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Education Minister Endorses ERP System at CMI

JIS: MINISTER OF EDUCATION, YOUTH and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, has endorsed the move by the Caribbean Maritime Institute (CMI) to launch an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System online application portal.

This will make the CMI the first tertiary institution to use a full scale ERP System to run the entire business processes of the institution.

Speaking at a JIS ‘Think Tank’, on April 19, Minister Reid said  the use of technology  is inevitable for institutions, if they intend to remain relevant and successful.

The Minister lauded the CMI for taking the bold step, which is paving the way for others.

“There is no doubt that the increased use of technology will reduce costs and improve efficiencies at CMI and wherever it’s used. This institution continues to set the pace in education innovation in the Caribbean,” he said.

Senator Reid added that the country will also benefit from embracing technological advances.

“Jamaica as a small developing economy, has to leverage the emerging technologies, and determine how we can reduce costs and get greater efficiency and impact,” he emphasised.

The Minister  said  the launch of the technological application by the CMI is very timely and that there are synergies between the ERP system and the work of agencies within his Ministry, adding that the agencies could benefit from its use.

“The Ministry now houses several agencies offering various kinds of developmental services to youth. I can readily see how this management information system can be useful in linking the various youth development agencies and education and training institutions and make access to them easier,” he explained.

Senator Reid said he could also see too how the open source software could be utilized to develop a sector-wide database of youth and their needs.

The platform will also accommodate applicants of the Career Advancement Programme (CAP), which has been branded the Pre-College Programme at the CMI.

According to the Minister, this is the first CAP programme that will have full online accessibility and that support could be extended by the CMI to other CAP  locations.

This, he said, will provide better management of the programmes, and real time programme information.