Business & Money | Sunday 15 October, 2017 1:47 am |

 The Abu Dhabi Department of Urban Planning and Municipalities (DPM) is leading a project to develop a Capital Investment Planning System that will automate processes and bring together all government capital projects across the emirate.

 

The Capital Investment Planning System (CIPS) will aim to house all major five-year capital plans such as utilities, roads and community facilities under one overarching system, offering greater collaboration and transparency between projects and departments across the government and private sector.

 

More than 150 delegates from 58 government agencies attended a workshop organised by the DPM on Wednesday 11th October, allowing stakeholders to help shape the design of the project and the system.

 

The workshop acted as a platform to share anticipated outcomes and benefits of CIPS, while allowing the project team to gain an understanding of the stakeholders’ current planning systems and processes.

 

The one smart system will hold up-to-date information for both existing and future proposed projects from stakeholders and partner agencies, including all capital expenditure projects that require government approval.

 

In line with the Abu Dhabi Plan, the new system will streamline the planning process, allow users to monitor and evaluate ongoing projects, power real-time data to enable informed decision-making and facilitate long-term approaches and scenario planning.

 

Abdullah Al Sahi, Executive Director, of Planning and Infrastructure, DPM, said: “This state-of-the-art project will provide an enhanced analysis and monitoring mechanism of current capital projects that lead to strategic outcomes required at the national level. This will support the achievement of current and future plans for Abu Dhabi.

 

“This is another significant milestone in Abu Dhabi’s rapid digital transformation that will see it become a truly smart city and a global leader in adopting technology to enhance the lives of its people.”

 

Following the workshop, the project team will begin designing the system specifications, with the aim to create a demo by Q1 2018 and the complete system by Q4, the same year.

 

By replacing the current methods with a more automated process using a special web-based portal, the system will assist in the prioritisation of major capital projects required to achieve objectives identified in the Abu Dhabi Plan. It will also provide the ability to analyse each project by agency, geographic location, timing and duration.

 

As a unified system, CIPS will monitor and link DPM and GSEC to all the Capital Investment Projects that government agencies are undertaking. It will define a clear process to submit budgets, assist decision-makers in monitoring existing projects and future project approvals in the Abu Dhabi Emirate.