourse tends to centre on 'accountability' and 'business value'

 

The current information systems themes within the organisation are ‘ICT governance’, ‘knowledge management’ and ‘IT/business alignment’. The ICT governance has provided a platform for the organisation’s IS function to reposition itself from a reactive, business support function to a strategic business enabler. An ICT Governance Framework, based on COBIT has been implemented. The framework highlights the ICT processes that are of strategic importance to the organisation and initiatives that should be embarked upon to improve on these processes. IT/business alignment has been highlighted in the organisation’s strategy, and a strategic plan and road map has been developed to align ICT with business. The roadmap is illustrated below.

 

Figure 1: ICT Roadmap

 

The human resources within the division have also been restructured with two distinct focus areas: one focuses on infrastructure, security and continuity; while the other focuses on business information systems.

 

My role as head of strategy and information systems places me at the forefront of creating and influencing discussions around information systems. The understanding is that the organisation needs to first reach a level of stability and compliance with relevant statutes and move to atleast the “Operational Excellence” stage of the ICT Roadmap before looking at being an early adaptor of the latest technologies.

 

The information systems function is however kept abreast of the latest developments in the information systems field. This is done through staff members interacting with vendors, attending seminars and product briefings, and reporting back on how these developments would benefit the organisation.

 

The knowledge management role in the organisation has been somewhat performed on an ad hoc basis without a clearly defined strategy, processes and systems. As a result, knowledge within the organisation is managed in a silo, uncoordinated manner.

 

Overall, the short term focus determines the current debates within the organisation and this centres largely on stability and value, through adequate governance systems and a strategy to reposition the information systems function within the organisation.