The Directorate of Water in Nineveh (DoW) has been heavily dependent on a paper-based system for collecting water revenues in Mosul city and all other areas within Nineveh Governorate. In addition, the work is done manually using registers and paper invoices. This is subject to heavy workload, encountering errors and requiring heavy manual work for processing data. Before 2014, DoW Ninewa started a small-scale initiative to digitise the water fee collection system. However, this system was destroyed during the ISIS occupation period.
The Information Systems Center (ISC) of the Iraqi Ministry of Construction, Housing, Municipalities and Public Works (MoCHMPW) in Baghdad has already developed a database system for water fee collection to connect all the provincial DoWs to the central database in Baghdad. This system is standard for the directorates of water in the federal government of Iraq. However, DoW Ninewa lacked the necessary equipment and resources to licence, activate and use this system.
Therefore, DoW Nineveh identified it as a top priority for support by the MASAR Programme. The needs have become more evident last summer with the decreasing water levels of the Tigris and the underground reservoirs. This necessitated the need for better management of water resources and reduction of water wastage.
MASAR-PCPM provided DoW Ninewa with an integrated cycle of support for developing the revenue collection system and converting the existing paper-based system into a digital one. This support included:
an assessment of the water fees collection and management system at DoW Ninewa, and validation workshop of the assessment results,
a study visit for DoW employees to DoW Kirkuk to familiarise themselves with the water fee collection system there, which is connected to the central system in Baghdad,
the provision of hardware (IT equipment – computers, server, printers, etc.), furniture – computer desks and chairs, and A/C units, provision of software (licensed Oracle database), and
four pieces of training in Oracle database operation, maintenance, and management.
Through this support, a digital revenue collection system for water, sewage, garbage, and fees was established in DoW Ninewa, the revenue collection unit. The DoW employees who received these training sessions have activated and operated the system.