An Information Communication and Technology (ICT) lecturer has said there is need for all public and private institutions to recruit competent staff to manage their respective ICT units for safe custody of data.
During a public lecture at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology on Wednesday, Lecturer Francis Chishimba said it’s unfortunate that some of the custodian of records expose classified information to outsiders.
He expressed fears that such restricted data could be used by the wrong recipients to discredit the organisation’s engagements and future programmes.
The lecturer advised institutions to ensure they recruited competent IT staff with advanced technical skills to facilitate ease of storage and protection of information from leaking to the wrong hands.
"It is important for institutions to invest in advanced ICT equipment and secure their information for posterity instead of engaging personnel with basic knowledge on ICT who could not offer proper advice to the institution," said Chishimba.
He added: It is advisable to install a local cloud computing system as such a system would not be accessed by outsiders for any reasons."
The lecturer said it is better for the institution to spend good money during installation and maintain a secured system, as all institutions have their classified information.
Chishimba said the future of the institutions was placed in the hands of the IT personnel who should continue to pursue their knowledge on changes in the sector and advise their clients’ accordingly.
He told the chief executive officers of institutions to be in control of storage of all information by demanding update information from the IT personnel, and recommended them to further their studies and skills through training either locally or abroad.