Network World Asia All Stars 2007 Awards
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"Tahoma" size="1">Network World Asia recognizes IOM as one of Asia's top ten IT all stars for 2007 for making innovative use of technologies. Acting in Charge, Head of ITC Manila Service Center, Lori Seymour (left) receives the award for IOM from Ben Chong (right) of Network World Asia. Photo: QuestexAsia / Network World Asia |
Ladies and Gentlemen,
On behalf of the International Organization for Migration, it is
a great honor to accept this award from Network World Asia on
behalf of the more than 100 IT staff around the world.
As I have been preparing for this evening, I started thinking
about what it must have been like when the organization was first
established to help European governments identify resettlement
countries for the millions of refugees and displaced persons
following World War II. In 1951, the staff relied on index cards to
capture migrant bio data, manual typewriters to create the flight
manifests, and telexes to notify the sponsor in Australia, Canada,
and the United States of arrival times. Today, IOM is still
providing transportation assistance to refugees, displaced persons,
and other migrants, but now relies on a computer network,
databases, and the Internet for daily operations.
From its roots as an operational logistics agency, IOM has
broadened its scope over the last 50 years to advance the
understanding of migration issues, encourage social and economic
development through migration, and uphold the human dignity and
well-being of migrants.
I would like to quote the IOM Director General, Mr. Brunson
McKinley who said:
"Migration is one of the defining issues of the twenty-first
century. It is now an essential, inevitable and potentially
beneficial component of the economic and social life of every
country and region.
The question is no longer whether to have migration, but rather
how to manage migration effectively so as to enhance its positive
and reduce its negative impacts. Well-informed choices by migrants,
governments, home and host communities, civil society, and the
private sector can help realize the positive potential of migration
in social, economic and political terms."
To implement a wide range of projects and activities in 300
offices in more than 100 countries around the world, IOM has
advanced migration management by utilizing 21st century technology.
The ITC Service Center team manages the organization’s global
IT infrastructure from Manila by implementing centralized security,
account management and remote access using a site-to-site VPN as
the backbone of its wide area network.
The network technology enables smaller remote missions to
connect to IOM’s data center in Manila. The SSL VPN allows
remote staff to access corporate files and documents from their
homes, public kiosks, and hotels, guaranteeing communications among
all of IOM’s operations worldwide, whether they are in the
remote region of Darfur, Sudan, or following the tsunami emergency
in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, or attending an awards ceremony in
Singapore.
IT support is critical to ensure that field staff has instant
access to communications and data bases as an essential part of
their day to day business. The success of managed migration
programs is now measured by gathering and sharing information,
whether it is for programs assisting governments to manage their
boarders, during emergencies to assist victims of natural
disasters, or implementing large scale resettlement programs to
enable refugees to begin their lives again in a new country. These
and other programs are all the more effective because of the
seamless integration of IT Services with IOM’s commitment to
manage migration for the benefit of all.
Thank you and good night.