In November 2008, Synergy’s senior expert Mr. Sergey Zigelyan visited Praia, Cape Verde, the archipelagic nation located off the western coast of Africa, to conduct a feasibility study for the development of a cutting-edge monitoring and evaluation (M&E) system for Government of Cape Verde. In August 2008, Synergy International Systems was awarded a contract with the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) Cape Verde to support the Government in this critical work. Currently under development, this customized M&E system will serve as the government’s main tool for monitoring the implementation of its public investment projects, which are development projects financed through the national budget. In particular, the system will track the physical and financial progress of projects, and will identify implementation delays, problems, and risks so as to ensure effective remedial action. At a broader level, the system will provide a comprehensive analysis of the impact of the government’s Public Sector Investment Program (PSIP).
From the perspective of international development, a field that is now actively searching for ways to measure and evaluate aid results, this project is groundbreaking because the M&E system will link with national statistical data to capture outcome and impact indicators for each public investment project. Furthermore, the M&E system will be fully integrated with the national budget planning and execution system (SIGOF), thus serving as desktop tool supporting the programmatic work of project managers and the decision-making capabilities of high-level officials. During his three-week mission, Mr. Zigelyan worked closely with the development team of the National Information Agency (NOSI), the government agency in charge of promoting e-government tools and initiatives, and assessed the government’s existing project monitoring process and designed a draft user interface and database structure for the system. In January 2009, three members of NOSI development team visited Synergy’s subsidiary office and Global IT Learning Center in Yerevan, Armenia, to participate in the development of the M&E system. The final version is scheduled to be installed in March 2009, and Synergy will then provide comprehensive trainings to the Government.
