Knowledge Management Institute Chairman, Douglas Weidner chatting with Minister of Human Resource Development, Senator Dr. Esther Byer Suckoo at today's Certified Knowledge Management Workshop at Baobab Towers. (C.Pitt/BGIS)

Knowledge Management Institute Chairman, Douglas Weidner chatting with Minister of Human Resource Development, Senator Dr. Esther Byer Suckoo at today’s Certified Knowledge Management Workshop at Baobab Towers. (C.Pitt/BGIS)

Significant progress has been made with the implementation of the Barbados Human Resource Development Strategy.

This was disclosed today at the Baobab Tower, Warrens St. Michael as Minister of Labour, Social Security and Human Resource Development, Senator Dr. Esther Byer Suckoo, addressed the start of a Certified Knowledge Management Training for Deputy Permanent Secretaries and Heads of Departments.

Acknowledging that the Strategy was in its final year of implementation, Senator Byer-Suckoo said progress had been made in fulfilling the ambitious yet critical mission of developing an HRD system that “is efficient, well-coordinated, effective, knowledge-led and demand-driven, responding to global conditions and Barbadian aspirations.”

“Through a number of public and private partnerships and technical assistance operations, the Strategy has supported national efforts to improve our country’s competitiveness and to boost economic growth through research, training, capacity building of various government and non-government organisations, and policy and programme development.

“These efforts have also included the promotion of knowledge management and the development of a fully integrated and rationalized Knowledge Management System (KMS) for Barbados,” said Senator Byer Suckoo.

The Labour Minister added that the KMS which Government was developing was intended to allow the fast, easy and timely sharing of information, ideas and processes from multiple sources, thereby enhancing productivity, nurturing innovation, promoting business efficiency and improving the effectiveness of policies and programmes.

While emphasising that Barbados’ transformation to a knowledge-driven society was not optional given technological advancements, she said like other post-industrial societies, it had to undergo a paradigm shift in the way it views and manages knowledge, or be left behind.

“Our nation’s economic adjustment, reform, recovery and sustainability will depend on our ability to capitalize on information as a productive asset, to harness the knowledge of human capital, and to make timely and informed decisions at the business and policy level. This is essential if we are to attain the level of competitiveness to which we aspire”.

She further noted that the new knowledge-driven society also created new roles and opportunities for knowledge workers. “For instance, the paper-based registry systems in government, that are essentially manned by clerical officers, will have to evolve into document management and electronic record centres, staffed  by persons with the technological skills and competencies in taxonomy, records retention, destruction and preservation, security and risk management,” said the Minister.

joy-ann.gill@barbados.gov.bb

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