 a production of the government information service. I am Jolene B. Set-Joseph. The global consumption of paper and paperboard totalled 408 million tons in 2021. Consumption is projected to continue rising over the coming decade to reach 476 million tons by 2032. Cutting down on paper use is one of the easiest way to lower your carbon footprint. In fact, in today's technologically advanced world, there's almost no excuse for purchasing excessive amounts of paper and ink cartridges in organizations. Not only is this practice wasteful, but it's actually costly for wallet and the planet as paper consumption and pollution contributes to global warming and climate change. But how do we in fact go about putting paperless or processes within our organization or paper light processes as well? Well, to help us understand how we might be able to do that, today I'm joined by Kevin Williams, who is the CEO of Simple Innovations and Solutions, and that's a company who quite recently aided the Anglican School in going paperless and who may have a few tips for us today to find out how we can do it also. So first of all, thank you for joining us today here, Mr. Williams. Oh, it's my pleasure. Okay, brilliant. So now before we get into the whole paperless dialogue, tell me a little bit about your company. Your company is Simple Innovation and Solutions, right? Is it a new company? Yes, it has been in existence since 2019, partnered with three international companies, and I am the authorized reseller for the entire Caribbean. And we specialize in tracking and management systems so we can track any items such as documents, vehicles, items in the warehouse, even containers and even personnel on the work site and such things like that. So we are very innovative when it comes to the type of systems that we have, because the systems are catered to your specifications. It's not a one size fit all type of system. So we will not give you the same system that we would probably give the bank depending on the type of criteria that you would need. So that's why it's a very intensive, intensive process where we need to find out exactly what your needs are so that we can actually give you the right solution for it. Okay, now was it always a case of, is this something that you always wanted to get into, this kind of a company, or is this something that you just saw niche in the market? So you decided to do something like this? Well, it started off where I ended up trying to start off a different business and then there was an investor who ended up coming to advise me about this process. So I made an approach to one of the companies that we were planning to partner up with and then things ended up falling through and then about a year later, the same company ended up coming to contact me and they told me that they found that I have like the drive and the type of motivation needed to really continue with the business and from that point onwards, we've just been trying to work together to try to educate especially the solution, the solution public about the importance of going paperless, especially when it comes to expenditure because it can increase productivity and it can increase accountability but it can decrease expenditure and that's one of the things that we're really trying to educate the public about and it's coming along little by little so we're just taking it one day at a time and hopefully with this program, we can really get the word out and show the true importance of what it means to go paperless, especially for St. Lucia because for me personally, I'm born and raised in St. Lucia and I always believe as if St. Lucia can be one of the top countries in the Caribbean and with that, I would really love to have St. Lucia be the foundation for my company before I actually branch off to some of the other islands so that's one of my goals. Brilliant, that's great, that's great. Now let me tell you now, let me ask you rather, the paperless system that was introduced into the Anglican School, tell us all about that. How did it first come about that it was even something that would be happening between the school and your company? So how it started was that I was doing an online presentation with Sladera about my company so then I was approached by a young lady named Viola Callender, she ended up asking me if it's possible to actually do a system for the Anglican School but she said right off the bat, the Anglican School doesn't have any money so I end up talking with my team and we end up trying to see if we could get a second vendor that would be willing to actually do it on a pro bono basis. We end up getting one in India, his company's name is Vinipro so what he assisted us with was to develop a system whereby when it comes to the students profiles when they enter, for example, if they enter term one or term two then the information will be entered onto the database and then they would have access to that information from their computer, from their phone, or from their laptop. They also had a registry book that's dated back till the 1900s. So we saw that it has quite a lot of historical value in it so since I couldn't use my original team because with my original team we would pretty much have all of the equipment we would need in order for us to actually end back on this. We had to think of other ways in order for us to actually digitize that information so I end up approaching the Ministry of Education. They end up assisting with the digitizing of the registry book so now that bit of information is digitized and has been saved on a secure location for the Anglican school so if anything were to happen to the book they already have that information digitized and I also have that information saved so just in case if anything were to happen to their storage then we also have a backup for them. So we went about it in that process. I handed it over about three weeks ago I showed the principal and as well as anybody else she wanted to be using the system to enter the information for the students. The Ministry of Education played a very big part in the type of information that they wanted to be stored onto the students profile. So for example, they wanted to have information such as the doctor's name. They wanted to have information such as if they have any allergies also if they had any medical conditions. So once they click on the students name they would have all of that information showing up and it's very easy for them to actually get that information. They also wanted us to add information such as if they were to come from another school at a certain point in time they also have that information available for them to enter. So like I said, it's a process whereby it's very intensive where you need to really dig deep into what exactly that the client wants and then we try to deliver it as best as we can in the most effective manner. How long does it take to actually go through a process like that? Because as you said, that's a lot of information and I understand it's mostly digitising like you do a lot of scanning, data entry. So I mean that must really take a lot of time to do. Yes, it takes a lot of time. Now the advantage with the company that I'm partnered with is that they have over 40 years experience when it comes to the scanning industry. So one of the things that I have learnt especially when it pertains to the scope of the work depends on the type of equipment that you use because obviously when you have to deal with scanning of paper you need to ensure that you look at the quality of the document. So they would have for example group A whereby group A is a perfect sheet where you'd be able to actually scan it. Group B would be if the edges are just a little bit cold or if there are a few staples. And then group C would be the more difficult documents whereby more than 50% is probably faded or it's like really dry rotted so it's very difficult for you to actually read or even with the handwriting. Now our device can actually translate any handwritten document. Oh wow. And that's one of the advantages that we have with ours. As well as we were not only limited to documents we can also do audio, we can also do video. So we have quite a lot of variations when it comes to our system or when it comes to like storage. Now with that bit of information you would be able to store it three different ways. So you have the option of actually storing it on your servers. You have the option of having it as a web based option so you would store it on the website in particular or you could store it on our cloud based system. And so one of the advice that I give to all of the clients when it especially pertains to the paperless is that it's always best for you to have two versions of storage. So for example recently you know that you had the incident where you lost some of the information on your servers. We would always advise that if you are going to store information on your servers you should also back it up onto our cloud as well. So if you were to lose that information for any reason on your servers you know it's already backed up. So we always give them that option and when it comes to the scanning like I said with the type of equipment we have we have specialized scanners. So whereby depending on the amount of sheets that you need to scan our scanners can scan 10,000 sheets in one sitting can scan 50,000 can scan 100,000. So it can greatly decrease the amount of time you would normally have when it comes to actually scanning the documents. So like for example if you have like a million sheets that we have to go through. If we were to use a normal scanner it would take a couple of months in order for you to actually a couple of months going into a year for you to finish that. But with our system and with the type of equipment we have we can pretty much finish it in about two months or two months or less. Depending on the amount of equipment that we would need. So like I said it's very intensive and it's also very exciting because it's a new avenue, a new venture that's something that St. Lucia can really look forward to and can really put us on a higher level than most of the other countries because for example what happened in Dominica they were pretty much devastated when it came to the hurricanes that ended up decimating them. And since after that they have completely, completely embraced the paperless concept. So and even with some of the Dominicans who I have talked with they also agree that before they were a little bit sluggish and a little bit hesitant to actually go forward with that. But then after the hurricane they realized the true importance of actually saving data because knowledge is power. So as long as you save the data that is the most important thing. Because with that you're able to continue your business even without having a physical establishment to be present. So that's one of the advantages of it and we're hoping that we can get St. Lucia on board for this because I know deep down in my heart that St. Lucia can really be one of the top countries. Instead of being a developing country we can actually be a developed country. That's my dream for St. Lucia, so I'm hoping. Okay, great, that's a great note. Well, that's a great note for us to have a short break. So do stay with us, we'll be back very soon. The Department of Finance has introduced the electronic government procurement system, EGP. The EGP system has many benefits for stakeholders involved in government procurement. And government seeks to adopt a strategic approach to its purchasing process. Electronic government procurement improves efficiency of procurement and enhances data capture. The EGP is innovative and will automate the sequence from notification, receiving and evaluation of submissions to final contract award. It improves communication between vendors and government agencies, provides greater transparency and builds confidence in the vendor community through increased access to information. To participate, vendors, suppliers and contractors must register on the electronic government procurement platform. EGP, improving efficiency and transparency in the acquisition of goods, works and services. Welcome back to TV30. I'm Johnny Bisa Jones, and I'm joined by Kevin Williams and we're talking paperless and paper-like processes. So, Mr. Williams, we were talking before about the project we did in school. How do you feel about other schools taking on this? Do you see that there is some hope that maybe other schools might want to do so in terms of? Yes, there is a very huge opportunity for other schools to actually partake into that. Originally, I graduated from Compreh and I know that they do have quite a lot of documents that really need to be digitized. And we need to understand where we are in the world. We are very susceptible to natural disasters and the schools are also very susceptible as well. So, if the school isn't really taken care of for whatever reason, it poses a threat to any information that is stored there. So, I honestly believe that if, for example, the way that I see it for the schools is that they could have a complete database whereby each one of the schools has access to their own database, but the ministry is able to actually access that information any way that they see fit. So, for example, for individuals who want to get their information from their school, for example, for a job, or if they want to apply for a university, it would be very easy for them to simply just go online and simply get the information and just email it to their university. That is something that we have the ability of actually doing. And like I said, the Anglican program was done with a separate vendor, but with the original vendor that I am partnered with, with the original computer that I'm partnered with, we have a system that can pretty much cater for all aspects when it pertains to the school, not only for the school's profile, for the students' profile. We can also do report books. We can also do SBAs as well. So, we would be able to store the information or store grades when it comes to the SBAs or final or end-of-term exams. We would be able to actually store that information for the teachers. We might be able to even go so far as to do the teacher schemes for them. So, they would be able to show exactly what they're planning to teach the students for the week on a specific type of program that we set up for them in particular. And it would be much easier than for them to be having to write everything down because my mother has been a teacher for more than 50 years. And I have seen her having to write up the schemes and everything like that every week as well as writing up test papers and things of that nature. So, that is something that I grew up with. And I have seen where technology can really assist on that path. Now, with that, there will need to be some level of training. But that is where the advantage comes with the company that I'm partnered with. Our system is very, very straightforward. It's not no rocket science for you to really figure out exactly what you need to do. We can try to also cater for certain individuals whereby, OK, if they prefer to do things on the form, all they would need to do is we could do it in such a way whereby they could fill it out on the form and then just simply scan it into the system. So that's a way that they can feel comfortable that, OK, they can still do it in the process that they're comfortable with. But with technology, they're able to store it much easier and much quicker. So that's one option that we could actually give to the schools. And I believe it's something that is really needed for now because, especially with the situation with COVID, you would be able to know, for example, if they have certain outbreaks. So for example, they had the outbreak recently with the foot and mouth disease. You would be able to put that information on the system stating that, OK, at this point in time during the term, we had this situation, this medical situation. And what was done to rectify the problem and everything. So all of that information is stored. So if anybody were to come in afterwards, they would simply just have to put a certain date, in particular, in which the incident in the apartment and all of the information is just right there on the screen. So there's quite a lot of opportunities when it comes to having that type of system for the schools. And what we're hoping for is that with the Anken School being a pilot, that we can show the advantages of actually going paperless for just that one aspect and show them all of the possibilities of implementing it for the schools to make it much more streamlined and make it much easier for not only the students, but also for the teachers. Because when you have a happy teacher, you have a happy set of students that are willing to learn and are eager to go beyond what they actually believe they could be. Because if I had to tell you what I wanted to be when I was first in school, it was a completely different aspect right now. OK, OK, all right, OK. And you know what really stands out to me is the fact that you approached this from the schools first, because I find it's kind of wonderful that we talk about climate change and how it's affecting us here and our carbon footprint, not even being so big, but at the same time, we are actually susceptible to all the things that climate change is actually sending out there. And the fact that it's in schools first, I find it's really kind of like a teachable moment. Because when the students see this is the kind of processes that's being implemented within the institutions they are, to me, that's actually teaching them about stuff like that as well, right? Yes, that's very true, because they're able to see the connection between normal work, manual work, as well as technology, and how well that both of these two aspects can actually coincide, coincides with each other. I believe that is a moment that is really needed, because a lot of the children right now, they are pretty much tech savvy. Yes, yeah. You will have like a two or three year old on a phone or on a tablet, and you swear as if like they were literally born with it. So if you can actually grasp that opportunity and really put it into the educational sector, you can achieve wonders. Yeah, yeah. Very much so, very much so. Now, we've been talking a lot about the paperless systems, because that's what I really want to talk to you about today. But you mentioned there's some other aspects within other things that your company offers as well. Just take us through a couple of those things as well, for me, please, in more detail. Yeah, so for example, we also do warehouse tracking systems. So for example, with Massey, we could implement a system for them, whereby they would keep track of all of their retail items. And we can put it in such a way whereby they would be able to know exactly when the item is close to expiring. We can also put in notifications to let them know that, OK, when it reaches to a certain level, you can be notified if you would like to reorder that item. We could also put it in such a way whereby if it's needed for a promotion that a merchandiser can simply say, hey, we need those items to do for a promotion. So it can simply be transported to them right then and there. So there's quite a lot of versatility when it comes to the warehouse tracking system. We can also do it for frozen items as well. We tried to have a few discussions with some of the retail companies down here. Some of them showed a little bit of interest, but they're still a little bit hesitant when it comes to the technology. But it is something that can really improve when it comes, especially to the frozen meats. And also, for example, items such as in warehouses, such as M&C, or with Home Depot, when they have to do the stock taking, the stock taking can literally take a couple of hours instead of a couple of days. So that is some of the advantages of the warehouse tracking system. We also have our vehicle tracking system where you'd be able to track a fleet of vehicles. If you see fit, you would be able to have all of the information. You'd be able to have the information for the driver, as well as the driver's license, the driving behavior. You would also be able to know, for example, like you said, with the carbon footprint, you'd be able to find out the CO2 emissions from the vehicle. You would also be able to know fuel consumption. You would also be able to give them the best route needed for whichever delivery that they're meant to take. You can also do something such as geotagging. So for example, if they were to reach to a certain area to drop certain items, you can simply just tag that area. And once they pass through that designated area, then they would be able to get notifications on the system that, hey, vehicle A has come in. They spent about 20 minutes there offloading whichever items that they need to be offloaded. While that item is being offloaded, you could have the warehouse tracking system just keeping track of all of the items that has been delivered or all the items that have been taken out. So our systems can pretty much coincide with each other. And it's something that really helps when it comes to the productivity for the business. Because therefore, you would be able to know every aspect of the business. You'll not have to micromanage everything. Everything is right there, right there, clear as day, where you can simply just log on to your phone or log on to your laptop in your office, and you'll be able to see exactly everything that's going on in your business. Oh, brilliant. Well, that sounds fantastic. However, we have run out of time. I really want to say thank you, though, for coming in and discussing with us the whole paperless system and the project you did at Anglican School. I really do hope that is the way that we go, because it was a fantastic opportunity, as you said, for St. Lucia. Yes. Yeah, very much so. So again, thank you for joining us, Mr. Williams, and all the best. Thank you very much. It's a pleasure. Hopefully, we can do it again with some much better news. OK. Let's look forward for the future. Brilliant. And thank you for joining us here at GIS for TV30. However, right now, it's time for me to say bye-bye.