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A new arm of design and digital agency TPA is taking an innovative approach to the challenges posed by the new GDPR law which comes into force next spring.
The newly-formed TPE is an eLearning division of the business which has handpicked GDPR experts to create a product which will be used to train thousands of Channel Islands employees.
Director Tony Tostevin said that the impact of GDPR on business could be far reaching with what have been described as eye-watering fines for breaches of the new law. It is not just the preserve of data protection officers - all staff in local businesses, amounting to tens of thousands of employees in the islands, will need to be familiar with it.
He said there have been dynamic developments in eLearning making it the perfect medium for getting a lot of employees quickly up to speed on GDPR.
Leading the project is Sarah Levy, a Guernsey-born and educated ELearning specialist who has returned to the island after gaining almost 20 years’ experience designing digital training products for clients such as Siemens, DHL, Thomson Reuters, BT and O2, while working as an eLearning Consultant for Accenture and for other leading eLearning providers.
“Modern digital training has seen a significant move away from passive learning – reading text and clicking the next button to continue, to something highly engaging, contextualised and interactive – far more like a website,” she said.
“Face-to-face training and seminars will always play an important part in training delivery but it is not always practical or cost-effective for employees to attend. Our eLearning courses enable all staff members to attend the training in their own time and at their own pace and to repeat it as many times as needed at work or even while travelling. There is a problem-based test at the end of each module which is a good way to assess what has been learned by each individual, identify any gaps in understanding and evidence that each employee has completed their training.
“GDPR means we should really understand what data we have and where it is. It’s a way of looking inwardly at the business and asking ‘where is all of our data, how are we storing it, who is accessing it and do they really need to access it?’ Those taking our courses will learn at a deeper level how to become trusted custodians of people’s personal data.”
Initially the product will have two modules – one looking at the new law and the governance requirements of GDPR, the other a risk-based approach to the handling of customer data. There are plans to produce further modules addressing related topics such as encryption.
CPD accreditation has been applied for.
TPE has worked with subject matter experts Data Protection & Information Commissioner Emma Martins, Grant Hamilton of BITS (member of the Association of Data Protection Officers) and Richard Field of Carey Olsen.
