The Integrated Budget and Accounting System (iBAS++) scheme, of the Strengthening Public Financial Management Program to Enable Service Delivery (SPFMS) under the Finance Division of the Ministry of Finance, has earned the prestigious ISO/IEC 27001:2013 certification in the category of information security management systems.
This certificate, awarded by the global organization Bureau Veritas, recognizes the systematic and comprehensive approach implemented by iBAS++ to secure sensitive information.
Bureau Veritas granted the certification after a thorough examination, inspection, and verification process.
In a ceremony held at the SPFMS office in Dhaka recently, the certificate was formally handed over to Finance Adviser Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed by Bureau Veritas' CIF Operation Manager (Bangladesh), Mukut K. Barua.
Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed attended the event as the chief guest, while Dr. Md. Khairuzzaman Majumder, Secretary of the Finance Division, chaired the session.
Senior officials from the Finance Division and representatives of development partner organizations were also present, said a press release.
National Program Director of SPFMS, Mohammad Saiful Islam, provided an overview of various activities under the SPFMS program.
Addressing the ceremony, Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed said useful, efficient and pragmatic approach of iBAS++ in managing automated financial services would help ensuring transparency and accountability of the use of financial resources.
Prior to the certificate handover, Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed inaugurated the extended section of the SPFMS office and an e-library.
According to the recent evaluation by the certification authority, iBAS++ met all the requirements for obtaining the ISO/IEC 27001:2013 certification for its application, related IT operations, and data processing activities.
ISO is a global alliance of national standards bodies, and ISO/IEC 27001 is an international standard that helps organizations protect their information assets.
The ISO certification of iBAS++ is considered a significant milestone in securing government budget and expenditure management information, marking a major achievement in the government's information management practices.
Through the iBAS++ system, over 400 financial management reports can be generated to support policy-making, monitoring, auditing, and other activities.
iBAS++ interfaces with all major government systems, including the Central Bank's core banking system, the Tax Identification Number (TIN) database, the National ID (NID) database, the electronic Government Procurement (e-GP) system, systems from the Ministry of Public Administration, the Planning Commission, the Bangladesh Employee Welfare Board, birth and death registration, land development tax, the Election Commission, and the National Board of Revenue database.
This integration has ensured faster service delivery by the government. —BSS
