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HSRC Annual Report 2016/17
Fraud and
Corruption
The HSRC is committed to protecting its funds and other assets from any kind of corruption and as such will not tolerate
corrupt or fraudulent activities emanating from either internal or external sources. Any detected corrupt activities are
investigated and, where so required, reported to the relevant authorities.
The HSRC further recognises that its business requires high quality scientific expertise and this requirement, by nature, is
based on prior experience. The HSRC therefore acknowledges that having an interest does not necessarily mean having
a conflict of interest. Anti-corruption objectives of the HSRC, as expressed in the Risk Management Policy Statement,
are achieved through the implementation of an Anti-Corruption Strategy. The objective of this strategy is to give effect
to the expressed commitment of the HSRC Board to prevent and respond to corruption.
The strategy facilitates the development of controls which assist in the prevention and detection of corruption. It
also provides guidelines to respond, should instances of corruption be identified. In order to strengthen these values,
the Board recently approved a separate Whistle-blower Policy and Procedure, providing a safe mechanism whereby
employees and stakeholders can report breaches of the Code of Ethics without fear of victimisation. It encourages
employees to report breaches and gives employees the assurance that they will not be subjected to occupational
detriment on account of having made a protected disclosure, and provides for the protection of whistle-blowers if the
disclosure was made in good faith.
The Anti-Corruption Strategy is fully operational and is reviewed and updated regularly in line with best practice.
Information
Technology
The IT Department exists to technologically enable the organisation to maintain the highest levels of excellence as a
research-led institution of international standing, by providing infrastructure, systems and services which securely process
and deliver appropriate and accurate information to stakeholders in a timely manner, wherever they happen to be.
An overview of work performed during the 2016/17 financial year is presented against the performance background
outlined by continued delivery of the IT Strategy, particularly the implementation of key IT infrastructure projects.
IT infrastructure
The main purpose of the IT Infrastructure Unit is to:
•
Oversee the composite hardware, software, network resources and services required for the existence, operation
and management of the HSRC IT environment;
•
Deliver IT solutions and services to researchers and support staff, with facilities deployed within and hosted outside
the organisation;
•
Run and manage the standard data centre processes, such as incident, change, configuration and problem
management, including event monitoring and evaluation across the infrastructure.
PART C: Governance