By Jomo Paul
[www.inewsguyana.com] – Commissioners on the Public Service Commission of Inquiry have been told that several sections of the Public Service Department currently operate on computers as old as nine years and software that is inauthentic.
The revelation, while not a surprise, was made by Ryan Cumberbatch, Assistant Development Coordinator at the Department of Public Service during his testimony on Wednesday, September 23, 2015.
According to Cumberbatch, the systems currently in operation at the level of government were handed over since 2006. He believes that some were manufactured a year before the handing over.
It was stated that when the systems suffer a malfunction that require parts replacement, it is usually generic and hard to locate in the local domain.
Cumberbatch stated that the public service is “stuck with old computers.”
Pointing to the computer software and applications used by the public service, he said that provisions have not been made in previous budgets for the purchase of software hence the government utilizes cracked software.
“Things like software are not catered for…What you find is you gotta download and hack and crack….They should budget for legal software that would help with our copyright issues and so own,” said Cumberbatch.
The revelation comes just one day after the government announced that it had secured a partnership with Microsoft to development Guyana’s E-Governance platform.
Microsoft is an American multinational technology company develops, manufactures, licenses, supports and sells computer software, consumer electronics and personal computers and services.
The company is best known for products such as the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, Microsoft Office suite, and Internet Explorer and Edge web browsers.
No effort to run a modern state. The PPP were solely interested in acquiring riches for themselves rather than
improving the quality of life for its citizens.In this modern age Guyana’economy functioning with paper ‘records. Of course when faced with audits, it was simple to burn down the building, and all records. The PPP must be made to pay for their criminal past.
cracked software !!!???, lets see how much the new government will put for new and fresh copy of software for all new computers.