Aspiring to be the first, Chris Reckord, chief executive officer (CEO) of tTech Limited, says the company will be rolling out its data protection IT compliance services shortly.

Speaking at the company’s recent annual general meeting held at Knutsford Court Hotel in Kingston, Reckord indicated that tTech has received numerous queries from customers amidst the long-awaited enactment of the Data Protection Act.

He further told the Jamaica Observer that the company is in fact currently conducting its own data protection impact assessment (DPIA) — a process to help identify and minimise the data protection risks of a project.

“Part of any data protection or data privacy exercise is doing what they call a data protection impact assessment…so when tTech is ready to go the market [to offer these services] we have to make sure that we have completed our DPIA, because we have to register with the necessary authority once the Government puts [the Act] in place,” he emphasised. “[tTech] will be responsible for the IT compliance component of the Act and our focus is to put in all the tools and technologies in place for companies”.

Reckord also revealed that the company has partnered with third party data privacy experts to ensure full conception of the Act.

He further indicated that the official launch date, as well as details about the services will be revealed next month.

The Data Protection Bill, piloted by then Science, Energy and Technology Minister Fayval Williams, was passed in the Senate on June 12. The Bill, which was approved without amendments in the Lower House on May 19, was green lit by the Senators with three amendments.

The Data Protection Act seeks to create, among others, new data protection standards for public authorities and private organisations. The legislation also stipulates that the data collected must be accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date; must not be held for longer than is necessary for the original purpose; must be protected using appropriate technical and organisational measures; and be disposed of in accordance with the regulations.

Once the technology minister has appointed a date when the Act will take effect, companies will have two years from the appointed date, to be in compliance with the provisions under the Bill.

The managed IT services and consulting company offers IT security, infrastructure management, user support, voice solutions, and cloud services.

For its second quarter ended June 30, 2020, tTech achieved an unaudited after-tax profit of $8.6 million, a 45.4 per cent decrease over the previous corresponding period.

According to Reckord, in the company’s report to shareholders, this was mainly due to several projects put on hold and postponed for later in the year by customers.

The company recorded revenues of $82.7 million, down 8.5 per cent when compared with the corresponding period in 2019. Expenses for the period were $78.6 million, a decrease of 4.6 per cent over the previous corresponding quarter.