Leon Perlman
FOLLOWING the move to electronic on-line communication with the masses, pioneered by the Constitutional Assembly, the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications, African National Congress MPs and the Constitutional Court, the offices of the president and deputy presidents have also become neophyte technophiles. A paperless office system is being implemented along with use of unique Windows-compatible Timex data watches.
The two offices have standardised on PC-based applications for tasks ranging from word- processing, database management, scheduling of appointments to electronic mail (e-mail) connectivity between departments. The executive had previously been using outdated mainframe-based software, including an antiquated Wang word-processor. A new e-mail system is being used extensively.
According to John Foonk, director of administration of Deputy President FW de Klerk’s office, there was an urgent need to move to a paperless office: “It’s more effective. Managers now use the e-mail system to disseminate management decisions to personnel and invite feedback later.”
The system has proved its worth in circumstances where directors, in Cape Town for the parliamentary system, want to communicate with the staff located in Pretoria. An external electronic “post office” has been installed to allow the separate — but equal — data networks of the offices of Nelson Mandela and De Klerk to communicate electronically via e-mail.
De Klerk’s office is also using a state-of- the-art wrist watch as a portable diary. The Dick Tracy-like Timex Data link watches keep track of appointments, tasks and telephone numbers. There are also a number of alarms and anniversary storage facilities. De Klerk’s private secretary, his head of the office, and two other staff members all have the watches.
The information is created using Microsoft’s Schedule+ Personal Information Manager and sent via a PC screen to the watch without the need for any physical connection.
The watch has a special optical eye which picks up various line configurations generated on the PC screen, a process analogous to a bar code reader in a supermarket checkout. Users simply hold the watch up to the screen and hit the transmit button on the PC. The data is then transmitted to the watch.
“The technology fits our needs perfectly. Both Deputy President De Klerk and Mrs de Klerk’s diaries are managed via Schedule+ and the watch,” says Foonk.
Instead of printing out appointment schedules or keeping a physical diary, the scheduling information is simply “downloaded” to the watch.
Asked why De Klerk himself does not use the watch, Foonk revealed that the deputy president cannot.
“He’s good at all other things, but he’s not technically minded,” he said.