Yet during this entire period the Committee has been devoting considerable efforts to drawing up recommendations that we consider to be key from a supervisory perspective, but which have not received as much attention as Basel II. The Core Principles revision is a case in point. Perhaps the fact that they are recommendations aimed specifically at supervisors, centred around the effectiveness of supervision without imposing direct requirements on the banking industry - although they obviously affect that sector’s activities indirectly explains why this has not generated the same glut of headlines as other initiatives. However, I believe that we would all agree on the important place that the Principles have occupied and continue to occupy, and we know that compliance with them is a priority for virtually all supervisors. The aim of the Core Principles is to establish a set of minimum requirements to be met in order for banking supervision to be considered adequate. This permits the identification of areas in need of improvement and facilitates planning to achieve these improvements. The passage of time has shown that the Core Principles have satisfactorily met these objectives since they were first issued in 1997. Moreover, they have permitted the establishment of an internationally accepted benchmark with which to evaluate the supervisory approaches of different countries. In so doing, they have helped to  BIS Review 45/2006  1  improve and encourage the convergence of banking supervisory standards, thereby contributing to global financial stability. So why revise them, even if the changes are only minor?
As needs and roles change, the organisation must be able to customise its information environment and modify its processes in response. This practice forms a good base to pursue new information technology initiatives. Allow me to share with you several prescriptive pointers which I am sure that you have heard several times before and are probably guided by these and similar practices in your respective central banks. Notwithstanding, the familiarity, I believe that it is appropriate for me to repeat them at a forum such as this. During the course of this week, as you deliberate on how to ensure that your organisation’s information technology investments remain appropriate, I encourage you to be guided by the following pointers which are selfexplanatory: •  Understand the value of your organisation’s data and tie information technology investments to the value of that data. •  Tie information technology investments to factors that provide strategic value. •  Understand the business issues that affect the organisations you serve to the point that they become second nature. •  Develop expertise in areas of business so that you can better contribute to the enhancement of the various business functions in your organisation through the application of information technology. •  Remain in a continuous state of dialogue with various areas of the organisation to facilitate shared learning that can eventually translate in the deployment of information technology in a manner that is in line with the organisation’s strategic directions.