ITSP Committee Meeting
MINUTES
PIPSC National Office - Salon A/B
14 October 2022
9AM-4PM
Present: James BROWN (Ontario); Serge FUNDY (Prairie-NWT); Allen IVERSON (Director of IT & Program Management/Staff Resource); Steve MALENFANT (Quebec); Mark MUENCH (ITSPC Chair); Leah SHAW (Staff Resource);
James VEY (Atlantic)
Invited: Gordon ELLERTON (Manager of IT Operations & Program Management); Charles JAIMET (Manager of IT Architecture); Lora RICCI (Senior IT Project Manager)
Regrets: Derek ROUSSY (NCR); Evan PAIKE (BC/Yukon)
Absent: Daniel Shih-Ho SHEN (Friend of Committee)
1. OPENING REMARKS
Chair Mark MUENCH called the meeting to order and offered a Land Acknowledgement.
2. DRAFT TERMS OF REFERENCE
Mark explained that all Directors who are Chairs of Board Committees were asked to produce Terms of Reference (TOR). He shared a draft document and asked committee members for feedback.
3. IT/PMO LANDSCAPE
Allen IVERSON, Director of IT and Program Management, gave the committee a brief synopsis of the evolution of work in IT and PM since his arrival in 2018. The team is actively working on replacing legacy systems and going through the Operational Planning process to create a roadmap that will align with the Board’s new strategy. The latter will guide discussions regarding which technology will ultimately be selected.
A committee member asked if the ITSPC could be consulted in terms of defining business requirements for new member-facing projects. Allen supported that approach with the caveat that it be focused on substantial member-facing services, not all projects. A good example would be the new elections system.
.
There was further discussion around enlisting the ITSP Committee’s help to create groups of early adopters who would be involved in beta-testing of new projects, such as Navigar.
4. ACCESS MANAGEMENT CONTROL & OFFBOARDING AT PIPSC
Mark stated the Briefing Note regarding a systems and controls audit had gone to the Board and a few changes had been requested. Mark and Allen agreed to meet to address the Board’s concerns, after which the matter would go to the current auditors, BDO.
A lengthy discussion ensued regarding PIPSC member accounts and the challenges and best practices involved with the onboarding/offboarding processes.
Allen flagged that there are plans to create a security role within the Institute. In the interim, any key systems being rolled out are pen-tested. Gordon ELLERTON added that risk management processes are in place, and that the team takes security seriously. A new security training program has been launched to staff to reduce susceptibility to phishing attacks.
In response to a question on centralizing access, Allen reassured the committee that the team will look for the security audit to come back with controls that make sense based on the maturity of the organization. Once there is a security person on staff, a more in-depth approach will be developed.
5. PIPSC ELECTIONS SYSTEM
The current elections platform is 12 years’ old and presents several challenges. IT/PMO is working with Info-Tech Research Group to establish a rapid application selection framework (RASF) to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the selection of a new platform. The ITSP Committee will be involved in requirements-gathering sessions, along with the Elections Committee. This will be a first in terms of this type of collaboration with members.
6. NAVIGAR
Lora RICCI, Senior IT Project Manager, joined the meeting to give an overview of the project to the committee. She added that it would be presented to the AC tomorrow. Mark said he would upload that presentation to the ITSPC shared drive once the AC meeting was over.
Lora fielded several questions from committee members and there was extensive discussion about the project and how the tool would empower members to take control of their career development in the face of increasing AI proliferation. Allen underscored that, with each iteration, more data sources would be pulled in and insights would become more relevant and granular. The current product is being tested from a UX/UI perspective.
Lora gave a sneak peek of the presentation to the AC.
The Future Skills Centre (FSC) is providing substantial funding for the project. Mark emphasized Navigar’s great value to the membership.
7. ROUNDTABLE and CLOSING REMARKS