Telecommunications Management

Telecom Billing Supplier Argent Networks Acquires Australian OSS Provider

Telecom Billing Supplier Argent Networks Acquires Australian OSS Provider

Auckland (PRWEB) May 2, 2006

New Zealand technology and telecommunications company, Argent Networks strengthened its position as a leading supplier of OSS and telecom billing solutions today by acquiring the Australian company, Integration Management.

As an operational support system (OSS) provider, Integration Management (IM) provides revenue assurance and settlement solution software to some of the largest telecommunications carriers in Australia, Asia, the Middle East and the United States including AAPT, Telecom NZ, Celcom of Malaysia, PLDT of the Philippines, and Indosat of Indonesia. With offices in Sydney, Singapore and Denver, Colorado, IM has a strong reputation for its technologically advanced products like “in>Bill” in the voice interconnect, content management and wholesale verification categories.

Argent already has a number of blue-chip clients in the Australian and New Zealand market, including Telstra and Virgin Mobile. Chris Jones, CEO of Argent Networks, says that the IM acquisition gives Argent an immediate footprint into other global markets particularly parts of Asia Pacific and the United States.

“For Argent, the IM deal means we can continue to grow exponentially faster in key global telecommunications markets in Asia as well as expand our existing customer base throughout other parts of the world such as the Middle East where Argent is already a dominant player.”

Jones says that for IM customers the acquisition is business as usual. Argent Networks will quickly incorporate the existing IM suite of products and now be able to offer telecommunications operators an expanded and more competitive range of solutions, including end to end OSS solutions.

“Argent is experiencing tremendous growth in all its markets and we are now looking to make acquisitions where it is strategically advantageous to do so and can help accelerate penetration into other segments. IM will certainly enable us to access even more telecommunications carriers and their customers.”

“IM’s products are also complementary to Argent’s Eclipse® billing and CRM solutions so the acquisition was a good fit for us. We are sure that it will assist in growing Argent’s overall financial and global market position as a leading supplier of OSS and billing solutions to telecommunications suppliers everywhere.”

For more information please contact:

Chris Jones, CEO Argent Networks, Mobile +64 21 633 951

Julien Leys, JML Communications, Mobile +64 21 655 598

About Argent Networks

Argent Networks provides real-time mediation, rating, billing and customer care solutions for prepaid and postpaid voice, data and content. Argent’s convergent billing solutions enable communications service providers to provision, rate and bill for 3G/2.5G and 2G mobile and provide value added services and solutions including SMSC, MMS and VMS. As a leading supplier of OSS and telecom billing solutions, the company’s customers include the world’s largest communication providers, servicing and billing millions of subscribers in over 25 countries across the globe.

For more information, please visit http://www.argentnetworks.com

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©Copyright 1997-

, Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.
Vocus, PRWeb, and Publicity Wire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vocus, Inc. or Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.

Prince2 Training Courses For Structured Project Management

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Managed VoIP Service: Improvise Your Voice Over Services

Managing VoIP services has become a challenge as the world is now moving rapidly towards IP based telecommunications. The technology has diversified in many respects and so it is necessary to offer managed VoIP services to the customers. The VoIP based services have features and innumerable functionalities that make it necessary for every service provider to manage them.

The main features of VoIP are its instant ability to terminate more than 20,000 calls at the same moment of time. It generates numerous reports such as traffic, the quality of service and the business generated. The end customers are supported by real time billing assistance. It also becomes easy for management as well as vendors to manage their accounts. Managed VoIP Service is thus significant for the proper functioning of Voice based network services.

The VoIP service providers offer their services after availing switches in order to manage the service. The managed switch partitioning solution is how the service providers successfully manage there clientele and offer them efficient services. The customers in return reap the benefits derived from the services offered by VoIP. The switches are supported by technical personnel who are well equipped and trained so as to meet any emergency and provide the customers on the spot solution to any of their problem.

As the Internet telephony allows users to make international long distance calls at cheaper rates, so anyone can avail the managed partitioning services of VoIP service providers and remain updated with the best form of telephony in the world. This VoIP service ensures profit to people who have a wide client base and ensures success to an effective marketing team.

Thus, this managed network partitioning makes it possible for people to terminate calls, video and data over a single IP internet network. The call rate is reduced drastically and that really enhances more number of call making. As the call cost gets reduced, it increases the productivity of any business. VoIP calls are routed through VoIP switches and so it becomes possible for people to transfer their calls at an exceedingly fast pace. Data transfer over the network also speeds up as VoIP works on the principle whereby it compresses an analog signal to its digital form and then transfers it through the IP switches.

It is evident that availing the managed VoIP service actually diversifies business operations and expands one’s area of operation. The internet covers the whole world and as Voice Over IP service depends on it, so the users can always expect to derive the best from the VoIP service.

8 Top Places for Project Managers to Network

All professionals know it is important to network. It helps to keep up with the profession, to be aware of developments and new opportunities, and chances for career growth. It can also be very helpful to solve problems that other colleagues have already encountered. So in this era of social networking, where can the best project management networks be found?

Here are some good places to start in finding like-minded professionals in the project management field:

1. Project Management Meetup

This is an interesting crossroads of online and in-person. the idea is to start a local meetup online, and organize a physical place to meet. The web site provides a way for people to initially find one another, but primarily to facilitate face-to-face networking among local professionals. The site gets lots of interest.

2. Google and Yahoo Groups

There are many good and vibrant groups, but also many that are fairly inactive. Just go to Google or Yahoo, select groups, and type “project management”. You will see plenty to choose from. Note that you will see many that are somewhat special interest within the project management field, often based on location or an organization such as a PMI chapter. The most popular groups are those supporting PMP exam prep, and many swear by the assistance they received on these group sites working their way to PMP certification.

3. ITtoolbox

This is a vibrant community in the IT field, which is the focus of the site. There is constant activity here on subjects such as PMP and CAPM certification and earning PDUs. There are also interesting conversation threads in areas such as program management, project portfolio management, business analysis certification, ITIL, project management career issues, practical problems solving, soft skills, and more.

4. Social Networking sites such as hubpages, squidoo, facebook, and many more

Social networking sites are places that people congregate, and they tend to gravitate to those with common interests. You can find and start your own pages and groups. Go check these out and type in keywords of interest and see what you find.

5. PMI chapters

These are an old standby, but still very effective. In my experience, meetings are very well attended, and topics interesting and instructive. A benefit is that you can earn PDUs for attending, and that surely helps keep attendance high. But there is nothing like meeting local professionals in person, and giving it your full presence and attention for a little while.

6. Call groups

Many groups have arisen the past few years that have periodic networking phone calls, combined with an online presence. One such group is PM Lessons Learned. – pmlessonslearned.com.

7. Gantthead

There are many sub-communities that have constant conversations on such topics related to project management in telecommunications, project portfolio management, certification, tools, and much more. Average community size is in the hundreds. There are not only opportunities to network on common interests and collaborate with others to solve some of your problems, but also to build an online network by connecting with individuals, as with linked in below.

8. Linked in

This has been around for a while, but seems to have experienced a resurgence recently. While professionals have for some time been able to connect and build a network online, the emergence of special interest groups, such as project management, has facilitated broadening networks much faster than simply getting to know others through those who already know you. At this time, you cannot search for groups, but can review the list of existing groups to see if any are of interest.

The interesting thing about all of this is that it is mostly virtual! A few years ago, most PM networking would surely be more oriented toward in-person events and meetings. Today, however, the opportunity to develop strong and vibrant relationships across the web is a very exciting and powerful development.

Understandings Network Management and Network Monitoring

Network management may mean different things to different people. To some network management may be a solitary network consultant monitoring network activity with an outdated protocol analyzer, to others network management may be about distributed database, high-end workstations generating and traffic. Speaking generally, network management is a service, which uses a wide range of devices, tools, and applications, to enable the network managers to monitor and maintain networks successfully & efficiently.

Network management deals with the top-level administration and maintenance of widespread and large networks, commonly seen in the field of computers or telecommunications, which may be necessarily, include user terminal equipment.

Network management executes functions such as security, control, allocation, monitoring, coordination, deployment and planning to name a few. It is also worth noting that network management is governed by a several protocols which are basically present there for its support, including SNMP, Common Information Model, CMIP, WBEM, Transaction Language 1, Java Management Extensions, and Netconf.

Routing is also an important area of network management. Routing refers to the process of selecting the paths in a computer network on which to send data. In this arena of network management, logically addressed packets get transported from their source to their destination with the help of nodes. These nodes are called routers, in a process termed as forwarding.

Successful network management also uses accounting management. This controls and reports on the financial status of the network. This area of network management involves bank account maintenance, financial statement development, and analysis of cash flow and financial health.

Coming to Network Monitoring, it is about policing network traffic. In other words, network monitoring is spying for the benefit of smooth working of network management. Network monitoring is part of network management. Ideally network monitoring is a function that one of your systems must perform on an ongoing basis. While the other systems are performing the functions assigned to them, one should set aside at least one computer to monitor network activity. This is network monitoring in a nutshell.

The computer performing network monitoring must be kept always on. Which means that network monitoring system should have exclusive power lines or, backup generator facility. Everyone should understand that network-monitoring system is the most critical part of any network, because it is with the help of network monitoring that that the alarm will be sent if something is wrong.

Network monitoring will identify the slow or failing systems and notify the network administrator of such lapses. Issues like overloaded systems, crashing of servers, network connections being lost, virus infections, and power outages will be dealt without losing time if network monitoring is in place.

For more resources about Network management or even about Network monitoring please review this site http://www.networkstrategy.com

Risk Management In Banking Companies

RISK MANAGEMENT IN BANKING COMPANIES

Risk Management in bank operations includes risk identification, measurement and assessment, and its objective is to minimise negative effects risks can have on the financial result and capital of the bank. Banks are required to form a special organisational unit for the purpose of risk management. The risk to which the bank is particularly exposed in its operations are market risk(interest rate risk, foreign exchange risk, risk from change in market price of securities, financial derivatives and commodities), credit risk, liquidity risk, exposure risk, investment risk, operational risk, legal risk, strategic risk. These risks are highly inter-independent. Events that affect one area of risk can have ramifications for a range of other risk categories.

CREDIT RISK MANAGEMENT

Credit risk is defined as the potential that a bank borrower or counter party will fail to meet its obligations in accordance with agreed terms. The goal of credit risk management is to maximise the bank’s risk-adjusted rate of return by maintaining credit risk exposure within acceptable parameters. Banks need to manage the credit risk inherit in the entire portfolio as well as the risk in individual or credits or transactions.

For most banks, loans are the largest and most obvious source of credit risk; however, other sources of credit risk exist throughout the activities of the bank, including in the banking book and the trading book and both on and off the balance sheet. Banks are increasingly facing credit risk (or counter party risk) in various financial instruments other than loans including acceptances, inter bank transactions, trade financing, foreign exchange transactions, financial future, swaps, bonds, equities, options and in the extension of commitments and guarantees, the settlement of transactions.

BASAL II ON CREDIT RISK

The basal community on banking supervisionrelease a consultative document on New Capital Adequacy Framework with the view to replacing 1988 Accord. The document proposes three pillars for the new accord-

1. Minimum Capital Requirements, 2.Supervisory review 3.Market discipline

A new accord continues with the minimum capital adequacy ratio of 8% of risk waited assets. Arrange of options to estimate capital as proposed in the document include a standardised approach. Under this approach, preferential risk weights in the range of 0%, 20%, 50%, 100%, and 150% are envisaged to be assigned on the basis of external credit assessments. Under foundation Internal Rating Based (IRB), community proposes certain minimum compliance.wiz.a comprehensive credit rating system with capability to quantify Probability of Default (PD) while assigning preferential risk weights, with the information supplied by national supervisor on loss given default (LGD) an exposure at default. Adoption a New Capital Accord by banks in the proposed state requires complete change in the existing risk management systems.

MARKET RISK MANAGEMENT

Banks are exposed to market risk via their trading activities and their balance sheets. Two types of risks are considered the market risks for the bank such as interest rate risk and foreign exchange risk. Banks face the foreign exchange risk due to exchange rate fluctuations and interest rate is the most common risk all the banks manage because all the financial products issued by bank are interest rate sensitive.

1. INTEREST RATE RISK

Interest Rate Risk is a risk of negative effects on the financial result and capital of the bank caused by changes in interest rate. The overarching objective of the interest rate risk management is to ensure a cash flow mechanism that is devoid of major mismatches in both assets and liability segments. As financial intermediaries, banks encounter interest rate risk in several ways such as-

Re-Pricing Risk: The primary form of interest rate risk rises from timing differences in the maturity(for fixed rate) and re-pricing(for floating rate) of assets, liabilities off-balance-sheet(OBS)positions. They can expose a banks “income and assets” underlying economic value of unanticipated fluctuations as interest rate tends to be too frequent and volatile.

Yield Curve Risk: Re-Pricing mismatches can also expose a bank to change in slope and shape of the yield curve. Yield curve risk arises when unanticipated shifts of the yield curve have adverse on bank’s income or economic value of their asset porfolio.

Basic Risk: The risk that the interest rate for different assets and liabilities may change in different magnitudes is called basic risk. Such risk arises due to imperfect correlation in the adjustment of the rates earned and paid on different instruments with other wise similar re-pricing characteristics.

Embedded option Risk: An option provides the holder the right (but not the obligation) to buy, sell or in some manner alter the cash flow of the instrument or financial contract. Options may be stand alone instruments such as exchange –trade options and over- the-counter (OTC) contracts, or they may be embedded within otherwise standard instruments. While banks use exchange-trade and OTC-options in both trading and non-trading accounts, instruments with embedded options are generally most important in non-trading activities.

Re-investment Risk: uncertainty about future interest rate gives rise to re-investment risk as future cash flow will be re-invested at a rate unknown at present. Ordinary yield curve, without bootstrapping, does not take into account the re-investment risk.

OPERATIONAL RISK

It isone of the new planks of the Basel-II capital accord. Operational risk is defined as ‘the risk of the loss resulting adequate or failed internal processes, people and system or from external events.’ This definition includes legal risk, but excludes strategic risk and reputational risk. On the other hand, the Reserve bank of India has defined operational risk, as ‘any risk, which is not categorised as market or credit risk, or the risk of loss arising from various type of human and technical errors’.

Sources of operational risk

(i)                 Wrong /delayed decision and lack of accountability, control and proper auditing ,

(ii)               Inadequate MIS ,

(iii)             Incompetency of staff and lack of proper training and job rotation,

(iv)             Lack of succession planning and development of second lines,

(v)               Lack of contingency planning,

(vi)             Non compliance with circulars, policies and regulatory requirement,

(vii)           Obsolete policies,

(viii)         Involvement of the staff in the fraud and forgeries,

(ix)              Failure of electronic instruments ,like computer systems, software and telecommunication equipment,

(x)                Legal flaws in execution of security documents for advances

(xi)              Deterioration of bank image due to poor services,  staff behaviour, frauds, high NPAs, etc

At present, banks account for their losses due to operational risk by debiting it to their P&L account without allocating any capital charge for it, unlike in case of credit and market risk. Under Basel-II, operational risk needs to be assessed separately from three approaches namely (1) Basic Indicator Approach, (2) Standar5dised Approach and (3) Internal Management Approach. Under Basel-II framework of operational risk management, banks are encouraged to move along the spectrum of available approaches as they develop more sophisticated operational risk management system and practices.

LIQUIDITY RISK MANAGEMENT

Liquidity risk is the potential inability to meet the banker’s liability as they become due. It arises when banks are unable to generate cash to meet fund withdrawal, commitment credit or increase in assets. It originates from the mismatches pattern of assets and liabilities. Measuring and managing liquidity needs are vital for effective operations of commercial banks the cause and effect of liquidity risk are primarily linked to the assets and liabilities of the bank. The bank should continuously monitor its liquidity position in a long run and also on a day- to day basis. There are two approaches that relates these two situational analysis such as (1) Fundamental Approach and(2) Technical Approach .

Fundamental Approach: This approach is used in the long run. In this approach the banks try to manage the liquidity risk by controlling its assets –liability positions. A prudent way to tackling this situation could be by adjusting the maturity of assets and liabilities or by diversifying and broadening the sources of the funds.

Technical Approach: This approach focuses on the liability position of the bank in the short run. Liquidity in the short run is primarily linked to the cash flow arising due to the operational transaction. The bank should know its cash requirements and the cash inflows and adjust these two to ensure safe level for its liquidity position.

The Risk Management scenario will strengthen owing to the liberalization, regulation and integration with global markets. Management of risks will be carried out proactively and quality of credit will improve, leading to a stronger financial sector. The future will see a structural change in the banking sector marked by consolidation and a shake-out within the sector. The smaller banks would not have sufficient resources to withstand the intense competition of the sector. Banks would evolve to be a complete and pure financial services provider, catering to all the financial needs of the economy. Flow of capital will increase and setting up of bases in foreign countries will become commonplace.

The Top Five Reasons Why Project Management Body Of Knowledge (Pmbok) Approach Fails In It Organizations

IT places a major role in today’s world.  E-commerce and various advances in IT have made significant impact on business operations.  Most of the scholars defined IT as the capability offered by software, hardware and telecommunication networks to deliver data in any form to individuals and organizations. Most IT projects are categorized into the following areas: (1) infrastructure, which includes new or improved technologies or processes, (2) maintenance and upgrades to existing systems, (3) new product development and the introduction of new distribution channels, and (4) research and development. An effective IT system and various IT related products can provide the infrastructure to facilitate the flow between processes and people in an organization. 

There has been more written about Project Management.  The framework defined by Project Management Institute (PMI) is a great way of managing projects in any organization.  But, this is not covering the entire IT. There are still a few of the organizations where this framework does not seem to fit.

In my personal experience I have found that IT organizations that addressed the factors that have been detailed below have used Project Management approach as a framework to meet the business goals and have achieved significant success.

Lack of executive support: This factor is most frequently cited reason for project management failure in many organizations. IT organizations will not be able to implement any approach without upper management support. In order to get their support, they must be well educated regarding the benefits of using project management approach and get them to show their involvement through positive reinforcement, recognition, and provide support as required.

Incorrect/Incomplete requirements: Most companies are overwhelmed by requirements from stakeholders of the project. Working with stakeholders to remove the requirements that does not support the stated goal of the projects could help you to successfully deliver the project on time and within the budget.

Lack of Project Management customization: Every company is unique. Factors such as internal processes, culture, Legal requirements, and the way IT is deployed in live environments vary from organization to organization. I would say enough Project Management is enough for success. Hence IT organizations should look at that perspective, and customize their approach to meet the business needs of the organization.

 Poor communication:  An IT system is a collection of interconnected subsystems that act towards a common goal. Communication is the oil that lubricates the subsystems to work together to meet the organization goals. Poor communication makes the subsystems act independently which could hinder the success of the project. Implementing processes and procedures at all levels to create a coordinated effort to improve communication can help a lot.

Lack of performance indicators: Performance measures enable an organization to monitor its progress towards goals in the short and long term. For example, let us say if a company performance indicator is “Increase customer Satisfaction”, a few project management performance assessment factors should be developed and linked to that performance indicator to measure how effectively this project management approach is contributing toward the organization goals and achievements. These assessment factors help you to fine tune the existing project to steer it towards the main objective.

TDS

TDS® Offers Lifeline/Link-Up Discount On Local Phone Service To Low-Income Customers

Madison, Wis. (Vocus/PRWEB) March 28, 2011

Do you know someone who can’t afford basic phone service or is thinking about cutting the cord to save money? Help is available through Lifeline and Link-Up. These programs have been available for many years from participating local phone companies, including TDS Telecommunications Corp. (TDS®).

The Lifeline program provides discounts on monthly phone service for qualified telephone subscribers. The Link-Up program offers reduced charges for basic landline telephone installation and provides additional discounts off the monthly service. Consumers may be eligible for these reduced rate telephone services if they receive qualified benefits from their state. TDS supports these programs using funds from the Universal Service Fund program.

According to the most recent Hunger in America report, more than 43.6 million people live at or below poverty level in the U.S. While most American households have local telephone service, there are millions who simply cannot afford a telephone in their home. Lifeline and Link-Up can help. And, while the Lifeline program does not yet support Internet access, it provides a discount on the basic phone service which is a requirement for landline based Internet services.

“If you are a caregiver to an elderly person or assist a struggling local family, ask if they are aware of the Lifeline or Link-up programs and encourage them to seek more information from their local phone company,” says Kevin Hess, senior vice president of Government and Regulatory Affairs for TDS. “Lifeline and Link-Up are designed to ensure that everyone in the country has access to basic telephone service.”

The National Exchange Carriers Association (NECA) reports that the ratio of households using the Lifeline subsidy to the number of households at or below the poverty level is about 1 to 7. With efforts by lawmakers in Washington, D.C. and with the support of telecommunication companies like TDS, the gap will hopefully close.

Consumers can find more information about these programs by writing to the FCC at 445 12th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20554. People can also call 1-888-CALL-FCC or log on to http://www.fcc.gov/cgb. There are different requirements in nearly every state to qualify for the Lifeline and Link-Up programs. To find out what the qualifications are, please call your local phone company. TDS customers can call 1-888-CALL-TDS to check eligibility and to have an application form mailed.

As the eighth largest telecom provider in the U.S., TDS Telecommunications Corp. (TDS®) connects people with broadband Internet, phone and TV entertainment services in hundreds of rural, suburban, and metropolitan communities in 30 states. With more than 40 years of experience and 1.2 million equivalent access lines in service, customers can select from the latest technologies, including: VoIP (managedIP) phone service, dedicated Internet, data networking, and hosted-managed services.

TDS Telecommunications Corp. also manages the data center operations of VISI Inc. and TEAM Companies, specializing in colocation, cloud computing, and disaster recovery solutions for businesses of all-sizes. In total, approximately 2,700 people work for the companies both in local communities and at TDS’ national headquarters in Madison, Wis. Visit http://www.tdstelecom.com, http://www.tdsbusiness.com, http://www.visi.com and http://www.team-companies.com for more information.

TDS Telecommunications Corp. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. [NYSE: TDS, TDS.S] Telephone and Data Systems, Inc., a Fortune 500® company, provides wireless, local and long-distance telephone and broadband services to nearly 7.2 million customers in 36 states through TDS Telecommunications Corp. and U.S. Cellular [NYSE: USM], its 83-percent owned wireless subsidiary. Founded in 1969 and headquartered in Chicago, Telephone and Data Systems employed 12,400 employees as of Dec. 31, 2010. Visit http://www.teldta.com for more information.

For more information contact:

DeAnne Boegli

National PR Manager, TDS Telecommunications Corp.

608-664-4428

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©Copyright 1997-

, Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.
Vocus, PRWeb, and Publicity Wire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vocus, Inc. or Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.

Project Manager – Plays A Pivotal Role In The Success Of A Project

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Emergency Management: An Education in Saving Lives

Emergency Management Programs provide a theoretical and applied approach to professional education of students, while ensuring relevance to the homeland security and public safety industries. Programs emphasize the fundamentals of emergency management while providing interdisciplinary course study in the skills and practices of emergency planning and management.

Recent events have demonstrated the importance of emergency management training and emergency preparedness for professionals in healthcare, business, travel and tourism, insurance public service and education. In order to meet the need for professionals with emergency management training who can respond effectively to emergency situations, numerous universities offer programs in emergency management training.

Emergency services organizations are a crucial part of our society. Protection from and response to public safety threats, hazardous materials, fire and other emergency situations are crucial to public welfare. The leadership and management of public safety personnel, whether in fire service, law enforcement, emergency telecommunications, emergency medical services or corrections are imperative to the success of an organization in protecting and serving the public and carrying out its mission.

Students who are interested in emergency management training as well as emergency service administration should consider applying for a management training program. This includes police officers, fire fighters, emergency medical technicians, military officers, local, state and federal emergency administration officials, private security administrators and officers, publicly elected officials, homeland security officers, community service administrators, coast guard officers, hospital administrators and others who are currently working or are interested in emergency services.

Disaster management training can lead to careers or jobs in numerous fields. These fields include: fire deputy chief, fire chief or commissioner, police bureau chief, inspector, captain, sergeant or lieutenant, police chief or commissioner, battalion captain, commander or lieutenant, federal, state and local government emergency services administrator, health care or hospital organization vice president or president, community organization supervisor, political advisor or non-profit disaster relief administrator.

Emergency leadership training programs come in different shapes, sizes and locations. Many programs mix the elements of emergency management training and homeland security. However, there is a growing consensus that there should be a clear separation between emergency management and homeland security and a number of institutions have successfully separated the two.

There are a number of online resources that explore the diverse program delivery methods and offerings, as well as their parent institutions and locations. The FEMA higher education Web site offers links to various programs in the fields of emergency leadership, public, medical and international disaster relief, homeland security and humanitarian assistance. 

Emergency management programs often highlight the application of research methodology; the utilization of communication skills at the personal, professional and public level; and the development of professional skills and knowledge in the fields of public safety and disaster management.

These management training programs are ideal for individuals working in or desirous in one of several fields, including disaster management, fire protection, emergency medical response, law enforcement, environmental health and safety as well as numerous other related fields. Individuals interested in these fields should seriously consider an education in emergency management.

Program and Project Management: Two Critical Tools For Effective Organizational Change

Changing the way an organization works requires intense management. That needed management can be provided by two mature management disciplines that are not often used in a normal, run-the-business environment: Program and Project Management.

Program Management focuses on achieving an organization’s long term interests, enacting its strategy, or reaching its vision. It includes identifying the needed organizational steps to enact the strategy or reach the vision and then turning those critical steps into a change program made up of multiple, manageable projects.

Program Management ensures that all projects have the resources needed to complete their unique tasks on target, on time, and on budget. It also ensures that projects have necessary coordination and cooperation to keep them from colliding, conflicting, taking resources from each other, etc.

Program Management includes formal Risk Management, systematically identifying and mitigating possible risks to the change program. In addition, it flexes projects around the highs and lows, ebbs and flows of the business to keep the right overall amount of organizational energy focused on completing the change program.

In short, Program Management exists to ensure that needed changes are systematically and successfully integrated into the day-to-day operation of the company.

The second management discipline is Project Management. Project Management focuses finite resources on the completion of its unique assigned work on target, on time, and on budget.

It gives the capability to bring concrete results to a defined task in a defined time period. For example, we might use Project Management to guide the installation of a new telecommunications system, or to plan and control the alteration of the employee performance systems in a merger to ensure that employees of both companies were paid from the same compensation structure.

Project Management needs to be done in a similar fashion in all projects to enable Program Management to understand overall status or progress toward its enacted strategy or desired vision.

Failure to adopt a uniform Project Management method will ensure that the organization will not do a good job managing change, and that the projects that the organization attempts to run simultaneously will not be comparable, making overall Program Management practically impossible to do well.

The use of Program and Project Management allows the organization to assign clear responsibilities and accountabilities for enacting strategy or reaching a desired vision.

Of course the ultimate responsibility and accountability for any change program rests with the CEO. The CEO can delegate the day-to-day work of Program Management to another executive team member with both the needed experience/capability and organizational rank/credibility. Projects can then be assigned to other team members who have the capability to make the project successful.

For Red Zone Program and Project Management to be effective, we believe that both the program and project managers should be formally appointed and should show up on the firm’s organization chart. There should be a direct attachment between the Program Manager and the CEO. It is also recommended to link a Steering Committee above the Program Manager.

Generally, the members of the Steering Committee are the CEO and his direct reports, although on some occasions, other members might be added depending on the nature of change program.

So there you have it, the two most valuable tools for managing an organizational change on target, on time, and on budget. Program and Project Management have what it takes for effective change. Where are you and your organization in developing needed Program and Project Management competence?

The Importance of Computer Technology in Setting Up a Project Management System

In the world of globalization, Information system is such where data are collected, classified and put into process interpreting the result thereon in order to provide an integrated series of information for further communicating and analyzing. In a progressively more spirited worldwide atmosphere, Information System plays the role as ‘enabler and facilitator’, which endows with tactical values to the officialdom and considerable step up to the excellence of administration. ‘An Information System is a particular type of work system that uses information technology to detain, put on the air, store, retrieve, manipulate or display information, thereby partisan one or more other work structure’. In totting up to taking sides assessment making, co-ordination and control, information systems may also help managers and workers investigate problems, envisage complex subjects and generate new merchandise or services.

The criteria of operational  systems and the idata management  systems that support analytically pass through at least four phases: a) Introducing the system  of manipulating the need to promulgate  on going operational Management  system b) development of  the process of acquiring and configuring/installing the necessary hardware, software and other resources c) implementation, the process of making new system operational in the organisation, and d) Operation and maintenance, the process concerned with the operation of the system, correcting any problems that may arise and ensuring that the system is delivering the anticipating benefits. The management of these processes can be achieved and controlled using a series of techniques and management tools which, collectively, tend to be known as Structured Management System. Two important methodologies:  PRINCE (Projects IN a Controlled Environment), and SSADM (Structured Systems Analysis and Design Methodology),structured by the Central Computing and Telecommunications Agency (CCTA), are used widely in the UK public sector and in some Developing Countries, like Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal etc. Prior to comment on the application of these methods in the Developing Countries, it would be pertinent to describe brief outlines of these methodologies.

It is a significant fact that PRINCE is a project management method; not system development, which covers the organisation, management and control of projects. Since its introduction in 1989, PRINCE has become widely used in both the public and private sectors and is now the UK’s de facto standard for project management. Although PRINCE was originally developed for the needs of IT projects, the method has also been used on many non-IT projects. PRINCE requires a dedicated team to be established to manage and carry out each project. It therefore aims to provide a supporting framework between the current state of affairs and the planned future state. PRINCE focuses attention on end-products rather than activities, ensuring that the organisation actually gets what it wants out of the project. Quality is seen as a necessary and integral part of the project and the focus on end-products enables the criteria by which quality is to be judged to be specified at the outset of the project. It requires the development of a viable “business case” for the project at its outset and that the business case needs to be periodically reviewed.

In PRINCE a project is regarded as having the following characteristics:

 defined and unique set of technical products to meet the business needs
 corresponding set of activities to construct those products
 certain amount of resources
 finite lifespan
 organisational structure with defined responsibilities

In such Management Structured System, an approach to planning based on products rather than activities and the use of this approach for the benefits. It also emphasises that projects needs to define the ‘ shape’ or manageable phases of a project to promote sound business control. Stages are characterised by the production of specific products. The PRINCE model for projects is based on two main principles:

The project is a joint responsibility between users, the developers and the organisation for whose benefit the end-product is being developed
In order for projects to succeed, a special structure is demanded to manage the project throughout its life – from conception through build to handover. This structure is distinct from normal line management.

By Using these principles, the model defines three levels of activity:
Overall project management and major decision making
Day-to-day management
Production of end-products

These three levels of activity are assigned respectively to the Project Board, to the Project and Stage Managers, and to the Technical Teams. The latest version of the method, PRINCE 2, is a process-based approach for project management providing an easily tailored, and scaleable method for the management of all types of projects. Each process is defined with its key inputs and outputs together with the specific objectives to be achieved and activities to be carried out. In the following diagram, the process-based approach is shown:
Structured Management  Process Model
Such Standard Method  provides benefits to the organisation, as well as the managers and directors of the project, through the controllable use of resources and the ability to manage business and project risk more effectively. PRINCE enables projects to have:

 a controlled and organised start, middle and end;
 regular reviews of progress against plan and against Business Case;
 flexible decision points;
 automatic management control of any deviations from the plan;
 the involvement of management and stakeholders at the right time and place during the project;
 good communication channels between the project, project management, and the rest of the organisation.

There is no denying the fact that SSADM is a highly structured and rigorous method of systems development ,was originally developed by Learmonth and Burchett Management System (LBMS) following an investigation by the CCTA into adopting a standard Information System (IS) development method for use in UK government projects. It was launched in 1981 and by 1983 became mandatory for all the government IS developments. This gave SSADM a large toehold in the IS structured methods market.
It is a prerequisite for SSADM that user commitment and involvement are agreed right from the start. It provides a top-down approach, where a high level picture is drawn up and subsequently refined into lower levels of detail. One extremely important concept in SSADM is the distinction between logical and physical views of system components.

The following purpose are generally fulfilled by such important methods.

 Provide a sound platform for communications between analysts, designers and users;
 Reduce errors and gaps in the specification produced
 Improve the quality of software documentation and the productivity of analysts;
 Reduce potential risks by presenting analysts with a structural framework for the use of techniques, and a standard for documentation end-products;
 Provide techniques for checking completeness and accuracy;
 Improve the maintainability of the new systems;
 Reuse staff and skills on other projects;
 Protect investment in analysis and design, and to allow freedom in implementation techniques.
SSADM consists of three main components:
 The structure or framework of an SSADM project
 A set of standard analysis and design techniques
 The products of each technique
The structure of SSADM might appear a little complex at first, but will make more sense as we began to look at the method in more detail. Following diagram illustrates the breakdown of the life cycle into a hierarchy of modules, stages, steps and tasks.Each module represents a SSADM phase, and is made up of one or two stages. Where a module contains two stages, one will be an analysis or design and the other will be a project decision stage. Each stages is made up of between two to seven steps, which provide the framework for applying and controlling the development techniques. The tasks to be carried out within each step define how the techniques should be used, and specify the required standard of the products output from the step. Following diagram shows the breakdown of SSADM’s modules and stages.The major analysis techniques mainly used are as follows:

 Business Activity Modelling (BAM) – explicitly describes what goes on that part of the business under investigation. The activities are defined from purely a business rather than on IS perspective. Recommended approach to be used in the construction of a BAM may be Soft System Methodology (SSM), Functional Decomposition or Resource Flow Diagrams.
 Logical Data Modelling (LDM), representing system data, is applied throughout the life cycle to provide the foundation of the new system;
 Work Practice Model (WPM) maps business activities onto the organisation structure defining user roles to the underlying business activities.

The key important thing is the end-product. Each step has number of tasks associated with it, most of which lead to the creation or enhancement of standard SSADM products. At the end of an SSADM project the new system will be described by the sum of these products. Products can be divided into three basic groups: Processing, Data and System-User (or Human-Computer) Interface.

By way of substantiating the Information System in developing countries is a complicated virtual process, specially in the public sector. With the growing needs in the information age, and by the pressure from the international donors , big and ambitious projects has been undertaken by the public sector in developing countries . But due to the lack of standard procedures and methodologies for IS development caused many projects to combat problems in the implementation stage. Many projects failed to attain their business needs, as they were too large and highly ambitious. Basic reasons for the project failure in the developing countries can be characterised as the following:

 Solving wrong problem;
 Technology led, not business;
 Lack of major stakeholder involvement;
 Experts lead, rather than facilitate;
 Lack of commitment and hidden agenda;
 Benefits not identified and quantified at outset.

Nowadays, the developing countries are applying both PRINCE AND SSADM methodologies, the project management development techniques, specially designed for IT projects, that are funded by the UK Department for International development (DFID).

4.2 In Bangladesh , private sectors are advancing with IS development , but it is not the identical situation in the public sector. The reasons behind this may be the poor salary structure in the public service, which never give confidence to the prospective talents and system designers to join the public services. Most of the IT projects are donor funded; domestically financed IT projects rarely experience success like the donor projects.

4.3 However, RIBEC (Reforms in Budgeting and Expenditure Control) project, funded by DFID, has been considered as the most successful project in Bangladesh.

At the early stage of RIBEC project (Phase 2), it was observed that, the project was design to develop and modernise the budgeting and accounting system of the government of Bangladesh. The experts mainly dominated that phase, including lots of things to cover. There was lack of stakeholders’ involvement; problems were not recognised at the initial stage. Only a range of high-grade staff in the relevant field was given a general IT training. There was no follow up; no visible product was seen. Benefits were not identified. No system was developed to automate the budgeting and accounting system. So this phase 2 had experienced a massive failure. Having awful experience, the following phase (2A and 2B), a downsized project with specific output targets came up with analysing user requirements. This phase focused on sustainability and proved successful with sustainable solutions especially in the software development for budgeting and accounting Substantive training had been offered to the users of the systems. Stakeholders have been involved in the software development process and the local vendors who will be easily available in the future, developed the systems. Following PRINCE and SSADM as methods for project management and system development, RIBEC project is now considered as a model for other projects which implies the potential scope for applying these methodologies.Financial Management Project for HMG Nepal has been designed to establish a reliable database to ensure user friendly and reliable financial information and to computerise budgetary system. CCTA guidelines for IS strategy including PRINCE and SSADM were followed in developing the system.  In Pakistan, Lahore WASA project experienced badly as the original proposal was too big and not phased project; no analysis of business needs, solution was technology led, benefits were not identified at outset, high risk strategy, questionable long-term sustainability, lack of training facilities and computing skill within organisation etc. So, 2 years’ costs and effort were wasted.

By taking into consideration the UK approach of project management, Lahore WASA claim to be successor and benefits are realised especially in the billing from bimonthly billing to daily billing and reduction in bill production cycle. The main project management approach in the new proposal includes: redefinition of purpose, identify business benefits, prioritise outputs, involvement of stakeholders, DIFID played the role as the facilitator not doer, ownership of solution by stakeholders, use of local consultant etc, phased development, distributed system.

In view of the above it is evident that ‘Information technology and Information systems for what they really are – powerful and valuable tools, but not magic. When applied thoughtfully, these tools can bring important benefits for individuals, organisations, and customers. When misapplied, they can waste tremendous amounts of time, effort, and money’.The USA, a Progressed and well structured country that is economically and technologically advanced, designed PRINCE AND SSADM, to meet their own requirements. It cannot be expected that these structured methodologies would equally suit the resource scarce developing countries. But the above discussions surmise that there is potential scope and rationale for applying PRINCE AND SSADM that would facilitate the developing countries for better project management and system development. But again, these methodologies need not be considered as the “ final conclusive critics”, rather these structural criteria should be used thoughtfully, tailored to manage projects efficiently and to develop effective information systems to cope with the challenge of change Management virtually.

How Can Project Management Help Me?

Prince 2 courses:

Prince 2 stands for Projects in Controlled Environments. This is a project management method covering the organisation, management and control of projects. PRINCE 2 was first developed by the Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency (CCTA), now part of the Office of Government Commerce (OGC), in 1989 as a UK Government standard for IT project management. It is aimed at enabling you to successfully deliver the right products, on time and within budget. As a Project manager you can apply the principles of PRINCE2 and the associated training to any type of project. It will help you to manage risk, control quality and change effectively, as well as make the most of challenging situations and opportunities that arise within a project.

APM course

The main objectives for the APM course are to develop and promote project management across all sectors of industry and beyond. The APM certification will provide you with the knowledge to be able to apply a ‘framework’ to managing projects. This will lead to a more formal approach to Project Management. This may be the way forward if you work for an organisation that operates within the UK and has little process formality in managing projects.

PMI course

A PMI certificate will provide you with the knowledge you need to enable you to apply a ‘framework’ to managing projects. This will then lead you to a more formal approach to Project Management. This course may be a suitable for you if you work for a global organisation with presence throughout the world where you will need to communicate in a common language when managing Projects.

MSP course

MSP means: Managing Successful Programmes. This course is a best-practice guide from the OGC, describing a structured approach for managing programmes. It has been developed using the collective expertise and practical experience of some of the leading practitioners in the field. This means that it not only reflects best practice, but is also an accessible, workable technique that has been tested by those working in the real world.

It is always useful for new and existing project managers to learn new Project Management skills and techniques. With Project Management Professional you will find a range of useful Project Management information to improve your knowledge and understanding of everything from program and Portfolio Management to Financial Management.

Certificate Iv Frontline Management Government Funded Training For Frontline Management

Government Funded training for Frontline Management

A top insurance company in Australia received over $ 1 million last year to fund their training from the Department of Education. They used this money to train and develop a large number of participants and to provide them with nationally recognised qualifications.

If you are considering implementing a frontline management program, why not take the time to check whether your participants are eligible for government funding through the traineeship scheme.

Read through the guidelines outlined in this article to find out:

What is in it for the organisation

What is in it for the individual

How to access the funding

Who meets the criteria

How does the system work

How to ensure that government-funded traineeships become a valuable tool for self development

What is the downside

How do you ensure that the process is successful

Background

Traditionally there has been no central reference point for seeking clarification on the process of government-funded traineeships, and the confusion is compounded by traineeships being run under auspices of Australian ‘Apprenticeships’. It is no wonder many HR managers become frustrated when attempting to obtain funding for their staff development!

This article demystifies the traineeship process and explains in simple terms how an HR manager can go about determining whether there are government-funded training opportunities for their employees – particularly when it comes to the well-used and highly respected Frontline Management qualification.

What are the benefits to an organisation of introducing Frontline Management qualifications via traineeships?

The frontline management qualification is suitable in a range of different situations including:

There has been an organisational re-structure and technical experts with little experience have been promoted into team leading or supervisory roles

The team is not meeting key performance indicators and if management training was introduced this would improve the team’s ability to meet high-performance levels

There are challenges in the organisation due to a range of different reasons including teams that are lacking in motivation given the world economic turmoil; teams where there are not high levels of trust and commitment or teams that are not engaging with the organisation’s values.

Managers who are dealing with re-structured teams or teams that have merged and need to re-focus on team goals and objectives

The advantages of introducing traineeships in Frontline Management are on three levels:

1. From a national perspective, traineeships are intended to ensure that Australia is competitive against worldwide benchmarks and that skills shortage areas are addressed.

2. From an organisational perspective, traineeships provide a strong opportunity to up-skill employees to higher standards and to ensure that they also meet nationally stipulated requirements. The funding provided through traineeships becomes a useful extension to the learning and development budget of the organisation and a means for the implementation of on-going, consistent training.

The Certificate IV in Frontline Management is an example of a traineeship that is funded in certain states including NSW, ACT and Queensland. The qualification is Australia’s premier management qualification and is suitable for team leaders, supervisors and managers who have team members reporting to them as well as those who manage resources.

3. From an individual perspective, the traineeships leads to a nationally recognised qualification that is portable to any industry sector and a valuable addition to a CV.

As the Frontline Management qualification is so highly regarded, the individual benefits from having skills recognised in a formal way and from holding a qualification that opens doors to many opportunities.

Which organisations can apply for funded traineeships in Frontline Management?

Funding is available for registered Australian companies that hold an ABN number. Companies are only eligible to share in the funding scheme that relates specially to their industry. For example, a bank cannot collect funding for a hairdressing qualification.

Federal Government departments are not eligible for funding. The owner of a business is not eligible for traineeship funding.

Who in the organisation is eligible for Government Funding for the Frontline Management qualification?

It is important to recognise that government funding for training is not only dependent on the training program itself but also has specific criteria for the eligibility of candidates.

The main criteria for funding a traineeship are a worker’s:

1. Citizenship status

2. Prior qualifications

3. Employment status

Citizenship Status

The worker must be either an Australian citizen, permanent resident or New Zealand citizen who has been resident in Australia for at least six months.

There is also funding available for foreign nationals who have been sponsored by an employer with a ‘Trade Skills Training’ visa (471). Visit the Australian Government Department of Immigration and Citizenship’s website for information on Trade Skills Training visas.

www.immi.gov.au

Prior Qualifications

Typically funding is only available when ‘up-skilling’ is occurring. That is, if a worker has previously attended training in a similar area funding is unlikely to be available for this training.

Only nationally recognised qualifications are considered as prior qualifications. For example, a candidate who holds a ‘Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer’ qualification may still be eligible for funding, as this qualification is not nationally recognised.

To confuse the issue, certain nationally recognised qualifications (such as Certificates II, III or IV) are not taken into account in assessing whether funding is available if 7 years have passed since they were completed. Australian Apprenticeship Centres will be able to provide more specific information on which qualifications fall into this category.

Example:

Employer – ABC Bank Limited

New Employee Name: John Smith

Age: 28

Previous Qualifications: No previous qualifications

Currently enrolling: Certificate IV in Frontline Management

Funding Available? ABC Bank Limited is eligible to receive Government incentive for the up-skilling in this qualification.

Employer – ABC Bank Limited

New Employee Name: Jane Smith

Age: 28

Previous Qualifications: Diploma in Financial Services (completed 4 yrs ago)

Currently enrolling: Certificate IV in Frontline Management

Funding Available? ABC Bank Limited is not eligible to receive funding and will bear the costs involved with this qualification.

Employment Status

Candidates must be:

• Undertaking employment in an Australian Apprenticeship in a State or Territory of Australia, excluding Norfolk Island; and

• covered by a Training Contract signed by both the Australian Apprentice Centre and the employer that has been formally approved by a State Training Authority.

• undertaking an accredited program, which leads to a nationally recognised qualification, and includes both paid work and structured training.

The Apprenticeship Centre will also ask specific questions related to industry awards or registered Australian Workplace Agreements or formally approved contracts of employment.

Part-time employees may be eligible for traineeships, under certain circumstances. Check with an Australian Apprenticeship Centre with a specific case in mind.

How does the Payment cycle for the traineeship in frontline management work?

There is a three-month period from the date of the employee signs up onto the traineeship to the date of a claim form being generated by the Apprenticeship Centre and mailed to the employer.

It is the employer’s responsibility to ensure that this claim form is signed by both an employer representative as well as the trainee. This claim form is in turn mailed back to the Apprenticeship Centre and a first payment occurs within approximately 10 days of the return of this claim form.

There are time constraints on claiming Commonwealth funding – if claim forms are not returned within a certain timeframe funding might not be provided.

Example:

Joe works for Funtel, a telecommunications company in Bathurst. Joe is signed up on the 1st of August for a Certificate IV in Frontline Management. On the first of November, the Apprenticeship Centre generates and mails the claims form to Joe’s HR manager. Joe’s HR manager, Powan locates Joe to sign the claims form. Powan also signs the form and mails it back to The Apprenticeship Centre on the 15th of November. Powan has previously provided the Apprenticeship Centre with Funtel’s banking details.

By the 25th of November, Funtel receives an initial payment of ,500.

Upon completion of the traineeship, once the individual has completed the training and a final certificate has been issued by the RTO, the host organisation can apply for the final amount of government funding.

Example continued:

Joe completes his Certificate IV qualification in Frontline Management within 18 months. The Registered Training Organisation issues his certificate and academic record. Powan, Funtel’s HR manager posts an original or JP signed copy of this certificate to the Apprenticeship Centre, together with the Completion form which the Apprenticeship Centre provided.

These documents are scrutinised by the Department of Education and by the relevant Sate Training Authorities.

Approximately three months later, a further ,500 is deposited into Funtel’s bank account.

Note that completion procedures and time-frames vary from State to State.

Employer Checklist before implementing the traineeship in Frontline Management

The following is a checklist for use by HR professionals when considering the deployment of a traineeship in an organisation.

1. Is the training envisaged suitable for government funding? Frontline Management in certain States is suitable

2. Is the individual eligible for funding?

3. Which RTO (Registered Training Organisation) will you use? Or will training be conducted internally and with certification services provided by an RTO?

4. When will you do the training? Are you prepared to release your staff for the time it will take?

5. How much training will be conducted onsite? Offsite?

6. How will you find an appropriate apprenticeship centre to help you get this done?

Choosing a Registered Training Organisation

Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) are a key component of running a successful traineeship in Frontline Management. The RTO provides training and assessment services, and is also required to issue the nationally recognised qualification certificate.

When choosing an RTO

Be assertive in setting your expectations with RTO’s. It is important to ensure you have fully agreed to the manner in which the frontline management training will be delivered and managed to achieve your desired outcomes.

Some questions to ask RTOs include:

• How flexible are you in terms of delivery?

o Will you adjust the curriculum to make it suitable for our particular workplace?

o Can you work within the timeframes required by our organisation?

o Will you assist us with paperwork required by the apprenticeship centre?

o Will you customise your materials to make them specific to this workplace?

• What requirements do you have in terms of assessment?

o How user-friendly are your assessment tools?

o Will you tailor these to our business requirements?

o What turn-around times do you have for final assessments and certification?

Management Consultancy International consults to global organisations on their learning and development strategies and implements cost-effective frontline management programs that meet the needs of the participants as well as those of the organisation.

The Frontline Management Traineeship Process

Decide on suitability of traineeships for candidate and business

Approach Australian Apprenticeship centre and obtains information relating to funding levels for existing workers and new entrants

Select Registered Training Organisation to conduct training

Conduct information session on benefits of qualification and explain process

Hold a sign-up session with Australian Apprenticeship Centre and complete paperwork

Receive notification of approval of traineeship

Consult RTO on the creation of training plans which set out which core and elective units will be completed for the frontline management qualification and timeframe for completion

Induct trainees into the qualification and assessment requirements

Commence training according to agreed schedule

Receive initial claim forms, sign by candidate and employer, return to Australian Apprenticeship Centre

Initial funds received from Australian Apprenticeship centre

Monitor training and assessment, receive feedback from RTO

At six months, Apprenticeship Centre contacts workplace to monitor progress and provide support

Candidates complete all evidence and submit for final assessment by RTO

Receive certificate from RTO

Mail copy of certificate & other documentation to Australian Apprenticeship Centre

Final payment from Australian Apprenticeship Centre received

Hold internal graduation ceremony for closure of program

What Traineeship Documentation needs to be completed?

An agreement is signed by three parties at the commencement of a traineeship.

The Registered Training Organisation (RTO) signs the agreement to indicate that they are part of the process and they establish a training plan.

This training plan includes information about the units of competence that are selected for the relevant qualification and also provides details about the logistics of the training and how assessment will take place.

The employer is a party to the agreement and will comply with the requirements of delivering a traineeship in terms of the time provided to the trainee for training and assessment purposes.

The agreement that trainees are required to sign at the commencement of the traineeship include questions such as:

• Are you an Australian citizen?

• Do you have any prior qualifications?

• What is your date of birth?

• Where do you reside?

• How long have you been with this employer?

• What was the last year you attended school?

• What was your highest level of education prior to this qualification?

• Are you employed on a full-time or part-time basis?

• Do you have any disabilities?

• Are you an Aboriginal or a Torres Strait Islander?

The nominated Australian Apprenticeship Centre will provide the workplace with a checklist listing requirements for sign-ups.

Documents which need to be completed

It is a legal requirement for the following forms to be completed

• Training Contract

• Company ABN copy (confirms the details of the employer)

• Training Plan (RTO completes this section in consultation with the workplace)

Additionally, the Australian Apprenticeship Centre will provide brochures with information such as:

• Employer Information Quick reference guide for Apprentices / Trainees

• Information of possible benefits such as TOT incentives / Living Away from Home Allowance / Wage Support, etc

• Amendment form (relative to particular state of residence)

Employer Obligations

As an employer you have both legal and moral obligations when training your staff.

Legal obligations

All employers who provide training to their staff are obliged to:

• provide a healthy and safe training environment for all staff including those with special needs such as disabled employees

• ensure staff do not experience discrimination or harassment during the training

• provide adequate supervision and support during training

• have appropriate insurance policies for staff who undertake specialised training, such as heavy machinery training

• inform employees of their rights and responsibilities throughout the training

• commit resources necessary to complete agreed training such as safety equipment or computer hardware.

Employers must also observe their usual duties and statutory obligations, such as:

• workers’ compensation

• occupational health and safety

• duty to pay appropriate remuneration

• anti-discrimination policy implementation

• meeting privacy requirements

Good practice

There are obligations that are not enforced by law, but represent good workplace practice during training. These include:

• reporting and record keeping of training and its outcomes

• adequate resources to support the business while staff are absent for training

• management strategies to deal with issues associated with the training such as individual problems with the training or changing staff roles.

It is suggested that the workplace also set up an internal written training agreement to be signed by both the employer and the trainee. This will ensure that all parties understand what they can expect from one another.

A training agreement will provide you with a reference document from which you can address any concerns that might arise in relation to the training.

Tips for ensuring buy-in to the frontline management traineeship process

• Consult with all stakeholders and union representatives if appropriate

• Conduct transparent and comprehensive needs analysis with potential candidates. If possible, hold focus group sessions or interviews where participants are asked to contribute in an inclusive way to the design of the training

• Communicate the reasons for the training both in writing and face-to-face presentations

• Provide information about the qualification and what it pathways it can open up for the candidates

• Explain how training will be conducted

• Explain the assessment requirements emphasising that assessment is competence based. Competence based assessment is applied to candidates who are not solely tested on their theoretical knowledge but on their application of skills in the workplace

• Assist candidates filling out Apprenticeship forms and agreements

• Be available for questions

• At program launch, encourage senior management participation – this ensures that trainees are aware that the program is being monitored at a senior level

• Encourage ongoing feedback on the progress of the program and how it might be improved

• Be proactively involved in monitoring the progress of the training and gauging whether tangible improvements are being generated in the workplace

Candidates occasionally fear they are moving backward in their career when they see the word ‘apprentice’ on the Australian Apprenticeship Centre forms – it is important to point out that this is in name only

If candidates sense that an employer is merely attempting to provide the training for only financial reasons, there may be negative reactions from employees.

Concluding Comments

Traineeships in frontline management hold enormous benefits for the organisation and the candidate if applied in a way that makes business sense and that meets the learning and business improvement needs of the organisation.

Management Consultancy International’s award-winning frontline management program is flexible and brings about changes in behaviour and attitude for participants. The program is designed to create a forum for discussion and to ensure that the skills levels of managers are enhanced as they get to grips with useful and practical models that they can implement in ensuring that their teams perform to high levels.

Speak to one of our consultants on 1300768550 or email info@mci.edu.au

Communication Technologies, Inc. (COMTek) is a Leading Facilities-Based Broadband Telecommunications Company as Ranked by Black Enterprise 100 List

Communication Technologies, Inc. (COMTek) is a Leading Facilities-Based Broadband Telecommunications Company as Ranked by Black Enterprise 100 List

Chantilly, VA (PRWEB) May 30, 2004 -

Communication Technologies Inc., (COMTek), a national leader in delivering trusted information technology and telecommunications solutions for mission-critical environments, announced today that Black Enterprise Magazine, a distinguished national business publication, has ranked it as a leading facilities-based broadband telecommunications service company in the magazine’s 2004 Black Enterprise Industrial /Service 100 list (BE100). The BE 100s list features the largest black-owned businesses in the nation.

“We are honored to be selected for membership among the BE 100 – the largest black-owned businesses in the U.S.,” said Joseph E. Fergus, COMTek’s President and CEO. “Throughout my career and from day one of launching COMTek, I stuck to my vision of building a company based on excellence with the highest technical and business performance standards in mind. This sound conviction, combined with commitment to hard work as well as a solid management team that embraced excellence as the standard, are the secrets behind COMTek’s continued success. We look forward to building on this foundation as we strategically grow to the next level.”

According to Black Enterprise Magazine, the winners of 2004 BE100 are “CEOs who ran thriving companies…and were prescient enough to foretell shifts in the business cycle. In fact, we consider this cadre of chief executives part of the new leadership of American business. They offer operational ingenuity and technical brilliance as well as vision and passion.”

COMTek provides telecommunications broadband, network operations and maintenance systems integration, information security services and training and development to the public and private sectors. COMTek is also one of only a handful of firms capable of providing facility-based broadband services worldwide. In addition, COMTek is recognized as a leading-edge supplier by the U.S. Department of Defense and other mission-critical organizations such as IBM. Specifically, in 2003, COMTek tripled its revenue and increased the number of employees to the size of a major employer in the high-tech community with over 900 employees nationwide.

About COMTek

Communication Technologies, Inc., (COMTek) is a leading-edge telecommunications and information systems technology company with over 900 employees nationwide. COMTek’s core capabilities center on worldwide broadband network services, the complete lifecycle of systems integration (including software development), network operations, systems administration, information security, and training.

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An Overview on Operations Management

The operations management of any organization involves the design, operation, and improvement of the systems that create and deliver the primary products and services of the organization. From an organizational point of view, operations management may be defined as the management of the direct resources that are required to produce and deliver organizational goods and services. Operations management is an area of business that is concerned with the production of goods and services, and involves the responsibility of ensuring that business operations are efficient and effective. It is also the management of resources and the distribution of goods and services to customers. However, people tend to misunderstand operations management with the subject of operations research. 

            During 1940s, scientists of established reputation accepted the challenge of attempting to understand a host of common processes in military operations. Their team effort was called operations research and the focus of their attention was the science of military systems. Hence the world war 11 with its complex problems of logistic control and weapon systems design, provided the impetus for the development of interdisciplinary, mathematically oriented field of operations research.(OR).

            Operations Research, or simply OR is an interdisciplinary science which deploys scientific methods like mathematical modeling, statistics, and algorithms to decision making in complex real-world problems which are concerned with coordination and execution of the operations within an organization. The nature of organization is essentially immaterial. The eventual intention behind using this science is to elicit a best possible solution to a problem scientifically, which improves or optimizes the performance of the organization. Hence, Operations Research brings together practitioner in diverse fields such as mathematics, psychology, and economics etc. Specialists in these fields customarily formed a team to structure and analyze a problem in quantitative terms so that a mathematically optimum solution can be obtained. OR today provides many of the sophisticated quantitative tools in operations management (OM).

            Operations research also closely relates to industrial engineering which takes more of an engineering point of view, and industrial engineers typically consider OR techniques to be a major part of their toolset.

            Some of the primary tools used by operations researchers are statistics, optimization, and simulation. Because of the computational nature of these fields OR also has ties to computer science, and operations researchers regularly use custom-written or off-the-shelf software. Operations research is distinguished by its ability to look at and improve an entire system, rather than concentrating only on specific elements (though this is often done as well). An operations researcher faced with a new problem is expected to determine which techniques are most appropriate given the nature of the system, the goals for improvement, and constraints on time and computing power. For this and other reasons, the human element of OR is vital. Like any other tools, OR techniques cannot solve problems by themselves.

A few examples of applications in which operations research is currently used include designing layout of a factory for efficient flow of materials, constructing a telecommunications network at low cost while still guaranteeing quality service if particular connections become very busy or get damaged, road traffic management and ‘one way’ street allocations, determining the routes of school buses so that as few buses are needed as possible, designing the layout of a computer chip to reduce manufacturing time (therefore reducing cost), managing the flow of raw materials and products in a supply chain based on uncertain demand for the finished products, efficient messaging and customer response tactics, roboticizing or automating human-driven operations processes, globalizing operations processes in order to take advantage of cheaper materials, labor, or other productivity inputs, managing freight transportation and delivery systems, network data traffic: these are known as queuing models or queuing systems, sports events and their television coverage, blending of raw materials in oil refineries, etc, etc.

There was a lack of emphasis on operations management in the post war ii years, for many reasons.

(1) Following World War II, the United States was the obvious world leader in manufacturing. US dominance was the result of several factors including the virtually total destruction of most of the production capabilities of the other leading industrialized nations of the world.

(2) Under foregoing conditions, the lack of foreign competition till for some years resulted in lack of emphasis on operations management since most of the countries were not so serious about global market infiltration, with the collapse of technological power had before the war.

(3) With the demand significantly exceeding capacity during the post war period, emphasis was placed on output, and the operations function typically related to situations only when they occurred. Corporate managers during this period usually told operations managers to focus only on controlling production costs, rather than focusing on other aspects related to operations management.

It is also important to notice the resurgence of interest in OM today, mainly on the reasons as follows;

The ever increasing standard of living in society is a one of major factors that inspires resurgence of interest in operations management today. Operations management enables to increase productivity and better quality goods and service delivery. High productivity is the result of increased efficiency in operations, which in turn translates into lower cost goods and services. Thus higher productivity provides consumers with more discretionary income, which cintr9butes to their higher standard of living. The increased use of automation and robotics also improves the quality of goods.

Most companies today are taking up the challenge to producer environmentally friendly products with environmentally friendly processes all of which falls under the purview of operations management.

Operations management is continuously changing to meet the new and exciting challenges of today’s business world. This ever changing world is characterized by increasing global competition and advances in technology. To survive and prosper in such a global market, companies must excel in more than one competitive dimension. The rise of the global economy and the trend towards globalization has placed emphasis on the issues associated with logistics, quality, productivity and customer satisfaction which operations management made them integral in production sector.

Advances in technology in recent years also have had a significant impact on the operations management function. Information technology (IT) now allows us to collect detail customer data so that we customize products to meet the needs of individual customers..

Operations management provides a systematic way of looking at organizational processes. OM uses analytical thinking to deal with real world problems. It sharpens our understanding of the world around us, whether we are talking about how to compete with competitors or how many lines to add the bank teller’s window.

OM presents interesting career opportunities which can be in direct supervision of operations or in staff positions OM specialties such as quality assurance.

However, the reality is not always the same. Technology has raised the performance bar in both manufacturing and services sector by allowing firms to compete on several dimensions (low cost, quality, speed of delivery, customization etc) simultaneously. For example, firms using technology such as Dell Computer can produce and quickly deliver individually customized products at a very competitive price.

Automation is a result of technology advance that relate to the automatic operation of a production process. Some major developments in manufacturing automation include machining centers, numerically controlled machines, industrial robotics, computer aided design and manufacturing systems, flexible manufacturing systems, computer integrated manufacturing and islands of automation.

Advances in technology, including improved automated equipment, voice recognition systems, high speed data transmission lines like broadband, and faster and more powerful computers also have had a significant impact on services. Contributing to the growing trends in services is the fact that large amounts of data are readily accessible and can be transmitted inexpensively over long distances. Increase in self service, decrease on the importance of the location and the shift from time dependant to non-time dependant transactions and the increase in disintermediation are the results of technological advances in the services sector. Technology also has created the concepts of global and green village for the betterment of the humankind as a reply to its negative impacts such as mechanized human elements in a factory layout for instance.

Under circumstances, the author envisages the future role of the OM function as follows;

             In the new world of e-business, competition takes on a new intensity and a variety of flavors. The unique dynamics of the international online marketplace often requires organizations to pursue multiple, simultaneous, and seemingly contradictory strategies. To identify what is both possible and advantageous, organizations must learn to think smarter and act faster – more so than the toughest competitors they can possibly imagine. This means moving beyond market leadership to another level – one that enables an enterprise to “leapfrog” the competition.

            International e-business success starts with world-class supply chain management and an enabling infrastructure that is a critical component of today’s global enterprise not to be overlooked. E-business is obviously the future, and the Business-to-Business (B2B) component is taking the lead in defining what success will look like in this future. Additionally, in this emerging world of business, adaptation to constant change will prove an important ingredient for success. The future role of operations management should taker the above factors into serious consideration if any firm seeks to secure and sustain in competitive edge.

            Future opportunities are hard to estimate, and many change programs are therefore built on limited information. Case decisions are often made on the basis of previous internal successes and failures rather than a fact-based market review.

Companies often set targets for change without having the full picture of the current environment, which means that either the outcome of the change is not considered optimal or the costs of the change are deemed too high to generate a net benefit.

Too many Business Process Re-engineering projects have been launched with great expectations and end with disappointing results.

            Strategy should be based on a concrete understanding of market capabilities, practices and processes, to allow specific operational targets to be clearly articulated and demonstrated. A framework needs to be put in place to accurately describe current and future operational performance, in order to increase confidence and credibility in the change and improvement process.

            Operations management as a field deals with the production of goods and services that we come in everyday contact in domestic life. Without effective management of operations, a modern industrialized society can not exist. Operations are the engine that creates wealth for the enterprise and underpins the global economy.

            Operations managers however have important responsibilities in the service sector as well (80% is in the service sector in USA) such as in hotels, banks airlines retail stores etc. In each of these organizations, operations mangers are responsible for providing the supply of services much like their counterparts in manufacturing product the supply of goods.

Managing the transformation process in an efficient and effective manner is the tasks of the operations manager in any type of organization. Wealth is created in the global economy through excellent operations management. Wealth creation occurs when the value of outputs in goods and services exceeds the cost of the inputs used. It is reflected in the standard of living of the people and is a function of constantly increasing productivity.

Raising productivity of operations, the ratio of output to input, is therefore the primary basis for creating wealth. A company can not prosper in ling run unless they have higher productivity than their domestic and foreign competitors. The tasks of the future operations manager can not be withdrawn from wealth creation. The future operations manager must be more sensitive and challengeable than today in creating wealth by improving productivity.

Telcos set up own task force

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Hamilton Relay Awarded Service Agreement for Relay New Mexico

Hamilton Relay Awarded Service Agreement for Relay New Mexico

Hamilton Relay Logo

Aurora, Neb. (Vocus) August 19, 2009

Through a competitive procurement process, Hamilton Telephone Company d/b/a Hamilton Telecommunications was chosen as the new provider for the New Mexico Telecommunications Relay Service. Hamilton began providing relay services within New Mexico on July 1, 2009.

Relay New Mexico is a free 24-hour service that ensures equal communication access via the telephone to individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing, deaf-blind or speech disabled. Using assistive telecommunications equipment, relay users communicate freely with friends, family and businesses. A Communication Assistant relays the conversation confidentially by voicing typed text to the standard telephone user, and by typing what’s spoken to the relay user. Either party may initiate a call through Relay New Mexico.

“Relay New Mexico is pleased with the selection of Hamilton Relay as its new service provider,” says Shannon Smith, Director of Telecommunications & Technical Assistance for the New Mexico Commission for Deaf & Hard of Hearing Persons. “Hamilton has a solid reputation as a leader in the provision of Telecommunications Relay Services and delivers excellent customer service. Through Hamilton’s attention to detail, New Mexico relay users enjoyed a seamless transition of services.”

“Hamilton is thrilled to be providing relay services in the State of New Mexico,” says Dixie Ziegler, Vice President of Hamilton Relay. “We are committed to delivering high quality relay services along with offering strong outreach programs in support of increasing awareness of relay services particularly within the business and public services communities.”

Relay New Mexico is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by dialing 7-1-1. There are no charges to access Relay or to place local calls, however, long distance charges may apply. Services are also available for Spanish speaking citizens by dialing 1-800-327-1857. Relay New Mexico Customer Service can be reached by dialing 1-877-463-0994.

About Hamilton Relay

Hamilton Relay offers a variety of services including Traditional Relay Services, Captioned Telephone (CapTel®), and Internet Relay. Hamilton provides traditional relay and/or CapTel services to 17 states, the District of Columbia, the Island of Saipan and the Virgin Islands. All services are available at http://www.hamiltonrelay.com.

Contact:

Beth Slough, National TRS Contract Manager

402-694-3656 v/TTY

Hamilton Relay, Inc.

###

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, Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.
Vocus, PRWeb, and Publicity Wire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vocus, Inc. or Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.

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BEVERLY, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Atlantic Tele-Network, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATNI), announced today that its wholly owned subsidiary Commnet Wireless has created a joint venture with the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority (NTUA) to provide the first 3G wireless cell phone service and 4G broadband service to residents of the Navajo Nation. Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly, NTUA General Manager Walter …
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Environment: E-WASTE MANAGEMENT IN INDIA

Environment: E-WASTE MANAGEMENT IN INDIA

You are welcome to change your personal computer, cell phone, refrigerator, or for that matter any electronic or electrical gadget, but be careful while disposing of the old one. Throwing it into the dustbin is not the proper disposal of an electronic equipment which has attained obsolescence as per your judgement. It may end up adding to e-waste, which creates problems for the ecology in general and directly or indirectly for the living beings around there through air, water and soil pollution

The electronics industry is the world’s largest and fastest growing manufacturing industry. Recent policy changes in India have led to an influx of leading multinational companies to set up electronics manufacturing facilities and R&D centres for hardware and software. This has no doubt helped the Indian economy to grow faster and fueled increase in the consumption rate of electronics products. Along with the economic growth and availability of electronics goods in the market has increased temptation of consumers to replace their household electronics items with newer models for various reasons. The net effect is a higher rate of obsolescence, which is leading to growing piles of e-waste. The aim of this article is to spread awareness among our readers about the various issues involved in generation and management of e-waste, particularly from Indian perspective.

What is e-waste?

Electronic waste (e-waste) comprises waste electronics/electrical goods that are not fit for their originally intended use or have reached their end of life. This may include items such as computers, servers, mainframes, monitors, CDs, printers, scanners, copiers, calculators, fax machines, battery cells, cellular phones, transceivers, TVs, medical apparatus and electronic components besides white goods such as refrigerators and air-conditioners. E-waste contains valuable materials such as copper, silver, gold and platinum which could be processed for their recovery.

Is e-waste hazardous?

E-waste is not hazardous per se. However, the hazardous constituents present in the e-waste render it hazardous when such wastes are dismantled and processed, since it is only at this stage that they pose hazard to health and environment.

Electronics and electrical equipment seem efficient and environmentally friendly, but there are hidden dangers associated with them once these become e-waste. The harmful materials contained in electronics products, coupled with the fast rate at which we’re replacing outdated units, pose a real danger to human health if electronics products are not properly processed prior to disposal.

Electronics products like computers and cellphones contain a lot of different toxins. For example, cathode ray tubes (CRTs) of computer monitors contain heavy metals such as lead, barium and cadmium, which can be very harmful to health if they enter the water system. These materials can cause damage to the human nervous and respiratory systems. Flame-retardant plastics, used in electronics casings, release particles that can damage human endocrine functions. These are the types of things that can happen when unprocessed e-waste is put directly in landfill.

The scenario

The Basel Action Network (BAN) which works for prevention of globalization of toxic chemicals has stated in a report that 50 to 80 per cent of e-waste collected by the US is exported to India, China, Pakistan, Taiwan and a number of African countries. This is done because cheaper labour is available for recycling in these countries. And in the US, export of e-waste is legal.

e-waste recycling and disposal in China, India and Pakistan are highly polluting. Of late, China has banned import of e-waste. Export of e-waste by the US is seen as lack of responsibility on the part of Federal Government, electronics industry, consumers, recyclers and local governments towards viable and sustainable options for disposal of e-waste.

In India, recycling of e-waste is almost entirely left to the informal sector, which does not have adequate means to handle either the increasing quantities or certain processes, leading to intolerable risk for human health and the environment.

Dynamics of e-waste

Generation Telecommunications and information technology are the fastest growing industries today not only in India but world over. Manufacturers’ Association for Information Technology (MAIT) has collected the following statistics on the growth of electronics and IT equipment in India:

1. PC sales were over 7.3 million units during 2007-08, growing by 16 per cent. There is an installed base of over 25 million units.

2. The consumer electronics market is growing at the rate of 13-15 per cent annually. It has an installed base of 120 million TVs.

3. The cellular subscriber base was up by 96.86 per cent during 2007-08. Its installed base is estimated to cross 300 million mark by 2010.

and growth in the electronics industry, obsolescence rate has also increased. People are phasing out/replacing their IT, communication and consumer electronics

equipment including white and brown goods as shown in Table II.

As per a GTZ-MAIT sponsored study conducted recently by IMRB, ewaste generated in India during 2007 was around 332,979 MT besides about 50,000 MT entering the country by way of imports. The reasons for generation of this large quantity of e-waste were unprecedented growth of the IT industry during the last decade, and the early product obsolescence due to continuous innovation. Thus the net effect is the e-waste turning into a fastest growing waste stream. However, the total e-waste available in 2007 for recycling and refurbishing was 144,143 MT. Of this, only 19,000 MT of e-waste could be processed.

Components of e-waste management

The major components of e-waste management are:

1. e-waste collection, sorting and transportation

2. e-waste recycling; it involves dismantling, recovery of valuable resource, sale of dismantled parts and export of processed waste for precious metal recovery The stakeholders, i.e., the people who can help in overcoming the challenges posed by e-waste, are:

1. Manufacturers

2. Users

3. Recyclers

4. Policy makers

E-waste concerns and challenges

1. Accurate figures not available for rapidly increasing e-waste volumes—generated domestically and by imports

2. Low level of awareness among manufacturers and consumers of the hazards of incorrect e-waste disposal

3. No accurate estimates of the quantity of e-waste generated and recycled available in India

4. Major portion of e-waste is processed by the informal (unorganised) sector using rudimentary techniques such as acid leaching and open-air burning, which results in severe environmental damage

5. e-waste workers have little or no knowledge of toxins in e-waste and are exposed to health hazards

6. High-risk backyard recycling operations impact vulnerable social groups like women, children and immigrant labourers

7. Inefficient recycling processes result in substantial losses of material value and resources

8. Cherry-picking by recyclers who recover precious metals (gold, platinum, silver, copper, etc) and improperly dispose of the rest, posing environmental hazards

9. No specific legislation for dealing with e-waste at present

Status of e-waste initiatives

The Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF) of the government of India is responsible for environmental legislation and its control. The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), an autonomous body under the MoEF, plays an important role in drafting guidelines and advising the MoEF on policy matters regarding environmental issues. Historically, in 2001 in cooperation with MoEF, the German Technology Cooperation (GTZ) began work on hazardous waste management in India through the advisory services in environmental management. Subsequently, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Material Testing and Research (EMPA) started to implement its global programme ‘Knowledge Partnerships in e-waste Recycling.’

Combining the knowledge and technical expertise of EMPA on e-waste management, coupled with the field experience of the Indo-German projects in managing hazardous waste in India, the Indo-German-Swiss ewaste initiative was born in 2004.

The vision of this initiative is to establish a clean e-waste channel that is a:

1. Convenient collection and disposal system for large and small consumers to return all their e-waste safely

2. Voluntary system for modern and concerned producers to care for their product beyond its useful life

3. Financially secure system that makes environmentally and socially responsible e-waste recycling viable

The objectives of the initiative are:

1. Reduce the risks to the population and the pollution of the environment resulting from unsafe handling

2. Focus on knowledge transfer to and skills upgrade of all involved stakeholders through trainings and seminars

3. Target mainly the existing informal recyclers allowing for their maximum but safe participation in future e-waste management by facilitating their evolution and integration in formal structures

The milestones achieved so far are:

1. Improved awareness:

• Three WEEE Care! Initiative workshops in Bangalore supported by the Goethe Institute

• National e-waste workshop in Delhi, hosted by MoEF

2. Improved stakeholder engagement:

• Formation of the e-waste Agency (EWA) brings together industry, government and NGO to work on a sustainable e-waste management strategy for Bangalore

• First national e-waste workshop held, defined a way froward

• First national workshop on ewaste guidelines held, organised by MoEF

3. Improved estimates of e-waste:

• Rapid assessments in Delhi and Bangalore of the quantities being Generated, and identification of the e-waste recycling hot-spots

• National-level desk study to assess e-waste quantities

A national-level assessment of electronics and electrical equipment waste (WEEE) by MoEF/CPCB/IRG/GTZ lists the top ten most polluting states and cities of India as shown in Tables III and IV. The figure are taken from the presentation of Dr Dilip B. Boralkar at National Conference on E-Waste Management, an Indo-German-Swiss E-Waste Initiative, at New Delhi on December 10, 2008.

The MAIT-GTZ study on e-waste found that 94 per cent of the organisations studied did not have any policy on disposal of obsolete IT products. Though many respondents (200 corporates and 400 households) were aware of e-waste, they were lacking in action.

Vinnie Mehta, executive director of the MAIT, in his presentation at National Conference on E-Waste Management (an Indo-German-Swiss E-Waste Initiative),

listed the following legislations that cover different aspects of e-waste:

1. The hazardous waste (management and handling) rules, 1998 as amended in 2008 for toxic content— registration mandatory for recyclers

2. Municipal solid waste management and handling rules for non-toxic content

3. Basel convention for regulating trans-boundary movement

4. Foreign trade policy, which restricts import of second-hand computers and does not permit import of e-waste

5. Guidelines by Central Pollution Control Board (2008)

The guidelines notified in April 2008 identify and recognise:

1. Producers’ responsibility

2. RoHS (restriction on hazardous substances)

3. Best practices

4. Insight into technologies for various levels of recycling

Mehta said that the guidelines explicitly mention the need for a separate legislation for implementing producers’ responsibility. He said that e-waste is ‘distinct’ as it is an end-of-consumption waste while hazardous waste results from a distinct industrial process. The Environment Protection Act provides for separate regulations for waste with ‘distinct’ characteristics—Biomedical Wastes (M&H) Rules 1998, Batteries (M&H) Rules 2001, etc.

Advocating a separate legislation for e-waste, he said that in his recent presentation to members of the parliament he has emphasised that e-waste value chain is rather complex as it involves multiple players—producers, distributors, retailers, end consumers, collection system and recyclers—while hazardous waste chain involves only the occupier/generator and the operator. Recovery of non-ferrous metals and reprocessing of used oil are the only two major activities in hazardous waste recycling, while e-waste recycling involves refurbishment for reuse, dismantling and precious metal recovery, which is a complex

process.

e-nam (EWA Newsletter for Awareness and Management) in its September2008 issue has brought out the latestactivities of EWA, MAIT-GTZ and others involved in the e-waste field. It haspublished extracts of an article titled‘Progress on e-waste, but Too Slow’ byMini Josheph Tejaswi. The statementsof various experts quoted in the articleare reproduced below:

Lakshmi Raghupathy, former director in the ministry of environment and forest and an expert in e-waste management, said that governmental regulations should make the producers solely responsible for the entire life-cycle—from manufacturing to recycling—of their products.

Nitin Gupta, CEO of Attero Recycling, said enterprises should be extremely careful and responsible while throwing their unwanted computers and storage devices.

Computer manufacturers in India are slowly getting active in e-waste management. “We are working with all stakeholders in the e-waste management eco-system,” said S. Shankar, director (manufacturing and supply chain) in HP. The company has initiated a three-pronged strategy: partner with e-waste recyclers, build awareness among individual/enterprise customers and work with NGOs, recyclers, collectors and dismantlers.

Anne Cheong, senior service specialist in Dell, said each manufacturer has an individual producer responsibility. “We start from home. We have proper recycling facility in all countries including India. We are exploring that in Karnataka as well.”

Though companies claim they are taking action, many don’t believe enough is being done. “Things are very slow. Corporates are yet to understand the importance of it,” said Wilma Rodrigues, founder member of Saahas, a development organisation. Decisions related to e-waste management, she said, are still taken by junior employees in organisations, with top executives not even looking at it. Almost every company has some mention on its website on e-waste management, but very few are doing anything. The country has twelve authorised e-waste recyclers including e-Parisara and Ash in Bangalore, Tessam in Chennai and Eco-Reco in Mumbai. Ramky Group is setting up the country’s largest integrated e-waste management facility in Bangalore in collaboration with GTZ, while Attero is building an integrated e-waste recycling plant in Utter Pradesh.

D.C. Sharma, vice president of Ramky Enviro Engineers, cautioned that no player should indulge in cherry-picking, collect whatever one thinks is worth and leave the hazardous portions out. Ramky is also building a transfer storage disposal facility (landfill) for hazardous waste at Dob-bespet on Tumkur Road.

Finally, through improved e-waste management in the major Indian cities, the e-waste initiatives taken in the country will achieve better environmental conditions. Moreover, health conditions of workers active in the e-waste recycling sector will enormously improve at the local level. As an overall effect, the living conditions for the neighbouring population will be better. The already existing schemes of e-waste recycling and material recovery, mainly in the informal sector, will be transformed to transparent and workers- and environment-friendly methods. In the long term, the problem of improper e-waste recycling will disappear due to improved methods, implementation of a take-back system and consideration of the extended producer’s responsibility.

Experience exchange on national and international levels, including know-how transfer, is being facilitated through the various initiatives. Thus, a dialogue platform for Indian and European e-waste experts has been created, opening the doors for future industries to be developed and cooperation activities to be performed for technology and knowledge transfer.

Structure of the Proposed e-Waste Legislations

1. Title: E-waste (Management & Handling) Rules to be published under the Environment Protection Act

2. Objective: To put in place an effective mechanism to regulate the generation,

collection, storage, transportation, import, export, environmentally sound recycling,

treatment and disposal of e-waste. This includes refurbishment, collection system and producer’s responsibility, thereby reducing the wastes destined for final disposal.

3. Essence: The producer of electrical and electronic equipment is responsible for the entire life cycle of its own branded product and in particular the environmentally sound end-of-life management and facilitating collection and take back.

4. Responsibility of each element in the e-waste value chain:

• Producers

• Dealers

• Collection agencies/ collection Centres

• Dismantlers

• Recyclers

• Consumer and bulk consumers

5. Procedure for authorisation of producers, collection agencies, dismantlers, recyclers and enforcement agencies

6. Procedure for registration/renewal of registration of recyclers

7. Regulations for import of e-waste

8. Liability of producers, collection agencies, transporters, dismantlers and recyclers

9. Information & tracking

10. Elimination of hazardous substances used in e-equipment

11. Setting up of designated authority to ensure transparency, audit and inspect facilities, examine authorisation/registration, etc

TABLE I

E-Waste Toxins and Affected Body Parts

Components

Constituents

Affected body parts

Printed circuit boards

Lead and cadmium

Nervous system, kidney, lever

Motherboards

Berillium

Lungs, skin

Cathode ray tubes (CRTs)

Lead oxide, barium and cadmium

Heart, lever, muscles

Switches and flat-screen monitors

Mercury

Brain, skin

Computer batteries

Cadmium

Kidney, lever

Capacitors and transformers

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)

Printed circuit boards, plastic

Brominated flame-retardant casings cable

Cable insulation/coating

Polyvinyl chloride (PVC)

Immune system

Plastic housing

Bromine

Endocrine

TABLE II

Discard Rate of Electronics Items

Item

Discard/replace rate

Mobile telephone

1 to 3 years

PC

Every 2 years

Camera

3 to 5 years

Television

10-15 years

Refrigerator

10-15 years

Washing Machine

10-15 years

IT accessories

Very fast

TABLE III

WEE Generating – Top Ten States

State

WEE (Tonnes)

Maharashtra

20270.59

Tamil Nadu

13486.24

Andhra pradesh

12780.33

Uttar pradesh

10381.11

West bengal

10059.36

Delhi

9729.15

Karnataka

9118.74

Gujarat

8994.33

Madhya pradesh

7800.62

Punjab

6958.46

TABLE IV

WEE Generating – Top Ten Cities

City

WEE (Tonnes)

Ahmedabad

3287.5

Bangalore

4648.4

Chennai

4132.2

Delhi

9730.3

Hyderabad

2833.5

Kolkata

4025.3

Mumbai

11017.1

Nagpur

1768.9

Pune

2584.2

Surat

1836.5

Recovering copper from printed circuit boards (Photo courtesy: EMPA)

“The law, like medicine, is an inexact science. One cannot predict with certainty an outcome of many cases. It depends on the particular facts and circumstances of the case and personal notions of the judge concerned who is hearing the case.”

Supreme Court of India

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