Use official Council and Court mail accounts – Bro Adu-Amankwah

THE Information Technologist (RIT) of the Eastern Regional Council of the Knights of Marshall, Bro Maurice Adu-Amankwah has urged Councils and Courts to use the official Marshallan email accounts rather than their personal email addresses.

He explained that the use of the official email accounts would help Councils and Courts to keep track of all correspondence and other businesses transacted in the name of each Council and Court.

Giving a personal testimony during a workshop for IT officers, Grand Knights and Noble Ladies in Koforidua on April 1, 2017, Bro Adu-Amankwah said during his reign as Grand Knight, there was some confusion as to whether his Council, Council 12, had already paid the 90^th Anniversary Levy or not.

“I was able to prove to the Supreme Secretary of Finance that my Council had already made payment for this levy because my predecessor had at all times used our official email address for correspondence,” he said.

Bro Adu-Amankwah said the use of the Council’s email address by his predecessor it possible to retrieve “relevant emails between the Supreme Council and my Council as well as a copy of the scanned pay-in slip as proof of payment.

“With the mere click of buttons on my computer, my Council avoided paying the same levy twice,” he said.

Write up by Sis Anne-Marie Deku, Court 9.

Read below his entire speech

Welcome Address by E/R RIT at the IT Workshop for Eastern Region Councils and Courts

You are all very welcome to the Information Technology Workshop of the Eastern Region Knights and Ladies of Marshall here in Koforidua.

Many a time, people shy away from responsibility and I am glad that you have accepted the responsibility to become IT Officers of your Councils and Courts, ready to drive this Noble Order forward. I say so because the old way of doing things is over and we must all embrace the age of ICT to help change the way we do things.

Information Technology in simple terms is the use of systems, especially computers and telecommunications to store, retrieve and send information. It has evolved over the years from the “stone age” to this modern era where we will simply be left behind if we do not take advantage of this shift.

We must now begin to think globally and see ourselves as citizens of the world, where one event in the remotest part of the world can help shape the future of others ten thousand miles away.

As Marshallans we can be part of the globe through the use of ICT and I hope that by the end of this workshop we will make this our passion by striving to make IT the backbone of our Noble Order.

Some of the uses of IT in our contemporary Noble Order are as follows:

• Sending information from the Supreme Council/Grand Court to local Councils and Courts and vice versa.
• Hosting of our website to disseminate information to our members and the society at large.
• Storing Data e.g minutes, membership information and correspondence for easy retrieval among others.

I would like to share my personal experience with you on the last example above- During my reign as Grand Knight, there was some confusion as to whether my Council had already paid the 90^th Anniversary Levy or not. I was able to prove to the Supreme Secretary of Finance that my Council had already made payment for this levy because my predecessor had at all times used our official email address for correspondence. This made it possible for me to retrieve relevant emails between the Supreme Council and my Council as well as a copy of the scanned pay-in slip as proof of payment. With the mere click of buttons on my computer, my Council avoided paying the same levy twice.

This is just one example and I assure you that there are many more advantages to the use of IT for our Council and Court activities than not using it.

May I use this opportunity to welcome you once again to this workshop.

I wish you fruitful deliberations. Thank you for your kind attention.