Business Continuity in the Public Services pushes full steam ahead Ministry of Public Administration hosts second BCM stakeholder consultation

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

24 November, 2014

 

Business Continuity in the Public Services pushes full steam ahead Ministry of Public Administration hosts second BCM stakeholder consultation

 

The second of three stakeholder consultations on the Establishment of a Business Continuity Management (BCM) Capacity in the Public Service took place on October 29, 2014 at the Trinidad Hilton and Conference Center. A key objective of the consultation was to review the BCM Policy and Strategy for the Public Service, and the Governance and Operational Framework for BCM.

The institutionalisation of BCM by the Government will ensure that there will be no break or discontinuity in public service operations during disasters or emergencies. It is also another step in the government’s Gold to Diamond (G2D) journey which seeks to modernize the public service by also providing contingency plans for when the demands and conditions of work are interrupted.

Hosted by the Ministry of Public Administration, the consultation included executives of Ministries and Departments from across the public service, as well as facilitators from PriceWaterhouseCoopers, the organisation engaged to assist in rolling out the BCM initiative across the public service.

The effective implementation of BCM in the Public Service requires strong stakeholder involvement and commitment. Since the official project kick-off on April 16, 2014, the MPA hosted an initial consultation in July and has worked closely with key national agencies such as the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management (ODPM) and the National Operations Center (NOC).

In expressing her support for and pleasure in the progress of the project, Minister of Public Administration, the Honourable Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan said: “BCM is not just an example of how we link policy to strategy and process re-engineering. Every initiative that we launch in Gold to Diamond involves the very same methodologies. BCM will help us with the culture change that we need in the Public Service, it will help us in bringing in the expertise, developing the cadre of skill sets we require to make the changes in G2D and it also brings in this whole issue of how we can empower employees to make decisions and exercise discretion. We must achieve BCM not in silos or in a clustered approach but using the whole of government approach.”

Along with MPA, four Pilot Ministries have been working to implement BCM. These are:

  • Ministry of Finance and the Economy
  • Ministry of the People and Social Development
  • Ministry of Trade, Industry, Investments and Communications
  • Ministry of Education

The recommendations coming out of this stakeholder consultation will be used to complete the roadmap for the rollout to the entire public service.

For further information, please contact:

Rae Ann Harper-Walters Head, Corporate Communications

623-4724 ext. 2076, 688-2068

or email: harper-waltersr@mpa.gov.tt