Executive summary
SIGMA is a joint initiative of the OECD and the European Union that monitors public administration reform in countries against the Principles of Public Administration based on a standard set of indicators.
The organization asked Helmes to develop a new IT system that would allow SIGMA to streamline and digitalize the process of data collection and analysis. The custom-built system, called the Public Administration Reform Information System (PAR.IS), was launched within a year and has since become the primary tool supporting the organization’s monitoring work.
PAR.IS is a comprehensive solution for data collection, analysis, quality control, reporting, and storage. The purpose-built system dramatically reduces the workload for both the team and respondents, who have to spend less time navigating massive spreadsheets and juggling between various file-sharing and survey platforms and email threads.
Automated data aggregation and reporting make analysts’ work more manageable, and an external portal integrates with the system for additional data visualization possibilities. Respondents can easily collaborate when submitting data and files. The system ensures full accountability and transparency, which is difficult to achieve in a spreadsheet-based process. Flexible user rights management enhances security as users are only authorized to see the data and perform the actions they need to.
PAR.IS includes file storage and archiving capabilities, making data reuse easy. Respondents can access responses to previous surveys with one click, while the team can effortlessly create and manage multiple surveys using built-in templates.
Ever since its launch, the system has seen a steady increase in users, and new features are regularly being added to meet their needs.
Learn more about the advantages of digitalizing complex data collection and analysis from the case study below.
Meet the customer
SIGMA (Support for Improvement in Governance and Management) is a joint initiative of the OECD and the European Union, which since 1992 has been working with partner public administrations to strengthen their public governance systems and capacities.
Currently, SIGMA monitors public administration reform in EU candidate countries and potential candidates, as well as some of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) partner countries, through a set of standard indicators composed of 52 indicators and more than 340 individual sub-indicators.
In 2016, SIGMA tasked Helmes with developing a new IT system that would allow the organization to streamline and digitalize the process of data collection and analysis.
PAR.IS – a secure system for data collection, analysis, reporting, and storage
In January 2017, the custom-built Public Administration Reform Information System (PAR.IS) was launched. It has since been the primary tool supporting the organization’s monitoring work since then.
Two main groups use PAR.IS: national coordinators and experts who submit data on behalf of their countries and SIGMA’s team members, along with a network of experts who review and analyze the data.
The system makes it easy to collect data from participating countries using questionnaires, analyze it, and utilize it for reports and comprehensive reviews. PAR.IS integrates with an external publicly accessible data portal for additional data visualization.
As planned, the system has become a one-stop solution for data collection, analysis, quality control, reporting, and storage. This significantly reduces the manual workload, provides an accurate audit trail, and provides transparency for SIGMA’s partners.
A one-stop solution with multiple benefits
The system offers significant benefits for the organization and the participating countries:
- Valuable time savings – Both respondents and analysts can now concentrate on their primary tasks of submitting and analyzing data rather than spending significant amounts of time preparing and navigating massive spreadsheets or juggling between file-sharing and survey platforms. Over time, increased efficiency also translates into considerable cost savings.
- Simplified workflow – The system simplifies workflow and encourages collaboration among a large number of people from different organizations who no longer need access to various platforms and email threads.
- Full accountability – Respondents can easily collaborate when submitting data, while PAR.IS ensures full accountability. A complete history of who has entered or modified the data is always available, which is difficult to achieve in a spreadsheet-based process.
- Flexible user rights management – Rights can be defined for user groups and individual users. This ensures that they can only access the information and perform the actions they need to. For example, they can be allowed to enter but not submit data or only access a specific section of the questionnaires.
- Targeted access – Anonymous users can be authorized to answer a specific question(s) through temporary unique links without granting them access to the rest of the system.
- Easy progress tracking – A visual dashboard, along with practical filtering options, makes it simple for the team to monitor survey progress and send out reminders to respondents if needed.
- Automated reporting – Automated data aggregation and reporting reduce workload for the analysts, as they no longer have to consolidate and compare data from multiple, calculation-heavy spreadsheets. The system compiles daily reports with new data and allows the creation of flexible custom reports.
- Convenient file storage – Respondents can upload supporting files directly to the system, eliminating the need for an additional file storage solution. Files can easily be located and referenced later, so there’s no need to upload any document twice or store excessive data.
- Easy data reuse – Respondents can reuse their responses to previous surveys with one click, simplifying and speeding up the answering process considerably.
- High data quality – There are flexible options for pre-defining the format of responses, such as numerical, a matrix, or a file, which help in collecting clean, comparable data.
- Flexible survey templates – New surveys can be easily created from templates, allowing for the creation of new surveys based on the same framework as in previous years. Responses to new surveys can be linked to past templates.
- API powering data visualization – The system integrates with an external data portal that offers broad data visualization possibilities.
Unlock the potential of your data with Helmes
PAR.IS is an excellent example of efficiently collecting and analyzing complex data on a scale in a timely and cost-effective manner with the aid of a custom-developed IT solution. While there are different possible tools provided by various vendors, none of them offer similar integration of different processes from data collection to reporting.
Helmes has been building business-critical IT systems for international public and private sector organizations for more than three decades.
If you would like to know more about our experience building the system or other similar solutions, please contact us.
Get in touch
