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Q: What is the Information Technology Office responsible for?

A: The ITO has essentially four functions. One, it helps the department plan or develop new IT systems. Secondly, it supports the IT infrastructure for the Government. Third, it provides training for IT departments and, lastly, it supports the IT governance model, the management system by where IT is managed on a Government-wide basis. It produces the annual IT plan. It also develops IT policy. No. This is the third name that this department has had. The individual IT department in the Government started in the early '70s I believe. It used to be called the Data Processing Unit. Then, in the late '80s and early '90s, we did a strategy review and the department changed its name to the Computer Systems and Services Department. And here recently, in the early 2000s we did another review and changed the name to the Information Technology Office. We moved out here in 2001. I came to IT in 1986 as a consultant and then became the systems and programming manager a couple years later and at the start of 1990, I became the director. We have 36 posts in this department. At present, there's 34 filled. We've always been supportive of the internship programme, (helping) students who become available through the (Government) bursary programme or the summer student programme. But this most recent internship programme is based on a proposal that was made to us by CompuCollege in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

They have a number of Bermudian students up there and they have internships currently here locally with other businesses in the private sector and they approached us and asked if we'd like to become part of the programme as well. It is, obviously, a lot better for the students to do their internship as part of their programme here in Bermuda than, say, somewhere in Canada.

Q: Aside from being able to come home, what does it mean opportunity-wise for local students?

A: Well, there's two aspects to it. One is that they get to work in the field so they can apply the knowledge that they've been learning. And, secondly, as far as the CompuCollege programme goes, it allows them to finish their programme. In order to finish their programme, they must complete a specified period of time as an intern in a functioning organisation.

We have recognised that many young people may have the skill and aptitude for a career in the technology community but without any practical work experience, they are unable to gain employment.

At ITO, we offer these promising individuals a start in their career. Young people are taught the basic technology which will lead on to recognised certification for industry.

Q: About how many, approximately, are involved in the internship programme?

Right now we have we have three students as interns ? two from Halifax and a third from the bursary programme. Schinel Outerbridge is from the bursary programme and Quinnell Talbot and Dejon Cox are from Halifax.

Q: How vital is IT to Bermuda's future development?

A: IT is critical to Bermuda. IT skills are critical to the Bermuda economy. As far as I'm concerned,if you look at the industry ? at exempt companies, the international business industry ? nowadays, aside from the skills that go with insurance and finance, IT is the tool that drives the business.

So it's a big opportunity for Bermudians to work and to support and be an active member of the economy working in the IT industry. We need to generate as many IT professionals locally as we can ? as well as accountants, as well as insurance executives and finance people.

Q: Does it seem to be an area that students are pursuing as far as you know?

A: Yeah,the interest is there. Certainly, there was heightened interest in the '90s and certainly during 2000 when the dot.com bubble was there. Then we were living in the Information Age. We still are now living in the Information Age.

Certainly here in recent times the insurance industry has come to the fore ? and fair enough ? but the need for IT skills is still there. It's the core of many of these businesses.

Q: Do you intend to limit the internships to three a year?

A: We could probably expand by a couple. The number that we can handle at any one time is driven by how many we can accommodate properly and it depends on what area (of technology) they're going into.

I can't take any more than three in the area that (the interns are now) in because I can't supervise them properly and can't give them a challenge. I would suspect that we probably wouldn't be doing more than three to five at any one time and the other two would have to be in different areas.

Q: They're internships of how long?

A: The duration changes depending on the programme they're in. It can be anywhere from a month to up to six months if we extend them. We may have them working on a project whereby we need them and so we extend (the internship) beyond the initial period of time. The last months would probably be something beyond what their training required and we would extend them on in the interest of developing them and in support of the project.

There's two tracks that you can enter into. One is what we would refer to as systems or technical support. That's where you're fixing the servers, working on the network, working on configuring desktop computers and things of that nature.

The second aspect of it is the programming side, where you learn to actually build systems, build web sites, do analysis on different work processes and designs in the programmes associated with setting the system up. The last would be a project manager role, a more senior level, but those are the two tracks (that people can enter on).

Q: What interests or skill sets would be most appropriate for those considering a career in IT?

A: I think it depends. There's opportunities for people with different personality traits. If you tend to be more of a mechanical / technical-type person, if you like to work with machines as opposed to people, then a career in the systems arena would be more appropriate because you are working with the computer, installing software on it, working on the network and making the computer do what we need them to do.

If you are more of a people-type person, if you like the personal contact, working with individuals, helping them define their needs and so forth, then maybe the programming side of things is more appropriate because then you have to work with people to find what they need the system to do and design the work and so forth. But there's room for all sorts.

Q: How long is the programme at CompuCollege?

A: The CompuCollege programme changes depending on how far they're going. Some go for a year. Some go for 18 months or even two years. They come out with ? most of them are aiming in the systems area. There are various types of industry-standard certifications as well as associate degrees that CompuCollege offers. CompuCollege offers associate degrees and also encourages them to do industry certification exams.

Government has about 80 buildings connected to its computer network throughout the island and we service that network. We have about 1,500 desktop computers out there. We host over 120 various applications ? from the major financial system that the Government uses all the way down to simple brought-forward systems that work on the desktops, mail-tracking systems. That's the thing about Bermuda. Generally, although it's a small place, there is a certain expectation level because everyone's educated, because we live very close to North America and to Europe.

So we have that large-scale expectation but we still have small-scale delivery. So the challenge is to produce, to meet that expectation without the same economies of scale. So we have a variety of very sophisticated systems out there. It's demanding and challenging in the ITO.