Trevor Forrest, chief executive officer of 876 Technology Solutions, is stressing the importance for non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to digitally transform as he said that will improve organisational efficiency and increase engagement with stakeholders.

Forrest made the recommendations while addressing the Council of Voluntary Social Services’ (CVSS) ‘Skills on the Go’ session recently on the topic ‘Exploring ways NGOs can achieve operational efficiency through technology’.

“It is not a matter of whether you should or should not, you must! That is the new norm, you have to digitally transform your operation. You have to now become more creative and innovative in the ways in which you go about fundraising and provide more conduits in doing that,” he said, citing the urgency of digitalisation.

Forrest explained that digital transformation is the integration of digital technology into all areas of a business, fundamentally changing how businesses operate and deliver value to stakeholders and customers.

He also informed that it was a cultural change that requires organisations to continually challenge
the status quo, experiment and get comfortable with failure.

The information technology expert said digitally transformed NGOs will make it easier for persons to engage with the sector and contribute in more efficient ways both locally and internationally.

“These are the opportunities that you can take advantage of when you are digitally transformed. But not only that, many NGOs are funded organisations and they have to do a lot of monitoring and evaluation because it is how they perform that determines the funding that they get,” he stated.

He said effective digital transformation allows for more credibility, which attracts different levels of funding. Through the use of data analytics, he noted that organisations can know how they are performing, how efficiently they are operating and can make better decisions as to how to utilise resources in the types of activities that they do.

STRATEGY AND VISION

Forrest explained that in order to achieve digital transformation, NGOs or businesses must pay close attention to four key areas. These areas, include having a strategy and a vision; governance structure and clear understanding of processes that help the organization to function; people and culture and technology capabilities.

“Digitally transformation is not a one-time activity. It is continuous. You have to realise that this journey never ends and as such you have to put things in place to ensure that overall the organisation is capable of sustaining this cycle,” he said.

‘Skills on the Go’ is a virtual skills training series, organised by CVSS, which is aimed at capacity building and training for non-profit member organisations and enhancing the voluntary sector in Jamaica.

The next session is scheduled for October 18 when Kerry Scott, CVSS’s vice chair will present on the topic ‘Property management: managing your community facility’.