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ICT Committee Members - 2015/2016
- Chair - Eng. Samudaya Nanayakkara
- Eng. Dilan Anuruddha
- Eng. Indika Walpitage
- Eng. Lt. Col. Dr. Chandana Gamage
- Eng. Madhawa Herath
- Eng. Methsiri Kumara
- Eng. Nadeesha Ranaweera
- Eng. Nalinda Herath
- Eng. Saman Samarakoon
- Eng. Vidula Hasaranga
ICT Committee - Plans for 2015/2016 Session
The Information and Communications Technology Committee (ICTC) of the Institution of Engineers Sri Lanka has set nine objectives to serve members. Of these, the activity to implement 2015-AGM decision to bring Online Voting as an option to the corporate members is paramount. ICTC will setup an Online Voting System to elect 2016/2017 Council as its primary objective for the session 2015/2016. In addition, there are more member focused objectives and a few secretariat operations related objectives set by the committee.
ICTC, under the sponsorship of the President and the Council is currently working on the following two objectives to be delivered by March/April of this year.
1. Online Voting System
ICTC is presently evaluating well known online voting service providers to select the right provider. Upon selection, the committee will do a few mock / test elections including a one with entire corporate member population. Also election procedures / protocols will be enhanced in collaboration with IESL Election Officers. ICTC plans to launch an Election Webpage at the right time to keep the members informed. Proposed method will provide the platform for ballot paper preparation to casted votes counting at the end of the election through online system. The process will have mechanisms to incorporate paper ballots as well ( for those voters who opt for the traditional method of postal voting). The online voting system will provide service to IESL members to cast their votes easily, securely, independent of time and location. Online voting will significantly improve the participation of eligible members in the election process and will enhance the efficiency and productivity of the election operation.
2. Mobile App for Members
Presently, almost everyone utilize mobile devices and mobile Apps and they provide enormous flexibility to access services such as online purchasing, accessing banking services, etc. ICTC is presently carrying out a task to launch a Mobile App for IESL members’ operations. New IESL Mobile App will facilitate members to access their profile, event registration, payments, news and event notifications, etc. easily and securely through their Mobile phones. As an initial step a Mobile App will be launched for Android platform and Mobile Apps for iOS and Windows platforms will be developed later.
Other planned objectives subjected to timely Council approval are:
3. e-Learning Platform
Last few years our educational and knowledge sharing events such as CPD courses, public lectures, etc. have been drastically improved in quantitatively and qualitatively. Proposed e-Learning platform can deliver most of the learning contents online with easy and productive access. And also it will enable long-term sustainability of the resources with proper management and with high availability and accessibility.
4. Online Membership Application
Presently significant time and number of paper work are consumed for application and supportive documents in various applications processed in the Institution. Online membership application system will facilitate the application process for newcomers, specially student and associate members with high productivity, less paperwork and high feasibility of the application process.
5. New Features for Membership Management System
Presently there are few new features that can be accommodated through our membership management system such as real-time updates of membership online payments records through an API ( application protocol interface - with our banks, because in Sri Lanka still exchange control laws are not passed for inward remittance to "local" bank accounts via services such as PayPal). IESL cloud based membership management system (Wild Apricot) provides an API to push (send) information through other systems. So, it can be used to implement realtime updates of online payments such as yearly membership, event fees, etc.
Implementing the highest level of secure web page access through HTTPS protocol with proper SSL certificate. Wild Apricot system can enable a SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate to provide better security (to ensure integrity, confidentiality and authenticity of online transactions data) for information communication through the Internet/ Local network.
6. Make IESL website more User-friendly
Presently IESL website has large number of relevant and up to date information. With the bulk of information, it is important to improve the user-friendliness of website with proper content location structure, content access paths, graphical representation of content availability, menus and links, etc. This will enhance easy access to information and improve the level of use of IESL website with its valuable information.
7. Cloud based Documents and Media Storage System for Secretariat and Committee Operations
There are heaps of paper based documents such as meeting minutes, PR reports, applications, supporting documents, etc. Proposed system will help document handling operations in digital format and drastically reduce processing and storing costs related to paper documents. It will also improve the durability, availability, accessibility and security of documents. Professional version of cloud based documents and media storage system will provide better security and governance features to manage contents with proper accessibly.
8. Plan to improve IT infrastructure (Eg: Network, Internet connection, etc.)
ICT committee will analyze the present IT infrastructure (including network, internet connection, etc.), security levels, its usage and prepare a document to improve the infrastructure. This will enable better understating about present status of IT infrastructure in headquarters and help taking any action needed. Those IT infrastructure updates will ultimately improve service level to members.
9. Online Conferencing System
Most of the members are busy with their professional work and therefore, online conferencing system will facilitate remote meeting attendance when a member cannot attend to a meeting physically. Online conferencing enhances the participation in council sessions and other meetings easily and productively. Currently we use Skype during Council meetings but not versatile and robust enough for the growing needs.
Prepared an submitted to the ICT Corner by ICTC Chair - Eng. Samudaya Nanayakkara
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