NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Government officials yesterday hailed the implementation of the Oracle Fusion Cloud system as a transformative and monumental step towards modernizing public service systems.
Pia Glover-Rolle, Minister of Labour and Public Service, stated that the launch of the Oracle Fusion ERP represents the fulfillment of the government’s plan to integrate a Human Resource Management Information System into the public service.
“This work is critical. As we navigate the local and global challenges ahead of us, digitization efforts must be expedited to ensure that our nation remains globally competitive. Digitization represents one of the major challenges impacting developing nations,” Glover-Rolle noted. She further stated that her ministry is ready to assist with the rollout of the Oracle Fusion ERP system.
“Through this initiative, government HR processes will become faster, more transparent, and more secure. We are eliminating manual processes for good. We are getting rid of the stacks of papers piled so high that they’re halfway to the roof. We’re doing away with the days of damaged and lost HR files that take far too much time to find and decipher. Through this system, public servants will spend less time on filing and administrative tasks and more time doing the work that really matters. Finally, we will have a system that meets the HR needs of a 21st-century public service,” she noted.
Glover-Rolle further noted that as the system is rolled out to the Central Government, the University of the Bahamas, the Department of Tourism, and the Public Hospital Authority, the necessary tweaks will be made to prepare for the eventual whole-of-government rollout.
“The Oracle Fusion ERP system is a game-changer for the government, and most importantly, it is a game-changer for every public servant who will now be the beneficiary of faster HR processes,” she added.
Financial Secretary Simon Wilson noted: “The public service right now operates with a standardized HR system. As a result, standard procedures such as paying people the correct salaries, and ensuring the salaries start and end at the right time, are very difficult. The sum of that is it is costing us money. We look at Oracle Fusion as a way to improve efficiencies so we can reinvest back into our employees.”
He further noted: “We have one manual platform so we are making a great leap forward from a completely manual operation to a digital corporation.”
Wilson said the system will be transformative, minimizing inefficiencies and waste and also giving employees greater transparency in terms of the benefits afforded to them.
The comprehensive ERP system will integrate all government functions and operations into one cohesive system, enabling seamless transfer and exchange of data and information between different components of the Public Service.
Wayde Watson, Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Economic Affairs, noted that the launch would allow for the centralization and standardization of critical functions. He noted that government HR processes would become faster and more transparent.
