Thomson Reuters Hails NLA as Leader in Customer Service

The National Land Agency (NLA) is being hailed as a leader in public sector innovation and customer service by the United States-based news and technology company Thomson Reuters.

The company recently presented the NLA with the 2014 Public Sector Champions Award from among its more than 1,000 government customers worldwide and Vice President for Tax and Accounting Business at Thomson Reuters, Donald Peele, said the prestigious award received by the agency is well deserved. He noted that the NLA has now become an example for others across the world to emulate.

The relationship between both organizations started in 2003, when the NLA began using the Aumentum Registry software designed by a special team at Thomson Reuters, to simplify the land and property management lifecycle for governments worldwide. This includes assisting governments to register, map, value and tax lands.

Since implemented, the Aumentum Registry system has enabled the NLA to streamline the land registry process, speed up turnaround time and introduce breakthrough innovations such as a digital e-signature to approve new land titles.

Mr. Peele told a JIS Think Tank on October 29, that what Jamaica has done in terms of e-signature is truly innovative in the worldwide land registry market.

“What’s truly exciting is that as an information technology company, the innovation that’s developed here in Jamaica is something that we can then incorporate in our platform and take around the world so that other countries can benefit from the work that Jamaica is doing,” Mr. Peele said.

Meanwhile, Chief Executive Officer at NLA, Elizabeth Stair has credited the implementation of the system for marked improvements in the turnaround times in the agency’s operations.

She said that before implementing the Aumentum Registry software, the registration of land titles and property management services was done manually and was time consuming.

“We are able to offer our customers shorter times, from weeks to days and in some cases hours, and we are able to offer them many more services,” she said.

She informed that now simultaneous lodgments can be made and “you could lodge all your documents in one go and get the full range of titles and survey checking within a matter of six weeks.”

Cheriese Walcott, Acting Director/Registrar of Titles at the NLA, said the agency has also become more efficient in storing and managing data related to land records and titles.

This has allowed the agency to develop a document tracking system, which has proven to be a huge advantage to its customers.

“This system allows our customers in the comfort of their homes, to basically track their documents from submission to completion instead of coming into the office or calling us and getting personnel to discuss the matter with them,” Ms. Walcott explained.

She added that this is helping the NLA to allocate more time and resources to go into communities across the island and educate individuals about applying for land titles and the importance of mainiting proper records.

Thomson Reuters provides integrated, automated solutions to enable its clients to efficiently and accurately manage complex processes and comply with requirements anywhere in the world they operate. The NLA is the company’s first client in Jamaica.