Report from iHRIS Academy 2013
It was a great opportunity to attend the first iHRIS Academy 2013. I was one of the representatives from Botswana; other African countries that attended the academy were Namibia, Malawi, Rwanda, Nigeria, Liberia, and Tanzania.
The aim of the training was to bring together the iHRIS implementers, system administrators, and other stakeholders that have iHRIS systems running in their countries to equip them with the relevant skills of developing, implementing, troubleshooting, and utilizing the system.
The iHRIS team have been communicating through the Global iHRIS Community, but with the five-day training, we had an opportunity to meet each other, share our experiences and challenges about iHRIS Manage, and have in-depth discussions on solving country-specific challenges.
Photo: Customizing iHRIS Manage demonstration.
Each moment of the training had an activity to do. There were different facilitators to present different topics to the participants, and this involved practical work in advanced Linux commands and programming, creating reports, collaborative software development with Bazaar and Launchpad, iHRIS Manage database administration, and customizing iHRIS Manage.
It was a high-standard experience. The Academy equipped me with lots of skills to implement and customize iHRIS Manage and other applications in the iHRIS Suite.
The participants were from different professions, with various levels of skills in information technology and iHRIS, and this was a challenge as we were all gathered in the same training class. It wasn't easy to move at the same pace.
Photo: Leading the crew to the University of Dar es Salaam.
Since it was the first training, I suggest in future trainings the participants should be categorized based on their professions, competencies, knowledge level, and to what extent they need to learn the system. This will enable them to hold thorough discussions in their topics, and share their experiences and skills.
Though Dr. Lungo was not expecting a lady from Botswana, I would say it is time to increase the number of woman in the programming field. We have a tougher work-life balance, but it is very interesting and challenging to learn new things almost every day.