Synergy’s landmark Development Assistance Database (DAD) for Indonesia, won the award for the best Information Management project at the second annual Asia-Pacific Government Technology Awards, held in Bali, Indonesia, on 17 October 2008. The Awards recognized best practice public sector projects, and outstanding achievement by public sector organizations in the field of information communication and technology (ICT) by local and central government agencies, as well as education and healthcare organizations. The year-long awards process is the largest in the Asia-Pacific region, and has been dramatically growing in popularity. The 2008 Awards received 450 nominations from 14 countries, up from 212 the previous year. Over 200 senior government officials from Asia-Pacific countries attended the Awards.
The winners were selected from a shortlist of nominees in a number of categories, such as information management, business process/service innovation, and e-government. The award categories were sponsored by some of the leading IT companies in the world, including Microsoft and IBM.
The RAN Database won the award in the Information Management category (sponsored by EMC), which recognizes “excellence in the efficient capture, storage, and distribution of citizen information.” Currently, the RAN Database tracks over 1700 projects carried out by more than 600 donors, NGOs, and private entities, totaling approximately 3.8 billion US dollars.
Synergy developed the DAD for Indonesia almost immediately after the December 2004 Tsunami to track post-natural disaster reconstruction projects in the Aceh-Nias region. The DAD was named the Recovery Aceh Nias (RAN) Database to reflect the national ownership of the system, and was installed at the BRR Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Agency.
The RAN Database has become the central coordinating database for Tsunami recovery and national development data in Indonesia. The Report, Chart, and Map modules have facilitated national reporting and provide a strategic overview of the aid landscape in the country, thus enabling informed decision-making and planning.
Within the RAN Database, Synergy implemented its core DAD system, including online data entry, Charting, GIS Mapping, and Reporting. Furthermore, Synergy developed a number of other systems to build the capacity of the Government to track tsunami reconstruction and enhance the management of the workflow processes. These included a Donor/Partner Profiles Module and a Concept Note Submission and Approval Module for organizing and streamlining the bottom-up and top-down planning process of the reconstruction. The Concept Notes online submission and approval process involved the entire NGO community in sharing data on their planned activities for better coordination.
The novel Concept Note Submission and Approval Module automates the existing workflow for project approval, allowing the government to track the external assistance activities and ensure the proper distribution of funds (that is, avoiding gaps and duplications) among priority sectors and locations. The Profiles Module provides statistical aid information that is organized by Donor, Partner and Sector (rather than project), thus enabling easy monitoring of the efficiency and effectiveness of all stakeholders involved in the Tsunami reconstruction process.
Synergy worked with the government of Indonesia to define Sector specific Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for measuring progress of reconstruction at various levels including the project level and overall sector level. The RAN Database provides a tool for analyzing trends of KPIs against baseline and target values, as well as financial and other project data.
The RAN Database was also integrated with the Regional DAD that includes information from other Tsunami affected countries including Thailand, Sri Lanka, and Maldives.
