New technology strengthens UN's administration systems.

The United Nations of the nineties is in the forefront of efforts by public and private organizations to reinvigorate their operations to meet the challenges of today's fast-paced global community.

In order to respond effectively to the demands of peace-keeping operations around the world and expectations by Member States to do more with less, the UN has, among other efforts, been tapping the fountain of cutting-edge technology. High-tech information management and communications technologies are strengthening the administrative heart of the Organization, providing the stamina and conditioning that are essentials of modern management.

With around 15,000 employees and 16 multinational peace-keeping operations scattered globally, the administrative demands on the UN's technological infrastructure are enormous. To the typical difficulties associated with payroll, benefits, accounting and everyday management, add the complexities of administering for 185 nations and daily operations in more than 100 currencies.

"Even the best equipped organizations would have blown a fuse doing what we must do on a daily basis", said Gian Piero Roz of the Office of the Under Secretary-General for Administration and Management, who is working on a project to revamp the UN's administrative systems. "We're changing the way we do business here", said Roz, noting that until now, the UN, like many public and private establishments, had relied on mainframe technology from the 1960's to support what was essentially a paper-based system.

It was further encumbered by systems that did not talk to each other, tedious manual data entry, and long delays in receiving routine information. A variety of ad hoc technological solutions had been adopted to overcome the historic limitations imposed on information management by time, distance and storage space.

Today, the degree of computerization reached at the UN has taken the Organization to a point of total reliance and dependence on computers and information technology for everyday activities. Personal computers (PCs) are used at all levels in every office. They are used for substantive as well as for administrative activities, in clerical tasks, as communication devices (E-mail) and as a vehicle to access centrally-maintained systems and data-bases (i.e.: IMIS).

IMIS

A primary ingredient in the UN's new technological stock is the Integrated Management Information System (IMIS), which is emerging as the brain and brawn of the Organization's own information superhighway. Designed and installed in conjunction with major private-sector consulting firms, IMIS takes a global approach to information management, enabling personnel and computers at UN Headquarters in New York and its major duty stations--Geneva, Addis Ababa, Amman, Bangkok, Nairobi, Santiago and Vienna--as well as other UN offices around the globe, to share and manage information related to the Organization's human resources, finances, purchasing and contracting, and travel management.

"This computer infrastructure marks a new technological era for the UN", said Roz, who has shuttled between the Organization's array of administrative units, its patchwork of outdated computer systems and the high-tech industry to produce IMIS, now in the final stages of implementation.

From contracts for services, travel authorizations and housing allowances, to tracking employment applications, purchasing equipment and generating payroll in multiple currencies, the award-winning system is not only speeding procedures and enabling effective monitoring and analysis of the data it handles, but has identified certain existing business procedures as complex and sometimes contradictory, and has prompted a comprehensive review of what had for years been standard practice.

"Thirty years may not be a long time in the diplomatic world", said Roz, "but it is light years in technological terms. That is the magnitude of the advancements the UN is making." Indeed, IMIS has been recognized by various technology publications over the past several years, and received DATAMATION'S Award for Client/Server Solutions. IMIS has also been featured in Info World (February 1994), Computerworld (October 1994) and in a cover story in Client/Server (January 1996) as a prominent undertaking in information management systems.

Focus will soon shift from the implementation of the new system to two elements considered critical to its long-term success: ongoing development and maintenance. As stated in the seventh--and most recent--progress report of the Secretary-General on IMIS, in the past, inadequate resources were devoted to the development and maintenance of the UN's information systems. "It is important", noted the report, "that a careful maintenance plan be established so that the software and its various elements do not become obsolete, but can evolve along with the needs of the Organization."

"After all", said Roz, "that is what led to the need for IMIS in the first place. The coming challenge will be to keep pace with technology as it evolves in the industry. The return on this kind of investment is enormous in terms of efficiency and better decision-making. We owe it to ourselves and our Member States to stay in top shape."

Local area networks

While IMIS is probably one of the lesser-known acronyms in UN parlance, the Organization's extended use of modern technology is evident in the rapid increase in the number of personal computers it uses, which are inter-connected through networks. In New York alone, from just 200 connections in 1993 to an expected 5,000 in 1995, the UN's local area networks (LANs) are the webs that link individual personal computers at a given site to each other. Over a wide area network, or WAN, the local clusters of computer terminals at each UN mission, while independent, will eventually be connected to one another, creating an organization-wide link.

"The LAN effectively brings everyone into the same room", said Eduardo Blinder of the Advanced Technical Support Section in the Electronic Services Division. A common denominator among the various technologies employed by the UN, the networks will enable personnel to send and receive electronic mail and to access a variety of personnel, financial and other information from various internal and external sources. The centralized structure of the LAN also provides a good measure of "update friendliness". As new software technology becomes available, it can be loaded onto thousands of PCs from one location, saving time and money.

Field operation

The UN's peace-keeping activities, which increased markedly with the end of the cold war, served as a particularly urgent call to action. The logistics of mobilizing and supporting multiple peace-keeping contingents simultaneously proved extraordinarily taxing on the Organization's capabilities.

In response to the challenge, a task force was set up in the Field Administration and Logistics Division (FALD) to coordinate the use of modern communications and information technology. One means of coping with this rapid growth was the development and implementation of plans to enhance the VSAT satellite network and to upgrade all missions to the digital standard. This substantially increased the quality and serviceability of telephone, fax and data connections between the field missions, the UN Headquarters and other UN offices.

Information technology is vital to the success of UN field missions. The quantity of correspondence, budget, finance, payroll, reporting and general administrative functions to be performed in support of mission operations precludes handling by manual means. FALD introduced a Field Automation Programme, with the primary goal of assuring administrative and logistical support through information technology. Information and communication support is provided through a full range of highly mobile containerized services that can be globally deployed as and when necessary.

These services include automated procurement, inventory and asset management systems, an up-to-date accounting and reporting system, a computerized transport management system and a computerized personnel system, in addition to PC-based logistics support systems. The information structure is a seamless blend of communication networks, computers, software, applications and other capabilities that work together to meet the needs of field missions and their support staff.

The successful implementation of the Field Automation Programme in the field missions has resulted in immediate and substantial benefits both locally and internationally. Missions are now provided with inter-mission support, enhanced data transfer capabilities between the Headquarters and the field, the ability to produce clear audit trails, as well as standardized procedures and management reports. Such improvements have contributed to effective management practices, as well as reduction of staff requirements in the field.

Optical disks

In addition to the analysis and movement of information, the UN is also employing the latest techniques to store what will eventually amount to millions of pages of official documents. The optical disk--literally, a 12-inch platter which is stored in a juke-box-like cabinet and selected like a record--will serve as the repository of UN documents for everyday reference, as well as an official archive. "The optical disk is a boon in terms of efficiency", said Wolfgang Fuerst, who, as Coordinator of the Technological Innovations Programme for the Office of Conference and Support Services, oversees the use of the digital technology, operational since 1992. "It is the file cabinet of a paper-less system", he said.

Characterizing the growing volumes of disks as likely to become the UN's future library, Fuerst said that as a resource that is instantaneously accessible worldwide, the collection of disks may ultimately eliminate the need for certain onsite assignments, such as filing and managing the steady stream of information duty stations received from Headquarters on a daily basis. And, because digital information can be copied onto smaller compact disks (CD-ROMS) and mailed anywhere in the world at little cost, the digital technology is expected to reduce expenses associated with shipping paper-laden pouches to regional locations, or transporting the large volumes of data over a telephone wire.

The UN's technological evolution is also expected to benefit other UN-affiliated organizations and the international community at large, including non-governmental organizations, universities and other Governments. In addition to the storage and distribution of the latest information, the optical disk project is converting major documents and resolutions dating back to 1946 into digital form and archiving them on the disk, where they can be easily accessed for a nominal fee or at no expense.

Satellite

In addition to cable-linked technologies, the UN is a veteran user of satellite technology, which for the last decade has enabled it to communicate quickly with missions and peace-keeping forces around the world at a moment's notice. It has also enabled the UN to more effectively monitor trade sanctions, and will continue to play a vital role in its long-range technological strategy.

User-friendly technology

Converting data from analog to digital format may be logical and straight-forward, but, as with the rest of the administrative world, where many are reluctant to embrace new technologies and cling to the familiar procedures of the past, introducing employees to their new high-tech tools is an added challenge. "Fortunately, as technology gets better, it gets friendlier, easier to use", said Roz, giving a bright prognosis for the acceptance by personnel of the new technology. "Like anything else, it will take some getting used to. I think once users realize the benefits and see the efficiency of the technology, we will all wonder how we ever did without it." Training for the new technology has included videos and instructor-led courses, as well as hands-on courses and on-line tutorials, by which the system answers questions about itself.

"In the end", states the Secretary-General's status report on the project, "IMIS will lead to the greatest changes in the management of the Organization since its inception." Indeed, just as the UN has found benefits in diplomatic cooperation, its technological evolution and systems cooperation and integration are proving to be a critical source of modernization and efficiency. From IMIS and telecommunications to personal computer networks and the optical disk system, and the extensive use of advanced technology at peace-keeping missions, the UN is developing its technological muscle to do more with less--an essential in today's world of modern management.