Questions/Answers
Question 1
Please briefly describe the initiative, what issue or challenge it aims to address and specify its objectives. (300 words maximum)
Local authorities in Mauritius provide services to ensure the welfare of all citizens by providing good sanitation of the environment through refuse collection service, lighting of all public places, provision and maintenance of roads, drains and associated infrastructure, cemeteries, regulate trade, provision of market fairs, leisure spaces, buildings and other sports infrastructure. They also control private development of land within their jurisdiction.
After a restructuring of local authority in 2012, The District Council of Moka/Flacq was split into two distinct Councils, namely; the District Council of Moka and, The District Council of Flacq. The splitting of the District Council also meant the splitting of human resources, and the District Council of Moka got less than 50% of the total staff. This represented a drawback in the performance of the workforce and innovative ways had to be sought to deliver the services to the inhabitants.
The main aim of this project was to promote digital transformation in the public sector by providing services efficiently in the four (4) main departments mainly the public health department, public infrastructure department, public land use department and the welfare department of the Council. The objectives to achieve this goal were firstly to introduce a geographical information system (GIS) platform to which all activities such as town planning, Bareland management and Asset tagging could be referenced to a geographical coordinate location for a holistic view of the situation. Next Global Positioning Service (GPS) solution was used for fleet management of the Council vehicles and control of operations of the refuse collection team. An internal web based Council project management (CPM) system combined with an Integrated Reporting System (IRS) was implemented for project activity reporting with procurement and accounting functions so that a consolidated view of project activities could be achieved in real time.
Question 2
Please explain how the initiative is linked to the selected category. (100 words maximum)
The initiative described in question 1 are in line with the category 4 guidance of the 2020 UNPSA which requires strategic approaches and applications of existing and frontier digital technologies to transform public administration. The local government authority is a non-profit making organisation and provides services to ensure a safe and sound environment for the wellbeing of the Mauritian population
The tools and processes implemented have led to innovative policies and mechanisms that address gaps and challenges in social, economic, and environmental sectors including the use of GIS platforms, GPS and drone imagery as well as the Internet of Things.
Question 3
a. Please specify which SDGs and target(s) the initiative supports and describe concretely how the initiative has contributed to their implementation. (200 words maximum)
The initiative implemented in the different departments aims to build a resilient infrastructure, promote inclusiveness and foster innovation as per guidelines set by the sustainable development goal SDG no.9 of the United Nations.
The infrastructure built to support the digital transformation was based on state of the art geographic information system (GIS) using accurate maps and own drone imagery that makes the solution precise and durable. This solution is complemented by the Global positions service (GPS) which adds another layer of accuracy to the system. Asset tagging is implemented using Internet of Things (IOT) technology and all Council assets are tagged with weatherproof tags labelled with QR codes.
The system implemented improved the wellbeing of all inhabitants living in the region covered within the jurisdiction of the Council. In addition all progress of the project works were shared transparently by displaying in all Council offices, waiting rooms giving people access to information in real time.
The Council has been very innovative with the use of technology as it is the first local authority to use a digital mapping system to deliver quality services to the community. Working processes internally have also been transformed thereby making teams more efficient in delivery.
b. Please describe what makes the initiative sustainable in social, economic and environmental terms. (100 words maximum)
The initiative is sustainable socially as it allows services to be extended to people in all levels of society and is quite transparent to them.
From an economic perspective, once the system has been implemented, it can be easily be scaled to accept more users and new features with only small incremental costs. As more users adopt the system, the cost per user on the system decreases, so very sustainable economically.
The fact that the system offers better management control allows efficient and effective delivery of services with paperless activities and reduction in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from vehicles.
Question 4
a. Please explain how the initiative has addressed a significant shortfall in governance, public administration or public service within the context of a given country or region. (200 words maximum)
After a restructuring of local authority in 2012, the District Council of Moka was understaffed causing a major drawback in the performance of the daily work with increase in complaints and rising costs to service the needs of the community. Innovative ways had to be sought to deliver the services to the inhabitants in an efficient way. The management of the Council then decided to adopt technology to equip the team to be more effective in their tasks. This led to the implementation of a Council project management (CPM) systems for tracking of project work that improved transparency. Moreover a GIS platform was introduced so that all activities of the Council field officers could be linked to a geographical location hence raising accountability of staff. In addition all vehicles were equipped with tracking devices and assets tagged with QR codes so that these could be monitored on the GIS system with GPS coordinate. This allowed monitoring of activities of Council teams in real time as well as fuel use monitoring to identify poor performance areas. As a result the governance of the Council improved and tasks status was available in real time leading to better management decision making.
b. Please describe how your initiative addresses gender inequality in the country context. (100 words maximum)
The services offered by the Council by the initiative are targeted at all genders in the community but this initiative has made services accessible more easily as the use of online portals and the citizen support unit (CSU) permits closer proximity to the community. As a result of the initiative, the welfare of all genders of the people living within the district were improved as information and services are available to all. Additionally education services have been made more accessible through an e-library system that the Council implemented as part of the digitisation initiative.
c. Please describe who the target group(s) were, and explain how the initiative improved outcomes for these target groups. (200 words maximum)
Various target groups were impacted but the implementation of this initiative and they all experienced positive changes.
Firstly the households benefited from a regular and efficient refuse collection service which meant that the sanitation improved and the risks of sanitation issues were eliminated. Additionally the bareland management service that use drones to identify areas with overgrown grass and trees also helped address the sanitation issue.
Then the individuals seeking a building and land use permit have noticed a significant improvement in the service as they cannot only see the status of their application but can also have detailed information at the time of application if their permit would be considered or if there are issues that need addressing . This reduced the time to get a building and land use permit significantly.
Internally the finance department staff can now track activities and schedule payments thus gaining better control on budget allocations. Additionally the amount of overtime has been significantly reduced as time paid is only what is recorded by the GPS system when tasks were undertaken. Another area of saving is fuel consumed by vehicles as all trips are now tracked and fuel monitored by the fleet management system.
Question 5
a. Please describe how the initiative was implemented including key developments and steps, monitoring and evaluation activities, and the chronology. (300 words)
The key projects of the digital transformation initiative were the development of a council project management (CPM) platform and deployment of a GIS system coupled with GPS data.
In 2012, the decision was taken to create a centralised web based CPM system to track all activities related to projects implemented by the council. This triggered the start of CPM system requirements gathering. During 2013, system development work progressed. By 2014 the first trial of the CPM system was done and over the next couple of years, the system was tested and updated to integrate with existing systems from the different departments. By late 2017 the system was fully implemented and officially launched. During the development and deployment of the project, the activities were monitored using established project management methodologies so that project was on time, within budget and at the quality expected by the council.
The GIS system was put in place by NAVEO in 2013 and full integration of the system was completed in 2014. The GPS data facility was then linked to the platform from 2014.
The Asset Identification System project kick off was on 5th Aug 2016 and final Live was on 28th Aug 2017. An agile approach with multiple iterations on the software side was undertaken between 18th July 2017 and 28th August 2017 to reach the final version. Each iteration was followed by User Acceptance Testing (UAT) and training sessions. These were accentuated towards the end of the project before live.
b. Please clearly explain the obstacles encountered and how they were overcome. (100 words)
The deployment of the initiative was not all plain sailing. Initially staffs were reluctant to change and the staff churn rate was high which affected the implementation phases. However this was addressed by some education of the system facilities and training in all departments. Moreover as no budget was allocated for the project initially due to budget cuts, savings from other project budget had to be found to finance initial stages as well as careful cash flow planning. Moreover, the CPM system permitted savings on overtime spent which were re-injected in the projects.
Question 6
a. Please explain in what ways the initiative is innovative in the context of your country or region. (100 words maximum)
The use of GIS platform and GPS system has never been used in a local authority to manage operations of the field operations team. Site activities were always viewed in isolation from other tasks happening in the vicinity of the region and this caused some serious problems as lack of planning information could hinder proper implementation. However with the system the holistic view of tasks near the site allows an activity to be implemented more efficiently taking into considerations other tasks being undertaken close-by so that teams can be more effective on site and drawing synergies with other departments.
b. Please describe, if relevant, how the initiative drew inspiration from successful initiative in other regions, countries and localities. (100 words maximum)
This initiative has not been implemented elsewhere but the GIS platform has been deployed in Mauritius for fleet management services only by transport and logistic companies. The Council has extended the use of the platform to track not only vehicles but also its field staff as well as activities that are undertaken by teams in the field. Asset management has also been an extended feature of the GIS platform to allow all the assets of the Council to be tagged and kept on a repository. This is one of the requirements of moving the region towards becoming a smart city.
Question 7
a. Has the initiative been transferred and/or adapted to other contexts (e.g. other cities, countries or regions) to your organization’s knowledge? If yes, please explain where and how. (200 words maximum)
At the moment we are not aware of any other cities, countries or regions where this initiative has been deployed.
b. If not yet transferred/adapted to other contexts, please describe the potential for transferability. (200 words maximum)
The potential to transfer this initiative is huge. The local Council of Moka have seen a significant improvement in its level of services and the cost to serve the citizens has been reduced. So if this was to be replicated at a national level as suggested by the Prime Minister of Mauritius, significant savings could be generated and teams would be more efficient in their tasks and they would have the latest tools and better control to tackle their daily tasks. In Mauritius all local authorities have the same mandate and interact with the same type of stakeholders within their jurisdiction. So, this initiative can easily be replicated and implement as all systems have already been tested and proven in the District Council of Moka. Some government to government agreements could also be used to implement this system in other parts of Africa.
Question 8
a. What specific resources (i.e. financial, human or others) were used to implement the initiative? (100 words maximum)
The main resources spent to implement this initiative are as below:
1. NAVEO GPS/GIS/FLEET MANAGEMENT - Rs 1,503,089
2. SETTING UP OF THE CONTROL ROOM - Rs 1,135,372.59
3. I-Library - Rs 725,992.50
4. VIDEO CLIP RECORDING AND MONTAGE - Rs 150,000
5. ASSET TAGGING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM -Rs 4,286,958
6. DRONE IMAGERY FOR BARELAND MANAGEMENT AND GIS -Rs 991,990
7. COUNCIL PROJECT MANAGEMENT -Rs 500,000
TOTAL AMOUNT FOR THE I-COUNCIL PROJECT - Rs 9,293,402.09
b. Please explain what makes the initiative sustainable over time, in financial and institutional terms. (100 words maximum)
The GIS platform implemented is a new technology that currently meets the requirements of the Council. The platform is user customisable over time but as it is software driven, an upgrade would suffice to have new version. In financial terms, once the platform has been implemented, most investment has been done. Software updates are small incremental costs and as more users and features are added, the cost to serve of the platform to the Council is reduced. The government of Mauritius policy is to achieve digital transformation of the public sector. This initiative is directly related to the government’s policy.
Question 9
a. Was the initiative formally evaluated either internally or externally?
Yes
b. Please describe how it was evaluated and by whom? (100 words maximum)
As the system was deployed across the different departments, evaluation was done by managers to assess its suitability. Initially the human resource team assessed if more work was being achieved by the same team. Then the financial controller was able to examine their forecasted budget versus the actual spend so that the implementation of the system could be justified. Finally the customer care service team was able to witness the advantages of the initiative as complaints about different parts of the Council operations had fallen drastically and the team was able to see the results in real time.
c. Please describe the indicators and tools used. (100 words maximum)
Various indicators were used to evaluate the benefits of the system after implementation. Firstly with GIS system, the number of officers used to monitor the fleet of scavenging vehicles was reduced from five to one thus representing an 80% saving in human resource for that activity. Then the amount of fuel used by the Council vehicles has been reduced by almost 30% thanks to the fuel monitoring facility offered by the fleet management solution. The number of complaints recorded at the Council was reduced to zero for refuse collection as officers had full visibility of activities using GPS reporting tool.
d. What were the main findings of the evaluation (e.g. adequacy of resources mobilized for the initiative, quality of implementation and challenges faced, main outcomes, sustainability of the initiative, impacts) and how this information is being used to inform the initiative’s implementation. (200 words maximum)
The resources mobilised for this initiative were focused on the tasks and efficiently implemented the solutions to target all the pain points of the Council and address the issues.
The latest technology was used and quality of implementation was followed through with a tight project management process. System was tested to meet client requirements. The main challenges faced were user adoption reluctance, lack of training as well as access to funds for project implementation.
The initiative delivered a significant increase in the work output of the teams, better decision making, reduction in overtime, savings in vehicle fuel and maintenance costs as well as complaints number reduction.
Management of the solutions require minimum effort from teams and the system scalability and redundancy as it is cloud based makes it very sustainable for the Council.
The impact on the Council organisation has been very positive and officers now address their responsibilities with a different mindset having full access to real time data makes them more efficient to deliver quality results.
The information gathered about the system’s impact in one department is being used to assess how the solution can be adapted to other parts of the organisation for better performance.
Question 10
Please describe how the initiative strives to work in an integrated manner within its institutional landscape – for example, how does the initiative work horizontally and/or vertically across different levels of government? (200 words maximum)
This initiative was launched to align with the government strategy by embarking on digital transformation journey in all departments of the council.
Two main government platforms that this initiative interfaces with are the National Electronic Licensing System (NELS) and the Citizen Support Unit (CSU) portal.
The NELS is an online platform that allows both citizens and foreigners to apply for licenses for different purposes such as trade permits and utility facilities. All license applications for building and land use and trade permits for the Moka region are now channelled from NELS to the Planning and Land Use departments in the council. This has been made possible through integration of the GIS platform and NELS. The requests reaches the planners so that delay of the application is minimised.
The CSU is a citizen engagement portal hosted by the government that allows the population of Mauritius to query any issues about their environment. This has now been integrated with the Moka district council GIS platform and all queries about the region of Moka is directed to the council complaints department from the CSU portal. In this way the council is able to address any issues in a timely manner.
Question 11
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development puts emphasis on collaboration, engagement, partnerships, and inclusion. Please describe which stakeholders were engaged in designing, implementing and evaluating the initiative and how this engagement took place. (200 words maximum)
Various system designers, suppliers and integrators were involved in delivering the I- council initiative as shown in the table below. The engagement took place through formal reviews of the requirements and regular status meeting during the implementation phases. This allowed a proper evaluation of the work and its suitability for the council work environment.
Partners For I-Council Initiative
1. Navigation and Geocoding Technologies Ltd (NAVEO) - Asset Tagging Solution, Fleet Management System and Geographical Information System (GIS)- Design/Implementation. Evaluation by Council teams
2. V Engineers Co Ltd - Integrated Reporting System (IRS) - Design/Implementation. Evaluation by Council teams
3. Softel Computer Services Ltd - Control room hardware and software - Design/Implementation. Evaluation by Council teams
4. Hapis Tech Ltd - Video wall solution for control room - Design/Implementation. Evaluation by Council teams
5. Ryad Aumeeruddy (Consultant)- Council project management system - Design/Implementation. Evaluation by Council teams
6. Infogille Ltee - Data cabling and TV installations - Design/Implementation.Evaluation by Council teams
7. BM Solutions Ltd - Network cabling and PABX - Design/Implementation. Evaluation by Council teams.
8. Alkatech Ltd - UltraStrip label and Sensormatic ultra post antenna for Books Security - Design/Implementation. Evaluation by Council teams
Question 12
Please describe the key lessons learned, and how your organization plans to improve the initiative. (200 words maximum)
The first lesson learnt was that the council teams would need continuous professional development on the new and evolving technologies as the internal processes are being transformed to allow application of technology. Continuous learning is required at all levels of the organisation to keep up with the fast pace of technological change that can impact all implemented systems and processes.
Secondly the council team learnt that the digital transformation initiative would need to be aligned with the government strategic plans that have already been launched with timelines to ensure an ease of implementation. For instance, the government has launched various national digital platforms so that citizens can access their services and the local authority plans have to be been synchronised.
Finally as the District Council of Moka (DCM) is the only council to have fully implemented the I-Council initiative, it is a reference among the local government authorities. DCM has to support the implementation of digitisation initiatives in other authorities putting a strain on its human resources. The teams have learnt that they need to include more stakeholders in the implementation phases of the initiative so that knowledge can be shared for an effective implementation in other authorities.