2015 WCO IT Conference Regional Workshop

Strategic Leadership in Information Technology

Bahamas

4-5 May 2015

The two day workshop will be conducted in a classroom-style setting. Participants will go through a mix of briefings and presentations, case-study discussions and table-top exercises to enhance their understanding of the key themes of this workshop.

Participant Profile:

Senior Management of Customs or Government Departments (e.g. Commissioners, Director-Generals, their deputies, or similar senior management level officials with responsibilities over IT, Customs modernization, or involved in the establishing or operation of IT systems.)

Topics:

Strategic Alignment & Information Technology

The application of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as tools to achieve greater efficiency and productivity in business processes are well recognized. However linkages between organizational strategy formulation, operational IT and results are often less well understood.

This session will focus on the need for ICT to be aligned with business goals. Through this session, participants will gain a greater appreciation of the business architecture of Customs through presentations and discussions on the strategic objectives and imperatives common in modern Customs administrations, how these strategic objectives and imperatives need to be linked to programs, projects and day-to-day activities, and how ICT supports the attainment of organizational objectives and goals.

Strategic Perspectives in the Deployment & Application of ICT

The application of ICT is nearly ubiquitous in the modern operating environment. It has been deployed in nearly all work functions in every workplace. In fact, ICT has come to define how many functions are done in the modern workplace – emails, word processors and the internet has become indispensable in the workplace and within the Customs business domain, many functions cannot be performed properly without the use of ICT, and should be mandatorily used. 

Through this session, participants will gain greater awareness of the areas of application of ICT, their corresponding business value they help create, understand the level and quality of implementation necessary to realize business value and productivity gains, as well as gain an appreciation of the business critical nature of some business applications, and their strategic implications.

Managing ICT Projects

The planning and implementation processes behind ICT projects are very challenging and the dangers of inadequate planning can lead to expensive cost-overruns, the developments of systems that do not meet organizational needs, or even disruptions to business critical operations.   

This segment will explore the need for adopting a ‘Project Management Approach’ in the planning and implementation of ICT projects and discuss on the key management prerogatives that needs to be exercised to develop the appropriate processes and documentation for project governance.

This segment will also explore the need for project risk management, its approaches and the factors involved in defining exit and success criteria in ICT projects.

ICT Governance

The importance of governance in the management of complex, mission-critical ICT systems cannot be emphasized enough. This goes beyond the need for maintenance and technological upgrades, but also includes diverse dimensions that can only be properly understood and managed through a structured process of enterprise risk management to determine the ICT related risks, defining ownership, accountability and responsibility for such risks, as well as mitigation measures to reduce the risk to manageable levels. 

This segment will lead participants to explore and understand ICT Security Risks and how they can be managed, enterprise architecture and the role it plays in IT development and management and the importance of human resources and change management.