Major Programme 185. Information Technology and Communications

Summary of 1998-99 proposals and comparison with previous biennium (including funds from other sources)

185.1. The Organization relies heavily on Information Technology (IT) to support all its major technical, administrative and financial functions. A variety of computing platforms are used depending on the application: mainframes and mini-computers at the Office, mainframes at the United Nations International Computing Centre (ICC), powerful personal computers (PCs) as centralized and departmental servers, UNIX-based servers, and desktop PC workstations throughout the Organization. The Information technology and communications major programme (ITCOM) provides the support infrastructure to enable the ILO to use computer technology to perform its mission; through ITCOM’s support to other departments, member States will continue to receive better information in a timely fashion. Now, more than ever, the Organization needs access to the best technologies to provide and improve its services to member States and constituents, implement its reforms, increase its productivity and lower its operating costs.

185.2. This major programme, formerly called Computer services, has undergone a major reorientation of its functions in line with changes common to other organizations’ central data-processing facilities. The responsibility for the development and maintenance of computer applications will devolve to departments in Geneva and in the regions. For this purpose, a total of 11Professional work-years, 2General Service work-years and $55,000 in non-staff costs will be dedicated to applications development in five headquarters departments. Although these resources will be put at the disposition of departments, they continue to be shown under this major programme. Its functions will include the planning, coordination and standard-setting for the use of IT and computer communications for the ILO. It will be responsible for the Office-wide Enterprise Network, standard E-mail software and all aspects of Internet connectivity. It will provide user support to departments and undertake analyses and provide guidance to facilitate decisions by departments on information technology. It will maintain the ILO’s mainframe computers and be responsible for ensuring optimal use of the facilities of the International Computing Centre. By decentralizing applications development and consolidating computer networking, the reorganized ITCOM is now charged with a mission which will be more focused on information technology.

185.3. While this major programme will no longer be involved in the day-to-day development and maintenance of computer-based applications, it will take on a larger role in standardization (the establishment and enforcement of computing standards), the evaluation and introduction of new technology, and the coordination of databases and application development to guard against costly duplication. ITCOM’s overriding concern will be to implement technologies which will enable the Organization to effectively accomplish its mission, to change its methods of working, and to achieve economies of scale. ITCOM’s guidance to perform its mission will come from several quarters: (1)the Information Technology Strategy 1992-96 document which will be revised and reissued to take into consideration recent advances in technology and the changing needs of the Organization; (2)the Information Technology Advisory Committee, which will provide guidance on priorities; and (3)regular dialogue with in-house users.

185.4. The biennium 1994-95 witnessed an explosive growth in Local Area Networking (LAN). By the end of 1996, every official at headquarters will have access to E-mail, Internet, standard applications and documentation through the desktop PC. Special attention is being paid to ensure that all offices in the field have computer networks and can communicate with Geneva and the Internet. In the biennium 1998-99 the fully networked ILO will enable field offices and the multidisciplinary advisory teams to have full access to the electronic information in headquarters and vice versa, which will provide improved support for the implementation of the active partnership policy.

185.5. It is expected that 1996-1997 will witness the full exploitation of the Internet and the initial development of the Intranet, i.e. a local Internet for use only within the Organization. ILO has adopted the popular World Wide Web (WWW) technology under the guidance of the Bureau of Programming and Management and with the technical support of ITCOM: starting in March 1996, the ILO made its presence known on the Internet through the creation of hundreds of Web pages. A major effort is being made to publish as many documents as possible online so that member States and the Organization’s constituents can access them easily. Following extensive development throughout the Organization, the full benefit of the Intranet will be realized in the biennium 1998-99. Officials will have easy and quick access, through the familiar Web interface, to the most up-to-date information previously available only in hard copy or in limited electronic form: staff listings, staff and health insurance regulations, official circulars, bulletin board of current events and announcements, etc. In addition, much informal information which was not previously published will be available through the Intranet. The internal Web will also be used for electronic group discussions and other collaborative tasks. The widespread availability of E-mail and access to the Intranet will improve communications, increase productivity, and greatly reduce the amount of printed material circulated internally; via the Intranet, staff will be better informed of what is going on in all areas of the ILO.

185.6. In the biennium 1998-99 multimedia applications will likely be used for training and educational purposes. Among such applications is video-conferencing which could prove to be extremely useful as a substitute for frequent and costly small group meetings that involve travel. Because of their nature, multimedia applications place a heavy stress on both the LAN and the WAN (Wide Area Network); the current existing network infrastructure will have to be upgraded to handle the higher transmission speeds that are vital for the use of multimedia across networks.

185.7. While the acquisition and implementation of new technologies are manageable tasks, the investment needed for the education and training of users to use the new tools is often underestimated. An adequate level of training for staff of ITCOM and departments must be available as and when it is needed. ITCOM will continue to encourage the growth of local technical expertise at the departmental level, which will create a limited decentralization of user support. With over 1,000 users on the network in Geneva, and almost as many in the field, the number of requests for assistance and problems reported to the HelpDesk will naturally increase; ITCOM will design and implement new tools to provide adequate support for users. Through the Intranet, ITCOM will place a great deal of searchable documentation online; in addition to manuals, papers, newsletters, and a search engine, a database of problems and their solutions will allow users to obtain information for all known problems that have been documented. However, users will have to make an effort to benefit from these facilities which will reduce the load on the HelpDesk; ITCOM will continue to sensitize managers about the need for users to avail themselves of these on-line self-help tools.

185.8. Many computer applications in operation today will not work correctly in the year 2000. It also appears that even the most modern software, including recent PC-based software packages and computer applications, can have problems with the year 2000. The high cost of disk storage and computer memory in the past is at the core of the problem: software developers had to economize on space and so did not record the millennium and century in the computer files that they designed. Added to this was the general belief that computer applications would not have a lifetime of more than fifteen years or so. ITCOM has been gathering information and documenting possible solutions to this problem for some time. It is already apparent that the work required may be complex and costly as in other large organizations with many computer applications. For many years, computer development in the ILO has taken serious account of the year 2000; however, it will still be necessary to set up test environments to check the correct operation of all recent application software. It is difficult to give any information about the financial and resource impact of the “year 2000 problem” for the ILO until a detailed review is completed.

185.9. The resources for this major programme show a decrease of some $731,000 in real terms in comparison with the biennium 1996-97. The saving arises mainly from the lower investment needed in the Office’s enterprise network and E-mail systems.

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