Confidentiality

Every Commissioner, member of a Committee, employee and a consultant in the service of NCST shall upon assumption of his/her office; take such oath of secrecy as may be approved by NCST or as may otherwise be prescribed under the Act.

No Commissioner, Member of a Committee, employee or a consultant in the service of NCST shall, without written consent given by or on behalf of the Board, publish or disclose to any person, otherwise than in the course of his/her duties, content of any document, communication or information which relates to, and which has come to his knowledge in the course of duty.

Commissioners, like all employees, are required to maintain the confidentiality of information entrusted to them by NCST or any other confidential information about NCST that they receive from any source in their capacity as a Commissioner, except when disclosure is authorized by the Board of Commissioners or legally required.

Commissioners are expected to take all appropriate steps to minimize the risk of disclosure of confidential communications coming to them from NCST and of confidential discussions involving Commissioners.

All discussions occurring at Board or Board Committee meetings are presumed to be confidential to the extent disclosure of them is not legally required.

Commissioners may not use confidential information for their own personal benefit or for the benefit of persons or entities outside NCST or in violation of Constitution, the Act, any laws or regulations.

These responsibilities with regard to confidential information apply to Commissioners during and after their service on the Board.

For purposes of this charter, “confidential information” is all non-public information relating to NCST, including information that could be useful to competitors or otherwise harmful to the NCST’s interests or objectives if disclosed.

Integrated Reporting and Disclosures

The Board, through the Finance and Audit Committee shall ensure the integrity of NCST reports (financial and non-financial).

The GoM is provided with full and accurate information about NCST.  NCST discloses material information to the relevant GoM authorities and key stakeholders in accordance with the prevailing regulations having the force of law in a timely, accurate, understandable and objective manner.

NCST takes the initiative to disclose not only matters required under the regulations having the force of law, but also those of material importance to the decision-making of GoM and other key stakeholders with respect to such matters. NCST discloses financial as well as non-financial matters in the Science and Technology report which is presented to the National Assembly every two (2) years.

The DG ensures that NCST complies with prevailing regulations having the force of law in respect of disclosure requirements.