Gauteng MEC for Infrastructure Development, Jacob Mamabolo has told the first United Nations Data Forum, currently underway in Cape Town, that technology and data have helped government improve the efficiency of delivering massive infrastructure projects such as the building of schools and hospitals.
Speaking during the opening plenary Mamabolo said, “We are sharp-bending the infrastructure delivery pipeline. We have made remarkable progress in leveraging, harnessing and applying smart technologies and systems, with business intelligence capabilities to deliver and drive infrastructure development.”
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Mamabolo said South Africa’s development blueprint, the National Development Plan, identified infrastructure as the key driver of economic growth, job creation and the primary tool to change the spatial landscape inherited from the apartheid era. This was characterised by racially-skewed development patterns and the neglect of black residential areas.
As the leading economic hub of the country, Gauteng is under immense pressure to deliver high-quality infrastructure to its residents.
The Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development had been invited to attend the global forum following the launch of its state-of-the-art electronic monitoring hub for government infrastructure delivery, Lutsinga Infrastructure House, and showcase the work and operations of this project nerve centre which was established in May last year.
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Described as part of the ‘data revolution’ by statistician Dr Pali Lehohla, Lutsinga Infrastructure House uses technology to track spending and project milestones to ensure that public infrastructure is delivered on time, at the correct quality and within budget.
“It is a room integrating five of our core data management systems generating critical business intelligence that allows for a data-centric, insight-driven proactive approach to project management,” said Mamabolo.
“Centralised dashboards display critical data aggregated from all our operations and has automated our infrastructure delivery core process in the province.”
The project nerve centre houses the following systems:
- The Immovable Asset Register including properties and land parcels critical for all build and construction projects
- A Construction and Built Project Management dashboard
- The Expanded Public Works Programme dashboard
- The e-Maintenance dashboard
- An Infrastructure Monitor which measures and reports on the socio-economic impact of the department’s work.
Lutsinga Infrastructure House brought about a radical turnaround in the institutional and organisational culture relating to project management at GDID.
“We needed to ensure that our managers change their reporting habits and that they are accountable,” added Mamabolo.
“We needed to bring transparency and visibility to the management environment and build our capacity to fight and root out corruption.”
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