The GCMS, or global case management system, was introduced in our mission in Port of Spain in June of this year, and we've since rolled it out in a number of other missions. All of the reports I have received have been positive, but I'll invite officials to supplement my answer.
I know this program has been of concern to this committee for several years. When it started some years ago, there were a lot of start-up investments in the information technology. It was behind deadline and overbudget initially. But three years ago, there was a re-scoping of the program by Treasury Board. The program was undertaken in a more limited way. I'm pleased to say that we are now on target. I think the problems of the past have been corrected, and so far implementation has been successful. This is very important, because the kinds of issues that people like Mr. Wrzesnewskyj are raising are a reflection of the fact that we still have a sort of 1960s system of paper-based files, which is inefficient.
Once the global case management system is fully implemented, if visa officers in India, say, have reached their targets on time, they'll be able to shift over to a different country and pick up cases from a mission where we are behind in our targets. This will help to equalize the processing times for files all across the world and will result in a more efficient use of scarce resources.
Could I invite Claudette or the deputy to supplement?