Marine to upgrade computer services
THE Marine Department has so far failed to convince the Finance Branch that its information systems strategy provides good value for money.
However, the department intends to pursue the programme's key elements and intends to upgrade its use of personal computers, according to its latest newsletter.
All professional grade officers and above, and other appropriate staff, will be provided with workstations connected to a department-wide network, known as Marine-Link.
This will provide standard application software to every workstation and access to open data files.
E-mail, E-bulletin and fax functions will enhance both internal and external communications, according to the department.
Groups of users will be able to develop customised applications to meet business needs.
Applications developed by one group will be shared by others, and small databases will be designed to be compatible to allow for data sharing.
Summarised corporate data will be available on an executive information system.
In addition to about 200 workstations when fully developed, Marine-Link will have three to four servers.
Modems will provide access from outside locations such as the Vocational Training Centre and District Marine Offices.