A financial and services management system developed by enterprise resource giant SAP enables rigorous financial management, process management and service delivery in small and large cities, says SAP Africa public sector head Alvin Paules.

“The system, called Urban Matters, collects the fragmented information that municipalities and cities have and makes it meaningful by analysing it and then using it in a single, holistic system for all city management functions,” he says.

The system has five main functions, with a plethora of other functions that can be created by linking information and data in the municipa- lity to workflow and budgetary processes.

The five main functions, or pillars, are good governance, involving oversight and the management of municipal processes; user empower- ment, which aims to provide real-time access to analysed information for all city employees; community engagement, involving direct communication with citizens; service innovation, involving improved service delivery; and urban resilience, involving safety, environmental control and rapid-response tools.

“While we have some of the largest cities in the world as our clients, no city has deployed all the capabilities of the Urban Matters system. Cities should use the parts of the system that are key focus areas for them and add additional capabilities when required,” says Paules.

The system can pull data from any existing program used by the city, regardless of whether it has been designed by SAP. The data is analysed and the relevant information is sent to users in real time, matched to the function of the user.

All users, thus, have a real-time view of all available information on citizens, contractors and service providers, besides others, to enable them to complete their duties in good order and on time, while adhering to all regulations and maintaining real-time oversight of work orders.

For example, a city can use the system to ensure that there are no budget overruns because the system can be designed to remove funds as they are allocated from funds available in the budget, says Paules.

Further, cities can use the SAP system as a foundation architecture on top of which they can design and implement new capabilities.

“For example, I can link the service innovation portion directly to the city’s contracting function so that, when a community member digitally sends the location of a pothole, the selected contractor is then sent a detailed work order to carry out the repair, improving turnaround times and reporting. The community member will also receive updates when the notice was received, when work started and when it is completed.”

Cities can approach SAP, as it can use the city’s focus areas as the basis for designing a city management and reporting system, which can be expanded as the city develops and services increase, to make African cities function smoothly and efficiently, concludes Paules.