THE 11TH Annual CTO Forum just concluded in lovely Dublin, Ireland. A mix of discussions, power breakfasts, lectures and loads of entertainment filled the days. New relationships were formed, many new CIOs came to the limelight and a new category of Women CIO of the Year award was also introduced. You will hear a lot more about these things in this issue and next. What you may not see captured in some of these stories is what I want to share with you here.

While speaking to CIOs, I came across many stories of innovations. Some have saved millions in travel by using new-age communication platforms, while others are experimenting with out-of-the-box CRM solutions.

Some are using social media to the fullest while others are creating home grown solutions and taking them to their worldwide offices. You would hear of all these engaging stories in the magazine.

In my column I would like to discuss a couple of aspects where I feel that technology could have done more to make our lives easier.

My first problem is with the check-in procedures at hotels. We arrived at our hotel in Dublin just a bit earlier than the stipulated time and were horrified to find the rooms that were to be allotted to us were still not ready.

Checking in more than a hundred people at one go can be a harrowing experience for any hotel staff. Can we not make it a tiny bit simpler?

Let’s try and learn from toll gate attendants. They do not take more than a few seconds to issue you a ticket while you are passing a toll booth. The hotel has the passport details of the traveller in any case – can they not use it to ensure that the keys and other documentation is ready and the person is checked in as soon as s/he shows the passport? They could probably use the MICR code scan available at the bottom of passports to make their job even simpler. Worth a thought, isn’t it?

But, the bigger story was of the Sikh and the immigration form. This was on my way back. As I took my seat, on my fight back from Amsterdam, I had a rough looking 50 year old Sikh next to me. Tired with all the fun we had in Dublin, I almost passed out as soon as I came to my seat. I woke up to find one of our CIO friends standing next to me, filling the immigration form of the Sikh gentleman. The fight was a bit turbulent and as the CIO had difficulty writing, he requested me to complete the form.

Now the matter began to unspool. The old Sikh was coming from Glasgow, Scotland and was going to a non-descript village in Jallandhar district in Punjab. The reason he was not filling the form himself was because he did not know how to read/ write/ speak in English. He even signed in Punjabi.

Here comes my question, and the option of passport reading again. Why does he need to fill this form? Can the immigration authorities not learn from credit card companies who run enormous databases that track more things than a border authority could ever need. I suppose they can. They already have the systems in place with the unique code on the passport that they can use to identify a person. All that is needed is a centralised system.

Yes, it may sound too simplistic; I would need your thoughts on implementing such solutions. Do write to me at geetaj.channana@9dot9.in.