IT Academy Students Visit Northern Bank

Northern Bank Newry hosted SRC ICT students on a visit to their premises on Tuesday 15th May 2012. The students were welcomed to the Bank by Senior Bank Manager Mrs. Adrienne Cockram, and given an overview of the Banks ICT operations, processes, and systems by Youth Officer Emma Caherty.
This very informative visit gave the ICT students an opportunity to see how organizations use ICT as part of their business operations.

 Emma explained and demonstrated how the bank's ICT systems are administered and supported by the group's HQ in Denmark. She discussed the various methods of communication between branch staff, and HQ in reporting and resolving faults, as well as dealing with upgrades of software. Emma provided details on regular tasks that Bank conducts as part of keeping their systems secure and ensuring that their information is accurate, in order to comply with legislation like the Data Protection Act.
The students were able to see the range of ICT systems the bank uses to support it's customers; Teller Machine, Central Systems, Internet Portals, and Apps for iPhone and Android. They were able to look at the design of, and methods of interfacing the different systems, as well as the range of applications used in the 'back office' operations. Emma also explained the reasons for the Bank to change, and upgrade their systems, enabling users and customers to access the relevant systems regardless of the computing platform they use.
It was an excellent opportunity for the students to apply the knowledge they obtained in the classroom environment from units such as; Information Systems, Installing & Upgrading Software, IT Technical Support, HCI, to a business / industrial setting.The students found this a very valuable and educational session. We are very thankful to Adrienne and Emma for their time, giving us access to their work environment and answering our questions.