Accountable Delegation, Devolution & Contracting

Sections

Use Gaiasoft platforms for accountable delegation to Ministries, Departments, Agencies and sub-contractors. Also for accountable devolution to sub national governments with elected leaders such as First Ministers, mayors or state governors.

Reduce risks and deliver opportunities of delegation, devolution and sub-contracting. Use Gaiasoft’s digital platforms to build trust in government by turning devolved budgets into results that citizens can feel. Digitize Performance Contracts to delegate accountability to thousands of officials/officers. Accountable sub-contracting to local private sector grows and diversifies local economy.

Gaiasoft’s World Bank experience demonstrates 90% time savings for M&E practitioners from digital Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E).

World Bank contracted Gaiasoft to setup and support 14 Delivery Units which resulted in a Return in Investment of at least 10x.

Effective devolution improves lives of citizens, economic diversification, peace and security. To deliver on their objectives, public servants need the enabling conditions of motivation, accountability and recognition to develop, learn, thrive and deliver. Strong political, financial or administrative leadership can use the Gaiasoft platform and proven processes to empower and reward the committed while deterring low performance and ineffectiveness. Digital accountability for delegated or devolved results can eliminate losses by highlighting non-performance and making losses traceable and personally accountable.

Without clear accountability for results and traceability of resources, a percentage of devolved and national budget can be lost without trace. Crucial infrastructure or public service projects may be caught in red-tape and bureaucracy with delayed approvals. When results are not delivered, it may not be possible to locate who was accountable, who was delivering and what can be learned. Without accountability, political, financial and administrative leaders can be left powerless to drive results.

This Accountable Devolution solution can be used to:

Smooth and de-risk the transition from centralized to devolved decision making
Deliver on political manifesto promises
Turn budgets and leadership commitment into results that citizens can feel
Reward and strengthen professionalism and public service values
Make each official personally accountable for results
Identify non-performing public servants and streamline public service employment to eliminate non-performers
Eliminate financial losses and delays due to lack of due process.

How can the project be self-financed?

By aligning and empowering public servants to deliver and eliminating delay and lost funds, the Gaiasoft accountability platform delivers efficiency savings, magnifies results and can reduce leakages from national budget. Without accountability, a large percentage of national budget can be lost or wasted. Accelerate and amplify national development with good plans, aligned actions and accountable national development.

Key Benefits

Removes the conditions that undermine performance: use Gaiasoft platforms to automate performance contracts that delegate accountability deep into organizations, projects and budgets. Evidence of poor performance is permanently captured in electronic audit trail — enabling future scrutiny and motivating good practice.

Deliver the benefits of devolution: improving lives of citizens, building private sector and diversifying local economy
Use financial transfers to empower subnational governments and benefit citizens
Digitally configure the step-by-step journey to devolution through delegation of decision making
Cut through hidden delays and inefficiencies making budgets, tasks, results, reporting and evidence personally accountable by breaking down a departmental budget of millions of dollars into hundreds of thousands of personally accountable tasks
Reduce financial losses and delays
Motivate and strengthen positive public service ethics and behaviours
Identify and reward productive officials
Identify and eliminate low-performing officials.

Methodology

A step-by-step methodology ensures checks and balances by delegating personal accountability and reducing losses
Each senior manager follows standard operating procedures in performance management using the accountability platform
These procedures make results transparent, accountable and auditable through the platform
Government-wide reporting shows where procedures are followed and not followed
Officials who comply and deliver are recognized, acknowledged and rewarded
Officials who do not comply can be disciplined or removed
When there is compliance with the accountability procedures, integrity is visible to increase confidence in devolved spending
Automated reports can be used to reward and promote officials who are following procedures and producing results and to eliminate those who are not.

How it works

This solution depends on political, financial and administrative leadership that is willing to hold officials to account for delivery. One of the challenges to performance is that lack of due process is pervasive. This solution works by eliminating the conditions that allow inefficiency. Well-designed accountability and transparency remove inefficiencies.

Performance initiatives may also fail because they take on strong vested interests. Accountability systems may also be rejected when they are used for blame and retribution. A well planned, “softly-softly” and “step-by-step” approach can mitigate these risks.

The precondition for success is a leadership that is so committed to delivery that it is willing to hold officials to account for simple standard operating procedures.

Performance contracts are used to delegate accountability from department to senior manager to objective implementer. The online platform records who is responsible for each objective of each performance contract. The simple discipline required is for the implementer to report regularly and accurately on results and budget, together with evidence
The platform enforces results reporting in defined time windows, for example, a 14 day period after the end of each quarter
Results must be supported by evidence and explanation
Each such report must be approved by a senior manager
Once a report is submitted and electronically approved, it cannot be changed without approval. All submissions, approvals and changes are recorded electronically in an automated audit log.

So long as these standard operating procedures are followed, there will be a clear audit trail of what was promised, spent and reported as achieved. Every change to every result, submission of evidence and explanation is linked to an electronic signature of implementer and approver. This motivates accountability at every level, for example, every output and every result reported in every performance contract.

The Gaiasoft platforms can manage results on a massive scale with permanent audit trails as a motivator for good practice and a basis for audit, investigation and appropriate reward.

Engagement Model

This is a solution supported by configuration and consulting design based on Gaiasoft’s standard platforms: such as Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit and PROMIS for Transition. Available from Gaiasoft and Gaiasoft partners.