Regional Central Banks review ICT role in business continuity |19 August 2015

Central Banks from the SADC (Southern African Development Community) region are reviewing the role of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for improved business continuity in the context of regional cooperation and integration.

This is being done through a workshop currently going on at the Savoy Resort and Spa at Beau Vallon.

Named the Information Technology Governance and Business Continuity Management (ITG & BCM) Meeting’, the workshop will last until Friday.

The main objectives of the meeting are to build on common understanding and agreement on the purpose and intent of ITG, as well as review the SADC ITG roadmap and BCM implementation in its countries’ Central Banks.

The conference will ultimately develop pathways for discussions on the way forward in terms of ITG and BCM and come up with recommendations on how to improve IT governance in the SADC region.

While launching the workshop yesterday morning, the governor of the Central Bank of Seychelles, Caroline Abel, remarked that while ICT plays a prominent role in enabling economic growth by permitting quick and efficient transactions, criminals unfortunately continue to take advantage of electronic resources and bring new threats to the business environment, in the form of cyber crimes.

Consequently, she added, these challenges disrupt daily operations. 

Added to the fact that ICT systems can also deteriorate over time or even become obsolete, she emphasised on reinforcing the need for a sound business continuity and information security framework in order to minimise the effect of such disruptions.

“It is for this reason that organisations, including the Central Banks, have an obligation to pre-empt and effectively manage such risks […] to ensure that ICT systems are properly managed and remain aligned to the business strategy,” she said.

Miss Abel however reminded the delegates that best practices are on their own not a solution and that their effectiveness depends on how they are implemented and updated.

The outcomes of the meeting will be submitted to the Committee of Central Bank Governors (CCBG) by the SADC ICT sub-committee, during the upcoming governors’ meeting to be held in October in Angola.