Report on the Training of ICT Officers on the SmartFMS - 13th - 15th April 2011_ver1

REPUBLIC OF RWANDA

Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning

(MINECOFIN)

THE INTEGRATED FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM

(SMARTFMS)

Issued: May 2011

REPORT ON THE TRAINING OF ICT OFFICERS

HELD AT

THE TRAINING ROOM OF THE OFFICE THE AUDITOR GENERAL

KIMIHURURA

13th– 15TH APRIL 2011

SmartFMS Implementation Training of ICT Officers

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Table of Contents 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................... 3

2. Background to the training ................................................................................................................................... 3

3. Training Objectives............................................................................................................................................... 4

4. Workshop Organization ........................................................................................................................................ 5

5. Participants Attendance ........................................................................................................................................ 5

6. Topics Covered ..................................................................................................................................................... 6

7. Presentation Materials ........................................................................................................................................... 8

8. Outcomes of the Training ..................................................................................................................................... 8

9. Recommendations ................................................................................................................................................. 8

10. Training Evaluation and Feedback ................................................................................................................... 8

11. Open discussions and Way Forward ............................................................................................................... 10

12. Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................................... 10

ANNEXES ................................................................................................................................................................. 11

I List of Participants............................................................................................................................................ 11


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1. Introduction

The Government of Rwanda (GoR) has been undertaking a number of key reforms in Public Financial Management in accordance with the objectives of the 2020 Vision. In order to enhance financial accountability and transparency, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MINECOFIN) implemented the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) called the SmartFMS. The GoR under MINECOFIN has implemented the SmartFMS since 1st July 2010 and this has covered 87 budget agencies that include 25 Central Government Ministries, 35 Line Agencies, 30 Districts and 4 Provinces. There are a number of over 700 end-users currently using the SmartFMS across the Government. 2. Background to the training

During the month of November 2010, a delegation of 5 MINECOFIN staff led by the Accountant General undertook a study tour of 2 African countries that have successfully implemented the IFMIS. These included the Governments of Gambia and that of Uganda. The main objective of the study tour was to share experiences with the counterpart staff in government that would enhance their knowledge of the challenges and success factors for implementation of an IFMIS. Following this study tour, the delegation shared the lessons learnt and one of these was that ICT technical staff were able to support the IFMIS functional end-users who were mainly of the accounting background. The ICT staff mainly constituted the following:- Database Administrators Network Administrators

They learnt that these ICT officers would ably support the end-users given that the latter would not easily diagnose any issues and differentiate them between application, database and network. Gaining from this experience, the report from the study tour recommended that the ICT officers from the various budget agencies should undergo training that would enable them obtain a reasonable appreciation of the SmartFMS to the extent that they are able to support the end-users. It was also further noted that this would provide leverage to the limited support available in the support teams. In addition, the ICT officers would also provide support during the 2nd phase of the SmartFMS implementation. It was with this background that MINECOFIN, organized a 1-day training of ICT officers that was carried out from the 13th – 15th April 2011. The training was conducted at the training room of the Auditor General’s Office located at Kimihurura sector.


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In this regard, the MINECOFIN takes this opportunity to thank the administration of the OAG’s office for granting them permission to utilize this training facility.

3. Training Objectives

The main objectives of the workshop were highlighted as follows:-

a) To sensitize the participants on the current implementation of the IFMIS b) To provide an overview on the SmartFMS key business processes c) To share ICT challenges that have been experienced d) To equip them with skills that enable them to support data collection and provide technical

support to issues that may arise during this implementation


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4. Workshop Organization

The Coordinator for ICT-MINECOFIN, Mr. Emmanuel Bagilizina, was the overall coordinator in organizing the workshop and was supported by staff from ICT Department and the Training Management Group (TMG) of the SmartFMS team.

The key preparatory activities and the assignment of responsibilities to these groups were spearheaded by the persons indicated below:-

ID Activity Responsible Person

1. Overall Coordination and Key Facilitator Emmanuel BAGILIZINA

2. Review and Update of Training Materials Robert Mutyoba / Alexis Kamuhire

3. Preparation of letter of invitations and follow up on participation

Robert Mutyoba / Pierrot Cyubahiro

4. Coordination of Logistical arrangements Willy Twishime / Pierrot Cyubahiro

5. Monitoring and Evaluation Robert Mutyoba / Alexis Kamuhire

6. ICT Infrastructure Technical Support Felix Mubiligi / Rose Uwimana / Emma Karara / Joseé

5. Participants Attendance

The targeted participants were staff that were involved in the support of the ICT infrastructure in the various budget agencies and these were identified as 1 (one) staff from each of the 25 Central Government Ministries, 35 line agencies, 30 districts and 5 provinces including Kigali City. A total of 90 participants were targeted. The actual attendance was 72 representing 80% of the target audience. The full list of participants is provided as annex II to this report.


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Participants from the Central Government Ministries attending one of the training sessions

6. Topics Covered The participants were presented with a number of topical discussions that were very interactive and insightful and these covered the following:-

No Subject Presenter Title

1. Overview of IFMIS Implementation Robert Otala IFMIS Advisor

2. High-level overview of SmartFMS processes Sylvain Tabazi Database Administrator

3. Network topology and communication protocols Emmanuel Bagilizina ICT Coordinator - MINECOFIN

4. Implementation Challenges and solutions Emmanuel Bagilizina ICT Coordinator - MINECOFIN

The detailed presentations have been posted to the Ministry website. The key issues presented to the participants included the following:-

a) The current status of the SmartFMS implementation. This provided participants with an update on why the GoR made the choice for SmartFMS and the budget agencies where it has been fully implemented. It presented the plan for the further roll-out and the key critical success factors among which included the following:- Effective project management, communication of all project issues and sustained

commitment at all levels across Government

Incorporation of IFMIS implementation across Government mainstream activities

Identification and planning of all IFMIS recurrent costs


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b) Overview of key business processes This provided an overview of the core applications or modules currently available on the SmartFMS and these included the following:- Budget Preparation Cash planning Purchasing and commitment control Payment processing (Central Treasury) Payment processing (Budget Agency managed accounts) Receipts management Bank reconciliation and reporting

Implementation challenges highlighted included the following:-

Network connectivity (bandwidth and stability) Inaccurate and Incomplete budgeted End users inputs and posting errors

c) The ICT network topology in a diagrammatic presentation was as below.

The key message was that for end-users using various platforms, the set-up would require their access rights to MINECOFIN to be authenticated through access using the Virtual Private Network (VPN)

d) The End-user guide to accessing the application via VPN. This was a hands-on session on the steps and procedures that the SmartFMS user has to take in order to access the application through the VPN

e) Minimum requirements for accessing the application. This presented the required hardware and software specifications that the laptop/desktop of the SmartFMS user should have that should support the application


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7. Presentation Materials

Participants were provided with the following materials during the training:-

a) Presentation of the status of the Project Implementation

b) Presentation on the SmartFMS Key business processes

c) MINECOIFN network topology and end-user User guidelines to accessing the SmartFMS application via the VPN

d) VPN required settings and ports

e) ICT infrastructure Assessment Questionnaire

f) Password policies

8. Outcomes of the Training The objectives of the training were achieved and these could be measured as follows:-

a) The participants obtain an overall appreciation of the key business processes of the SmartFMS

b) The participants are aware of the current implementation challenges and how they can support end-users in their respective budget agencies

9. Recommendations

The participants had the following recommendations to make:-

a) MINECOFIN should undertake field visits aimed at providing On-site support to application users experiencing challenges.

b) MINECOFIN should create an ICT mail group to share updates and technical challenges

c) MINECOFIN should support institutions to procure adequate ICT equipment like routers and servers.

d) Speed up installation of the fiber optic in the districts.

e) ICT officers should be updated on the new features of the system.

10. Training Evaluation and Feedback The participants were required to provide feedback on the effectiveness of the training delivered by completing an evaluation form, a copy of which is annexed to this report. The evaluation form provided a number of selected criteria against which to assess and ratings were to be made by the participants as below:- 1 - Poor 2 - Less Satisfactory 3 - Good 4 - Above Average


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5 - Excellent Of the 130 participants 80 responses were received representing 62% of the participants. The results from the evaluations were as follows:-

Evaluation and Feedback from ICT Officers: 13th – 15th April 2011 No. Evaluation Criteria Rating

1. Overview of the IFMIS Implementation 4.1 2. Overview of SmartFMS key business processes 4.1 3. Network topology and communication protocols 4.1 4. Implementation Challenges and solutions 4.0

Average Rating for Functional Training 4.1 5. Training duration 3.4

6. Reliability of Internet Connection 4.2 7. Quality of Training Materials 4.3 8. Time Management 3.3 9. Quality of Meals 3.5 10. Training Venue facilities 4.0

Average Rating for Training Facilities 3.7

Overall Rating 3.9 It can be concluded from the evaluation, that the overall training was “Average” given the overall rating of 3.9. The areas in which relatively low scores were recorded have been identified and the main reasons are briefly given below. The comments from the training management group are provided. Training Duration – Participants mentioned that the 1-day training were not adequate given the

amount of information that they needed to learn.

Reliability of Internet Connection – The Internet connectivity was fairly stable however intermittent failures were experienced during the practical demonstrations.

Time Management – The time allocated for the various activities was not adequate to allow participants conceptualize the subject matter. There was less time allocated for the interactive sessions.

Below is the feedback comments that were made by the participants and recommendations proposed:-


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11. Open discussions and Way Forward The participants raised the following issues and the specific responses from the trainers are given below:-

Issue Response

i) There is need for additional training in order to have a complete understanding of the processes

Training plans shall be made to address this request

ii) Why Mozilla Firefox (The latest version cannot work with the IFMIS?)

There was still a challenge for those using Mozilla however IE had resolved this. MINECOFIN team would provide appropriate solution and advise

iii) What are the prerequisites to use SMARTIFMIS? This was part of the topics for discussion and a complete presentation was made

12. Conclusion The 1-day training of the ICT-Officers was necessary as it provided a basis e for sensitizing the participants on the implementation status of the SmartFMS and challenges that are experienced.


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ANNEXES

I List of Participants

a) Group 1 – Ministries : 13th April 2011 No Name Budget Agency Position Email Address_1 and 2 Mobile No

1 UZAMUKUNDA Christine MINICOM IT Expert [email protected] / [email protected] 0788-447569

2 UMURERWA Joyense MININFRA IT Officer [email protected] 0785-312673 3 MUTABAZI Jean René MINIFOM IT Expert [email protected] 0788-450600 4 NZIBAZA Evaritse NPPA Software Expert [email protected] 0788-473757

5 MUVANDA A Joseph Senate Network Administrator [email protected] / [email protected] 0788-633310

6 RUTAYISIRE Celestin Ombudsman Office ICT Manager [email protected] 0788-761805

7 BIKEKAYABO J Damascene MINEAC IT Expert [email protected] / [email protected] 0788-534383

8 HARERIMANA Emmanuel MINAFFET IT Expert [email protected] 0788-664429 9 ISHIMWE Jean d’Amour Parliament IT Expert [email protected] 0788-750231 10 KAYUMBA Theogené MINEDUC IT Expert [email protected] 0785-150072 11 UKURIKIYIMFURA Laurien OAG IT Officer [email protected] 0788-802335

12 BAMBANZA Emmanuel MINIJUST Web-Based Solutions Consultant [email protected] 0788-754888

13 MOSOZI Werner Supreme Court System Administrator [email protected] 0788-526172 14 NGWINONDEBE Chantal MINIYOUTH IT Expert [email protected] 0788-753744

15 MULISA Fred PRESIREP Networks Systems Engineer

[email protected] 0788-578659

16 NIKUBWIMANA Didier MINECOFIN Software Developer [email protected] 0788-433341

17 HARELIMANA Zacharie MINELA ICT Expert [email protected] 0788-300686

18 BWANAKWELI Chantal MININTER ICT Expert [email protected] 0788-304495

19 SENDEGEYA Lambert MINADEF System Administrator [email protected] 0788-685540

20 NIYITEGEKA Jean Marie MIDIMAR IT Expert [email protected] 0788-842864

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b) Group 2 – Line Agencies : 14th April 2011 No Name Budget Agency Position Email Address_1 and 2 Mobile No 1 KALEMA Gordon CNLG ICT Officer [email protected] 0785-100518 2 MUSHANA Jean Damascene RPPA Network Administrator [email protected] / [email protected] 0788-417751 3 MUNYANRUGERERO Viateur GMO ICT & DBA [email protected] 0788-539869 4 RIBAKARE J Dieu FARG IT Officer [email protected] 0788-649091 5 MUNYESHYAKA Abdoul Karim MHC ICT Officer [email protected] 0788-675605 6 NDAYISABA Aimable NHRC ICT Officer [email protected] 0788-790046 7 SINZIKWITA Jean Claude RBS Asst. IT Officer [email protected] 0788-882605 8 MULINDWA Joseph NURC ICT Officer [email protected] 0788-504573 9 KAJANGWE H Maurice RCA Network Manager [email protected] 0788-818876 10 GASENGAYIRE Yves MINECOFIN IT Developer [email protected] 0788-608303 11

RUTAGANDA Silas CNF ICT Officer [email protected] / [email protected] 0788-771765

12 NYANDWI J Bosco NCHE Ag. IT Officer [email protected] 0788-455836 13 MUKIZA Charles NURC ICT Officer [email protected] 0788-848854 14 MUNYENGANDO Jean Baptiste ILPD ICT Officer [email protected] 0783-347928 15 MURENZI G Vincent RNP ICT Officer [email protected] 0788-879771 16 UZABUMUGABO Placide RHA IT Expert [email protected] 0788-541124 17 AZIM James CDF ICT Officer - 0788-294011 18 TWAGIRUMUKIZA Leonard FER Road Engineer [email protected] 0788-468070 19

NKUNDIMANA Donath NISR Database Administrator [email protected] / [email protected] 0788-552732

20 NATUKUNDA Elizabeth INMR ICT Officer [email protected] 0785-444551 21

KARINDA Prime WDA Software & Database Expert [email protected] 0788-420655

22 RUSANGA Kizito RDRC IT Manager [email protected] 0788-352344 23 SHEMA Mike PSC ICT Manager [email protected] 0788-304562



















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c) Group 3 – Districts and Provinces: 15th April 2011 No Name Budget Agency Position Email Address_1 and 2 Mobile No 1 UMUHIRE Cedric Kigali City ICT Expert [email protected] 0788-351458 2 CYUBAHIRO Christian Kamonyi ICT Officer [email protected] 0788-678545 3 MURIYESU Ferdinand Bugesera ICT/MIS Officer [email protected] 0788-823134 4 MUNYAKAZI Eric Nyanza ICT Officer [email protected] 0788-837031 5 MUZIGANYI Gerald Gasabo ICT Officer [email protected] 0788-617239 6 TEMA Jean Gisagara ICT Officer [email protected] 0788-807478 7 NTABARESHYA Albert Jess Karongi ICT / MIS [email protected] 0788-534669 8 NZIGIYIMANA Hyacinthe Ngororero ICT Officer [email protected] 0788-691571 9 RUGEMA Christian Gatsibo ICT Officer [email protected] 0788-428507 10 TUBANENIMANA Fabrice IRST Head of ICT [email protected] 0788-568125 11 MVUYEKURE Patrice Ngoma ICT / MIS [email protected] 0788-466112 12 SHUMBUSHO Stanislas Southern Province ICT Officer [email protected] 0788-870185 13 HAGUMA Pierre Western Province ICT Officer [email protected] 0788-533884 14 KASANA Godfrey Rulindo ICT Officer [email protected] 0788-580984 15 HAGENIMANA Jean de Dieu Nyamagabe ICT / MIS [email protected] 0788-499611 16 NSANZIMANA Modeste Northern Province ICT Expert [email protected] 0788-549890 17 HARERIMANA Massoud Kayonza ICT Officer [email protected] 0788-689511 18 TWAGIRIMANA JMV Nyaruguru ICT Officer [email protected] 0788-351929 19 HARINDINTWALI Simon Rutsiro ICT Officer [email protected] 0788-738010 20 GASAGURE Joel Rubavu ICT Officer [email protected] 0788-578284 21 NKUSI Etienne Rwamagana ICT Officer [email protected] 0788-949680 22 SENTURO Jean Aime Gicumbi ICT Officer [email protected] 0788-425094 23 NDIKUBWIMANA Pascal Nyabihu ICT Officer [email protected] 0788-547103 24 GASIRIKARE Steven Eastern Province ICT Officer [email protected] 0788-513343 25 NSHIMIYIMANA Levis Gakenke ICT Officer [email protected] 0788-666165 26 NSEKALIJE Aloys Ruhango ICT Officer [email protected] 0788-506720 27 KAREMERA Bumalo Musanze ICT Officer [email protected] 0788-232666 28 HAKUZIMANA J Berhmas Huye ICT Officer [email protected] 0788-861584 29 Ildephonse YIRIRWAHANDI Muhanga ICT Expert [email protected] 0788-634903






Training Management and Capacity Building Work Group - MINECOFIN Page 14

MINISTRY OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC PLANNING (MINECOFIN)

TRAINING FEED BACK FORM

MINECOFIN SUPPPORT TEAM No Name Position Role Email Address_1 and 2 Mobile No

1 BAGILIZINA Emmanuel Coordinator – ICT Overall Coordination [email protected]` 0788-540577

2 OTALA Robert IFMIS Advisor Presenter [email protected] 0782-516882

3 MUTYOBA Robert FMS Coordinator, Monitoring and Evaluation [email protected] 0782-298720

4 TABAZI Sylvain DBA Presenter [email protected] 0788-468901

5 MWITIYIKI Cyprien Security Admin ICT Expert [email protected] 0788-479644

6 KANYARUGENDO Ferdinand IT Expert ICT Expert [email protected] 0783-169139

7 MUBILIGI Felix IT Expert ICT Expert [email protected] 0788-846868

8 UFITAMAHORO Josée IT Expert ICT Expert [email protected] 0788-569835

9 UWIMANA Rose IT Expert ICT Expert [email protected] 0788-449682

10 KARARA Emma IT Expert ICT Expert [email protected] 0788-749917

11 TWISHIME Willy Capacity Building Expert ICT Expert [email protected] 0788-353280







MINISTRY OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC PLANNING (MINECOFIN)


Group Composition

ICT Officers from Ministries, Agencies and Districts Dates : 13th – 15th April 2011

Topics covered: Project Implementation, key business processes, ICT infrastructure network protocols, challenges and solutions

Training Objectives: To sensitize the participants on the current implementation of the IFMIS, share ICT challenges that have been experienced and equip them with skills that enable them to provide technical support to issues that may arise during this implementation

Evaluate the training using the rating below:-

1 Poor 2 Below Average 3 Average 4 Above Average 5 Excellent

No. TOPIC Rating

A Technical Training Issues

1. Overview of the IFMIS Implementation

2. Overview of SmartFMS key business processes

3. Network topology and communication protocols

4. Implementation Challenges and solutions

B Other Training-Related Issues

5. Training duration

6. Reliability of Internet Connection

7. Quality of Training Materials

8. Time Management

9. Quality of Meals

10. Training Venue facilities


MINISTRY OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC PLANNING


Provide any information on any issue that may not have been addressed during the training (Probleme/ Ikibazo)

1

2

3

4

SUGGESTIONS (Recommendations / Ibyifuzo)

Please provide any suggestions that you may have to improve on the training provided.

1

2

3

Indicate if you may wish to be contacted on the results of this survey. Yes No

If Yes, Please provide contact details as below:-

Participant’s Name:

Email Address:

Mobile Phone Number:

Report on the Training of ICT Officers on the SmartFMS - 13th - 15th April 2011_ver1

Documents

key business

internet connection

share ict

provide technical

training management

ifmis implementation

study tour

current implementation