Ruhago George M, Kapologwe Ntuli A, Ngalesoni Frida N, Kengia James T, Kibusi Stephen M, Kalolo Albino, Kitali Erick J, Mtatifikolo James D, Masuha Sutte R, Kikula Amani, Mtei Gemini
Department of Development Studies, School of Public Health and Social Sciences, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
President's Office Regional Administration and Local Government (PORALG), Dodoma, Tanzania.
Front Health Serv. 2022 Jan 18;1:787894. doi: 10.3389/frhs.2021.787894. eCollection 2021.
Information systems offer unlimited potential for innovation and digitalization of management functions to facilitate citizen participation and improve accountability, transparency, and efficiency in government operations and service delivery. In line with this, for more than one decade, Tanzania implemented an integrated planning, budgeting, and reporting system (PlanRep) that was used to prepare plans and budgets at the local government authorities (LGAs) using a desktop application. In 2017, PlanRep was upgraded to a Web-based system to address several challenges, including poor coordination and high cost involved in the preparation of plans and budgets. However, operational evidence regarding the cost-efficiencies and benefits of shifting to Web-based PlanRep has not been explored. This study aims to address this gap by assessing efficiency gains (in terms of cost and time) of shifting to a Web-based PlanRep system as a tool for the preparation of LGA plans and budgets.
The study applied a retrospective before-and-after study design whereby quantitative data was used to assess the amount of time and the cost incurred by LGAs when preparing their budget 1 year before the introduction of PlanRep and 1 year after. Parallelly, qualitative data were collected through key informant interviews with selected LGA officials, Regional Secretariats (RSs), President's Office Regional Administration and Local Government (PORALG), and system end-users such as heads of health facilities and schools (primary and secondary). Secondary data was analyzed by comparing time and cost used before and after Web-based PlanRep, while thematic analysis was employed for qualitative data.
The analysis showed a 53% reduction (from USD 3.8 million in 2017/18 to USD 1.8 million in 2018/19) in the total costs LGAs incurred during planning and budgeting after introducing the Web-based PlanRep. The main efficiency gain was related to per diem costs. The analysis also showed significant time saving from an average of 87 days in 2017/18 to only 8 days in 2018/19. PlanRep system end-users also acknowledged that the introduction of Web-based PlanRep has significantly saved their time and costs in preparation of LGA plans and budget.
The introduction of the Web-based planning, budgeting, and reporting systems has resulted in tremendous cost reduction, time savings, transparency, accountability, and workload reduction. The findings offer operational evidence to guide the implementation and scale up of similar systems in countries that share equivalent circumstances like Tanzania.
信息系统为管理职能的创新和数字化提供了无限潜力，有助于公民参与，并提高政府运作和服务提供的问责制、透明度和效率。与此一致的是，十多年来，坦桑尼亚实施了一个综合规划、预算编制和报告系统（PlanRep），该系统使用桌面应用程序在地方政府当局（LGAs）编制计划和预算。2017年，PlanRep升级为基于网络的系统，以应对包括计划和预算编制过程中协调不力和成本高昂在内的若干挑战。然而，尚未探讨转向基于网络的PlanRep的成本效益和益处的操作证据。本研究旨在通过评估转向基于网络的PlanRep系统作为编制LGAs计划和预算的工具所带来的效率提升（在成本和时间方面）来填补这一空白。
该研究采用了回顾性前后研究设计，通过定量数据评估LGAs在引入PlanRep前1年和引入后1年编制预算时所花费的时间和成本。同时，通过对选定的LGAs官员、区域秘书处（RSs）、总统办公室区域行政和地方政府（PORALG）以及诸如卫生设施和学校（小学和中学）负责人等系统最终用户进行关键信息访谈收集定性数据。通过比较基于网络的PlanRep前后使用的时间和成本来分析二手数据，而定性数据则采用主题分析。
分析表明，引入基于网络的PlanRep后，LGAs在规划和预算编制过程中产生的总成本降低了53%（从2017/18年度的380万美元降至2018/19年度的180万美元）。主要的效率提升与每日费用有关。分析还显示时间大幅节省，从2017/18年度的平均87天降至2018/19年度的仅8天。PlanRep系统的最终用户也承认，引入基于网络的PlanRep在编制LGAs计划和预算方面显著节省了他们的时间和成本。
基于网络的规划、预算编制和报告系统的引入带来了巨大的成本降低、时间节省、透明度提高、问责制加强和工作量减少。这些发现为指导在与坦桑尼亚情况类似的国家实施和扩大类似系统提供了操作证据。
