SEGOV
Secretary of State of Government

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Modulo’s Risk Manager™ helps Government Agency monitor its services to the public

Rio de Janeiro State Government implements a risk management system to best service its constituency

Concerned with the quality of the services it provides in the areas of education, security and health, Rio de Janeiro’s State government has implemented a risk management system (RM) in order to assess its activities. The objective of using this tool was to identify which types of actions this state administration needs to implement in order to improve the services it provided to the public. As a result of this initiative, it is possible now to identify the most important operational needs of schools, police stations and hospitals throughout the State.

The plan to implement the RM system began with periodic collection of data on services provided to every city in the State. These data were then combined and helped to develop a database called the Public Service Management System by Indicators (GESPI). Data collection activities were performed by the sixty regional supervisors attached  to the Information and Special Project State Government agency (SEGOV).

After undergoing both theoretical and field training, they simulated inspections and gathered information, using smart phones, to complete online questionnaire forms, and practiced sending them safely and quickly. The system-based approach and technology used in the process ensured the local network security and the accuracy of the gathered information that was provided to these public administration officials.

  “The whole system is Web-based. The station received the material and produced reports within a shorter lead-time. Now, reviews can be performed in a matter of hours”, explains Gastão Lombas, the Modulo Business Manager for Rio de Janeiro. These data have been entered on GESPI, a database that includes various types of information providing a large number of reports, which in turn provide information on over two-thousand public entities, including schools, hospitals, and police stations throughout the State of Rio de Janeiro.

RISK ANALYSIS

To support the structuring of the organization’s database, data collection, information identification and subsequently each area’s needs with a computer-based approach, SEGOV and the Rio de Janeiro Information Technology and Communication Center (PRODERJ) contracted Modulo and used the Modulo Risk Manager™, a governance, risk, compliance management (GRCM) software product.

The software integrated multiple types of data and showed the actual status of each public entity included in the assessment, thereby alerting managers of targeted issues for the decision making process.

Assessed data were classified according to various parameters, levels were estimated to produce risk metrics and from these metrics corrective actions were prioritized to support the population’s needs, ensuring maximum  return-on-investment on precious government resources.

Before using Risk Manager™, the government used SEGOV to gather data using paper forms, each with 250 questions on each type of service provided to schools, police stations and hospitals. These forms were handed to groups of interviewers (approximately 30 pairs) in every city in the State. The result was compiled and answers were entered in word-processing documents to constitute a sampling database for later processing of the reports.

There were several risks with this process, including integrity of documents, as these could get lost or damaged. They faced natural human relations issues, potentially interfering with delivery, in addition to time pressures to complete and the often far distances from the sources to the processing center in the City of Rio de Janeiro. “We started the hard way, collecting data with paper forms and manual processes. Because of that, the project was first planned to last five months or even longer”, explains Reinaldo Braga, Special Project undersecretary for Secretaria de Estado do Rio de Janeiro.

BENEFITS

The Modulo solution helped expedite the process, therefore improving both collection time and information security. Within a period of one month, approximately 1.1 thousand units were reviewed, there are now only 200 units left.
This was done using questionnaire forms, which were converted to the digital process without loss of their contents or their intended objectives, according to SEGOV, producing a qualitative assessment of public service units.
Follow-up on the actions was also attained based on derived parameters, which helped decide which actions were the highest priority.

The interview process provided for recording comments from agents that were responsible for the inspections, incorporating new assessment criteria created for the system. These resulted in the publishing of maps, using geographical reference technology. Using Modulo’s solution, each assessed area began to produce more accurate information that helped identify risks and manage them. The education area, for instance, provided for mapping schools that were close to risky areas. It also provided for assessing the average approval percentage at schools per region or neighborhood, assessment of the quality of school lunches and the equipment provided to students, as well as the efficiency of school management.

RESULTS

Questions like, “In which hospital is it required to drastically reduce waiting time?”, “Where is there a lack of school teachers?” among others, started to be answered. With data on-hand, we can see, for instance, how many and which schools don’t have a blackboard or lack teachers. We can also develop motivational activities with principals in each unit and help them find a solution to identified issues; issue a construction request or allocate financial resources.
Data are collected periodically in every city in the State of Rio de Janeiro by regional supervisors connected to the Information agency and by SEGOV Special Projects. Information stored on GESPI will be compiled to help create a data warehouse and implement Intragov.RJ Portal subjects, which will be developed by PRODERJ.

This project will provide the governor, secretaries and their aids with a single site for inquiries to main databases in the State, which will be gradually integrated. The next step, according to the undersecretary, is to address issues identified by the Tool. “Now we know the right way to go and this will help us expedite the decision making process”, says Braga.