1. A Guide to using the platform for the purposes of the National Export Strategy

2.  The Commonwealth Secretariat has provided the NES Secretariat with access to Huddle, a web based platform which will facilitate sharing and collaboration on all the files related to the implementation of the NES.  The Secretariat will use this medium to regularly receive and track all FPO updates to the Strategy.  The site will also serve as a hub of information on the progress of the implementation of all initiatives.

3.  All Focal Point Officers (FPOs) will be sent an invitation to the Huddle website. When you receive the link, follow the steps below:  Click Accept invitation;  You will then be prompted to Register as a new user;  Fill in your first name, last name and email address;  Create a username (we recommend using your email address);  Create a password using UPPER and lower case letters, punctuation, symbols and numbers;  Click Create my account. To log on in the future, click on https://connects.huddle.net and enter your username and password. Don’t forget to bookmark this link on your web browser.https://connects.huddle.net

4.  Huddle has been designed to work across as many internet browsers as possible, and currently supports the following browsers:  Internet Explorer 8, 9, 10 & 11 (PC only)  Firefox 1.5+ (PC, Mac and Linux)  Chrome (current version)  Safari 2+ (Mac)  Huddle may work in other browsers (IE6 & IE7) but we cannot guarantee functionality. If you are using Internet Explorer for Mac - we recommend upgrading to Firefox

5.  Once you have signed in, you will be directed to the Dashboard page.  This gives an overview of all the activity in your Workspace Folder.

6.  The next step in getting started will be to choose a Workspace.  Click on choose a workspace in the upper left corner of the page.  Then choose “Jamaica NES: Monitoring and Evaluation Platform” from the drop down menu.

7.  This will take you to the Overview page of the ‘Jamaica NES: Monitoring and Evaluation Platform’ Workspace: The Overview page shows all Activities and updates related to the files in the folder which you have been assigned to. For example, the MIIC FPO will see the activity of all updates made to the MIIC folder, such as updated initiatives or timelines.

8.  All FPOs will be assigned to their organization’s folders which will contain all the files related to their organization’s NES initiatives.  FPOs will not have access to folders to which they have not been assigned.  To access these folders, click the Files tab, located to the right of the Overview tab and directly beneath the NES logo:

9.  This Files page is where most of the FPO activity on the Huddle platform will take place:  The matrices for each organization will be located in their respective Implementation Matrix folders on this page.

10.  The column on the right side of the Files page offers much of this page’s functionality:

11.  Next, click on your organization’s folder to gain access to their NES files. Using BSJ as an example, the following files will always be available at a minimum:  General files such as the NES 2 Official Document will be available in the National Export Strategy Phase II folder on the previous page (Files) and accessible to all users.

12.  The files in your organization’s folder can be edited on Huddle, or downloaded, edited and re- uploaded.  Once a file is in use it will be locked for editing for all other users.  Once the file has been edited, and changes uploaded, users will be able to see all previous versions of the file.  A timeline of document edits will be visible on the Dashboard.  A notification will be sent to your stated email address when any changes have been made to the folder.

14.  The reporting template will be accessible in the excel file labeled “[Organization] Implementing Matrix [year]”, with additional folders added for each year of the implementation period.  Using BSJ as an example, clicking the file will enable you to view on Huddle:

15.  While excel files can be viewed on the huddle platform, you will need to use the excel program to edit the file with updates to the implementation plan.  To do this, refer to the column on the right: 1. Download file.2. Edit file in excel as usual. 3. Upload new version. The Get link option will allow users to create a publicly accessible link to the file.

16.  To report results, select the tab in the Implementation Matrix referring to the relevant quarter (currently Q3), and fill in the table with the required information. Repeat for all sectors.  This information will automatically feed into your organization’s master table on the first tab, (except for the colour coded status column), which will in turn feed into the Secretariat’s master list for all organizations.  Once the file is re-uploaded, all previous versions of the excel file will be readily available in the Versions tab to the left of the “Share with others” icon.

17.  The other tabs of the Huddle platform include Tasks, Whiteboards, Discussions, Meetings, People and Settings. Though these are not integral at the moment, they may be useful to this process.  For example, Tasks can be used to give a representation of all your organization’s inputted tasks as well as an intuitive means of keeping track;  the Whiteboard currently contains useful Huddle Guidance Notes;  and Discussions may be used to have conversations among all the Huddle users in the Workspace or a select few.

18.  We encourage you to explore the full functionality of the Huddle.com platform for your own use in supporting the NES, and as the Secretariat begins to engage with FPOs more via the platform.  Thank you for your time.