The newly created Wau Waria district in the Morobe province will be the third district in the country to implement the Bilum Digital Platform for reporting District Services Improvement program-funded projects and activities.
This follows Nuku in West Sepik and Wabag in Enga province respectively. These districts have tested the digital platform, a cloud-based user-friendly system to implement at the sub-national level.
Member for Wau Waria Marsh Narewec said he accepted the government’s digital platform system that will greatly help his district to upload both financial and physical status implementation reports.
Narewec highlighted this during the official opening of the Department of Implementation and Rural Development’s (DIRD) Bilum Digital Platform system for the Morobe leg rollout in Lae yesterday.
Narewec said every province and district has to be accountable for what they receive in terms of their provincial and district services improvement program (PSIP & DSIP).
“I’ll be the first district amongst the newly established districts in the country to use this digital platform system because we have no legacy issues. My district is a newly created district in Morobe province and I want to start fresh. I am really happy and want to be transparent in every aspect of project management and financial accountability. The system itself will keep reminding us of our progress in the district in terms of administration operations, providing real-time data on health, education, law & order issues and most importantly infrastructure development,” he said.
Narewec, who is an information technology (IT) expert challenged DIRD to also accommodate public investment program (PIP) funds (development grants) received from the National Government through the Department of National Planning & Monitoring into the digital platform system for reporting purposes.
The digital platform is being developed to DIRD’s specifications as required by the Administrative Guidelines and Financial Instruction of 2019 and the Government of Papua New Guinea’s new Digital Transformation Policy 2021.
This digital platform is a cloud-based management system to develop a fit-for-purpose system to enable effective coordination, management and reporting of the output and outcome of the Service Improvement Program (PSIP & DSIP) in the country.
The aim of this integrated Bilum Digital Platform is to;
- Ensure the platform is available to all districts and provinces and provide substantial administration efficiency and cost-effective benefits
- Availability of reliable data for districts, provinces and the national government for planning development purposes
The digital platform system is the first of its kind in PNG to report public funds especially SIP, data analytics and development planning purposes.