THE STAFF SHOWING PARTICULAR APTITUDE SHOULD BE IDENTIFIED AND THEIR APTITUDE AND WORK ASSESSMENT SHOULD BE RECORDED ON THE CONFIDENTIAL REPORTS, AS RELATED TO THE COMPUTERISATION SYSTEM OF DATA COMPILATION.

In general computerisation of the Government office comprises replacement of system of data compilation by individuals with a system of data compilation by computers. Unless the computerised system has radically changed the way the data is prepared for compilation, the individuals who were doing the manual data processing should be the persons who should take over the task of feeding the data into the computers. Successful computerisation involves change in the office functioning in some ways and the following points are relevant (1) An officer, preferably one with aptitude for computerisation or whose subject is predominantly the subject of computerisation, should be made incharge of all aspects of computerisation and should report directly to the Head of the office/Department for this purpose. Since software development can take some time, after the officers/officials assisting the system designers have been identified and assigned tasks, they should not be transferred till the software development and systems implementation is complete. (2) The workload and responsibilities of office personnel may change. To the extent possible the existing staff should be trained to operate computers and the new staff should not be brought in for the purpose ie those doing the manual processing remain responsible for computerised processing. Since the software are generally very easy to operate, only minimal training, of a few hours in simple software to a few days in more sophisticated software, should suffice, and where the software is specially written, training of the staff is part of the software operationalisation. While there will be reduction in the overall workload because of the use of the computer, some individuals in an office may get more benefit than others. As such reallocation of work and responsibility should be done in relation to the computerised system. The staff showing the particular aptitude should be identified and their aptitude recorded in their confidential reports and the work assessments. (3) Periodical formal and informal reviews involving all personnel concerned should be organised. This ensures that all personnel are aware of the process of operating the system. It also provides information to the officer in charge computerisation of problems which need attention. These problems can relate to hardware maintenance, environmental problems like dust, fluctuating power, software errors (bugs) data deficiencies, consumables like printer ribbons or stationary or staff comfort etc. Reviews also enable improvements in the system and identification of additional outputs etc. It is also essential that the officer in charge personally visit the computer facility frequency to get first hand information.