PDs urged to provide project info in e-PMIS

 Project Directors (PDs) of various projects under the Annual Development Programme (ADP) have been requested to provide and update all project data in the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED) 's electronic Project Management Information System (e-PMIS).

The request was made at a dissemination workshop for stakeholders of e-PMIS software organized by Bangladesh Public Procurement Authority (BPPA), former Central Procurement Technical Unit (CPTU) of IMED, Ministry of Planning, at the NEC Auditorium in Dhaka on 4 November 2024.

The CPTU was transformed into BPPA last year to improve the procurement environment and enhance professionalism in public procurement in the country.

The workshop was held under the Digitising Implementation Monitoring and Public Procurement Project (DIMAPPP), which BPPA is now implementing. The World Bank supported the DIMAPPP from July 2017 to December 2023. The e-PMIS has been developed and operationalised under the DIMAPPP.

Representatives from 50 ministries, divisions, and agencies attended the workshop and interacted on various aspects and usage of e-PMIS in their respective entities.

The workshop's chief guest was Mr. Abul Kashem Md Mohiuddin, secretary of IMED. Dr Subhas Chandra Biswas, Additional Secretary of IMED, was present as the Special Guest, while Mirza Ashfaqur Rahman, chief executive officer of BPPA, presided over it. Senior Procurement Specialist of the World Bank, Dhaka Office, Mr. Arafat Ishtiaque, was also present.

Ms Afroza Parvin, Director (Deputy Secretary) of BPPA, gave a detailed presentation on objectives, features, functions, benefits, integration with other government software, and challenges of e-PMIS. While presenting, she also highlighted the status of project information provided by PDs of different projects to the online monitoring system.

The presentation showed the data update in the system was not at the expected level.   All PDs were requested to give project data as soon as possible. There are 1343 projects in the current fiscal year, and 1256 PDs are registered with e-PMIS. Of the 50 ministries, divisions and agencies invited to the workshop, 26 organisations' admins have been created in e-PMIS, and the rest are yet to be done

The Secretary said the government is working to bring reforms in all fields, aiming to build a prosperous and discrimination-free country. To achieve that goal, it is important to change people's mindsets, and so reforms are needed in both man and machine as well.

He expects that e-PMIS will enable the project directors to oversee project implementation without hassles. However, he said PDs cannot visit fields as they have to monitor multiple projects.

He expected that the e-PMIS software would gradually be integrated with other systems so that data from other systems could automatically be uploaded to this, making this system more workable. Presently, it has been integrated with NID, electronic Government Procurement (e-GP), and the Project Processing, Appraisal, and Management System (PPS), while integration with IBAS+ will be done soon.

He stressed the importance of formulating a project evaluation policy. He said the government will soon prepare a complete project guideline, as decided at a recent meeting of the Council of Advisers.

The Chief Executive Officer of BPPA said that since e-PMIS is web-based software, it is possible to work through it from anywhere in the world. If all project information were uploaded on this platform, then it would build a national database, which can be accessed from the offices of PDs.

Dr Subhas said the project work is very complete, and e-PMIS would be helpful for all project stakeholders as it is very systematic and a very good platform.

The WB representative said that e-PMIS has challenges as a new system, and more use of it would make it more convenient and user-friendly.

He mentioned that the e-PMIS system is modernised. Its integration with other systems would help upload real-time data on the system and reduce the redundancy of data entry by field-level officials. When data from one system is loaded to other platforms, it reduces cost and time, which would ensure better project management.

 Project Directors (PDs) of various projects under the Annual Development Programme (ADP) have been requested to provide and update all project data in the electronic Project Management Information System (e-PMIS) of the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED).

The request was made at a dissemination workshop for stakeholders of e-PMIS software organized by Bangladesh Public Procurement Authority (BPPA), former Central Procurement Technical Unit (CPTU) of IMED, Ministry of Planning, at the NEC Auditorium in Dhaka on 4 November 2024.

The CPTU was transformed into BPPA last year to improve the procurement environment and enhance professionalism in public procurement in the country.

The workshop was held under the Digitising Implementation Monitoring and Public Procurement Project (DIMAPPP), which BPPA is now implementing. The World Bank supported the DIMAPPP from July 2017 to December 2023. The e-PMIS has been developed and operationalised under the DIMAPPP.

Representatives from 50 ministries, divisions, and agencies attended the workshop and interacted on various aspects and usage of e-PMIS in their respective entities.

The workshop's chief guest was Mr. Abul Kashem Md Mohiuddin, secretary of IMED. Dr Subhas Chandra Biswas, Additional Secretary of IMED, was present as the Special Guest, while Mirza Ashfaqur Rahman, chief executive officer of BPPA, presided over it. Senior Procurement Specialist of the World Bank, Dhaka Office, Mr. Arafat Ishtiaque, was also present.

Ms Afroza Parvin, Director (Deputy Secretary) of BPPA, gave a detailed presentation on objectives, features, functions, benefits, integration with other government software, and challenges of e-PMIS. While presenting, she also highlighted the status of project information provided by PDs of different projects to the online monitoring system.

The presentation showed the data update in the system was not at the expected level.   All PDs were requested to give project data as soon as possible. There are 1343 projects in the current fiscal year, and 1256 PDs are registered with e-PMIS. Of the 50 ministries, divisions and agencies invited to the workshop, 26 organisations' admins have been created in e-PMIS, and the rest are yet to be done

The Secretary said the government is working to bring reforms in all fields, aiming to build a prosperous and discrimination-free country. To achieve that goal, it is important to change people's mindsets, and so reforms are needed in both man and machine.

He expects that e-PMIS will enable the project directors to oversee project implementation without hassles. However, he said PDs cannot visit fields as they have to monitor multiple projects.

He expected that the e-PMIS software would gradually be integrated with other systems so that data from different systems could automatically be uploaded to this, making this system more workable. It has been integrated with NID, electronic Government Procurement (e-GP), and the Project Processing, Appraisal, and Management System (PPS), while integration with IBAS+ will be done soon.

He stressed the importance of formulating a project evaluation policy and said the government will soon develop a complete project guideline, as decided at a recent meeting of the Council of Advisers.

The Chief Executive Officer of BPPA said that since e-PMIS is web-based software, it is possible to work through it from anywhere in the world. If all project information were uploaded to this platform, then it would build a national database that can be accessed from the offices of PDs.

Dr Subhas said the project work is very complete, and e-PMIS would be helpful for all project stakeholders as it is very systematic and a perfect platform.

The WB representative said that e-PMIS has challenges as a new system, and more use of it would make it more convenient and user-friendly.

He mentioned that the e-PMIS system is modernised. Its integration with other systems would help upload real-time data on the system and reduce field-level officials' redundancy of data entry. When data from one system is loaded to other platforms, it reduces cost and time, ensuring better project management.