Aspiring digitisation to improve WASH services: from paper to digitisation

Published on: 16/08/2024

Aspiring digitisation to improve WASH services: from paper to digitisation

On July 25, 2024, Amhara Region Water and Energy Bureau organised a symposium on digitisation in Bahir Dar and exhibited the different digital platforms in use to the Amhara Regional Council, the Head of the Regional State and the Deputy Prime Minister of Ethiopia. As IRC is supporting the regional water and energy bureau in utilising mWater for managing water supply scheme data, it was one of the digital platforms visited.

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High level officials visiting the digitisation tools

The government of Ethiopia's commitment to modern tools, technology and human capacity-building

H.E. Temesgen Tiruneh, Deputy Prime Minister of Ethiopia, has emphasised the Ethiopian government's dedication to harnessing modern tools and technology and investing in human capacity development to drive economic growth and enhance service delivery. He also highlighted that the government's focus is not just on adopting cutting-edge technology but also on developing the skills of its workforce to ensure effective implementation and utilisation of these technologies. The aim is to improve community and citizen services across various sectors.

The impact of digital technologies in water and energy services

H.E. Arega Kebede, President of the Amhara Regional State, underscored the transformative potential of digital technologies in improving service delivery within the Water and Energy Bureau. He stressed that the introduction of digital systems is expected to significantly enhance the bureau’s capacity to provide essential water supply services, which are crucial for community welfare. He noted that digital technologies will facilitate better management and operational efficiency, thus ensuring more effective delivery of services to the public.

High-level delegation's emphasis on agile digitisation and sustainability

The high-level political delegation has reminded the Amhara Water and Energy Bureau about the importance of agile digitisation. They emphasised that adapting to technological changes and maintaining sustainability should be key focus areas for the bureau. Agile digitisation refers to the ability to quickly adapt to new technologies and processes, which is vital for continuous improvement and effectiveness in service delivery. The delegation highlighted that the bureau should proactively update and refine digital systems to ad ressevolving needs and challenges.

Future vision for integrated digital systems

Mamaru Ayalew (PhD), Head of the Water and Energy Bureau, stated that the bureau is committed to enhancing clean and adequate water supply. Recognising the significant gap between demand and supply, the bureau plans to leverage technology to transform its operations. By transforming from traditional methods to digital solutions, the bureau aims to improve service delivery, information sharing, and communication. Their goal is to integrate digital information into up to 60% of daily operations by the end of 2017 (Ethiopian fiscal year), addressing the inefficiencies of paper-based systems.

H. E. Temesgen Tiruneh also outlined a future vision where all sector bureaus and offices will be interconnected through a unified digital system. He envisioned a scenario where information is seamlessly shared via a centralized dashboard, allowing regional presidents and council speakers to monitor activities, provide oversight, and support remotely. This integrated approach aims to streamline operations and enhance coordination across various government entities, ultimately leading to more efficient governance and service delivery.

Key areas of digital technology integration

The focus areas for digital technology integration that the bureau of water and energy aspires include improving oversight and efficiency in managing projects and contracts through digital tools, enhancing the management of human resources and assets using digital systems, implementing online permit systems to simplify and accelerate administrative processes, developing digital billing systems to streamline utility payments and enhance revenue collection, and utilising digital solutions to manage and administer water infrastructure more effectively.

Overall, the integration of digital technologies aims to boost community service provision and economic productivity across various sectors.

 IRC’s support

IRC WASH Ethiopia in collaboration with regional government bureaus has launched a project to strengthen WASH systems in Amhara Region, which aims to scale up the learnings from the Sustainable WASH Programme (SWP) districts/woredas; Farta, Dera and North Mecha. The project is funded by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation (CNHF), and it runs until the end of 2024. One of the major areas of support is the establishment of a comprehensive water asset monitoring system/MIS for the region’s water and energy bureau. Therefore, the bureau established a focal team, which supported the assessment of the regional monitoring system and prepared a report on how to develop the MIS system based on the assessment findings with the support of IRCWASH Ethiopia. Additionally, the team supported the development of costed water monitoring and evaluation plans, data need assessment, validation of the findings with regional stakeholders, design of data collection systems, and development of survey questions on an open source mWater platform. They also reviewed and validated the designed survey and improved it based on feedback from the bureau’s staff and management.

Afterwards, IRC WASH provided two rounds of trainings for the water and energy bureau staff on data collection and data management including advanced mWater functions. This training aimed at preserving the knowledge and skills on establishing agile region wide monitoring system. This system can primarily be used for asset management, planning, budgeting, operation and maintenance and reporting. It is intended for implementation across all rural woredas and town utilities in the region.