The Multilateral Development Bank has reacted swiftly in support of Central America during the Covid-19 pandemic, while being true to its mission

Tegucigalpa, July 1, 2020.- The Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) is proof of this. The multilateral financial institution, which was founded 60 years ago, has a physical presence in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama, as well as a total of 15 member countries has established "Technology Development" as one of the four strategic components of its 20-24 Strategic Information Technologies Plan, which seeks a gradual transition towards mobility and accessibility pursuant to the demands of the current world and the needs of its collaborators. CABEI's General Services and Information Technology Manager Francisco Cornejo stated that, “This process is aimed at establishing a robust and integral remote working capacity. The Bank used to have a number of unstable partial solutions and sought something users were more comfortable with."

As a Development Bank, CABEI must promote technological transformation in its member countries, but to be consistent, it must apply such international standards internally. The starting point was to change its email service to migrate to Microsoft Exchange. Then came the adoption of the Office 365 suite. CABEI’s Head of Continuous Improvement commented that, “In 2019, an intensive technology change management campaign was carried out. For users, the main improvement involved  support in the complete implementation of the entire Office 365 and Teams suite. Within weeks, the technology team stopped receiving calls requesting videoconferencing settings due to the fact that everyone had the possibility to configure video calls from their device with just a click.”

Cornejo highlighted that, "The COVID-19 emergency has led to an acceleration of the Bank's digital transformation. The crisis came and we were well prepared, which allowed us to quickly work remotely and continue to provide services to our clients, when it was most important to them." When restrictions and social distancing were imposed, the Bank already had support video material available to guide collaborators in managing the tools necessary for remote work. In addition, Members of the Unique Service Center, who provide primary support to users, have also received training in Office 365.”

After a few days of starting remote operations, Teams sessions increased, including Interactions, calls, videoconferences. What the statistics show is impressive: Before confinement, there were approximately 150 thousand interactions per month (chat messages, calls, meetings); however, during quarantine this value has risen to 472 thousand only in May of this year, representing a growth greater than three times the original situation. All this internal connectivity enabled CABEI to manage the donation of COVID-19 detection test kits that were used in the countries of the region, as well as other types of procedures such as support to Central Banks and the Financial System. Likewise, the Bank has provided significant support  to initiatives aimed at the MSME sector, which is the main generator of employment in the region. The aforementioned results would not have been possible without the efficient connectivity of decision makers and collaborators.

Determination for change

CABEI's transformation is an example of planning, strategy and a clear vision for the continuity of operations even during challenging times. After all, the Bank's mission - to promote the economic integration and balanced economic and social development of the Central American region, including the founding countries and non-founding regional countries, serving and aligning itself with the interests of all its members - is key, more so during these difficult times.

The support of CABEI Executive President Dr. Dante Mossi and of the Board of Directors has been decisive in steadily moving forward, not only in terms connectivity and remote work, which are natural phases of any digital acceleration process, but also in establishing a robust and comprehensive plan that deals with multiple and complex aspects. The Bank's presidency has encouraged the use of other tools such as Planner for efficient task tracking. The use of One Drive for cloud storage has served to better leverage the virtues of collaborative work; the Forms application has been helpful for the elaboration of surveys; and Stream has been useful for videos.

Dr. Dante Mossi has assured that CABEI will continue to promote digital transformation initiatives internally and externally, stating that, “The Bank has the capacity to implement short, medium and long term actions; first internally in the institution and subsequently externally, influencing in region and its member countries to adopt digital services and actions in both the public and private sectors in order to strengthen the region's competitiveness."

The latest product to be implemented was Yammer. Mr. Rivas explained that, “We started with less than 6 thousand interactions per month (read messages, likes and published messages), but last March we reached the highest point with more than 24 thousand interactions. Meetings that were previously held face-to-face and connected by video calls in the Country Offices became virtual, achieving an attendance and participation that had not been previously obtained. For approximately an hour, the entire staff managed to listen to our President live. Furthermore, by means of integration between Teams and Yammer, more than 160 questions and answers were published, generating 10,124 reads and more than 500 likes. All very interesting interactions."

The process to involve collaborators has been very successful. A group of ‘Champions’ was identified to appropriate a technological platform or tool and, through a video, explain to their colleagues on its proper use. Rivas added that, “We publish these videos in Yammer, send them by mail and project them in different places of the Bank. To close, we held a TechDay with international speakers who motivated the staff. Those sessions were then made available online so that each person could consult and review them. In addition, a Dr. Office 365 exercise was carried out to schedule an appointment with our technical team and provide personal training to those who required it.”

CABEI's transformation experience has the potential of becoming a manual to share with organizations that are just beginning their processes. Cornejo reiterated that, “Great thing will be learned as a result of this experience. The first-hand user has already experienced all the benefits of technology and will be willing to continue using them whenever required. Thanks to these projects, CABEI was able to remotely operate almost 100% of the processes that were previously carried out in person. This has translated into great strength and satisfaction for our employees, who feel rejoiced to continue working without exposing themselves."

The results regarding productivity guarantee the success of this process. With remote work, collaborators avoid traffic that last hours in large cities. In addition, the virtual meetings held in all the areas of the bank are proving to be more efficient: They start on time, have a time limit and address specific issues. Likewise, the Bank's officials in the region are better linked, integrated and collaborate more efficiently.

However, beyond productivity, it is most important that thanks to the digital transformation the CABEI team has been able to fulfill its mission of being present, operational and fully aligned with the needs of its clients, contributing to solving the great challenges facing the region, while supporting the countries on the path to economic recovery.