The Australian Stock Exchange(ASX)-listed software developer, Concept Systems International, beat out heavyweights Oracle and PeopleSoft to secure a tender to deploy payroll software throughout the government. Government ministers and the IMF expect the software to expose and help weed out "ghost worker" salaries they concede make up at least 10 per cent of the country's public payroll.
The system will cover 65,000 government employees, spread across 19 different provinces, and 20 different government departments.
Having managed infrastructure from the jungles of Borneo to the land-locked African nation of Malawi Greg Phillips, managing director of Concept Systems plans to leverage past experience to fulfil the tender.
"We already have a couple of customers in PNG, so we know the country, and people there know us," Phillips said. "There is bugger all infrastructure [but] we have a phone line to most places, so that's a start."
However, Phillips says that one of the key features of Concept Systems' software is that it minimises the amount of data which needs to be transferred - allowing it operate via a range of infrastructure.
Set to be completed by the end of 2003, the system will cost AU$13 million to install, but is expected to save the PNG government AU$45 million per year in improved efficiency.
"Essentially it is being paid for with an IMF loan, so it is important to get the government return on investment very quickly," Phillips said. "The most difficult aspect of working in third world countries is often finding the money and convincing people inside and outside the country that the project is actually going to work - aid agencies can be very cynical."
Phillips believes a successfully completed project in PNG will open up opportunities in other developing countries.
"We have already spoken with the IMF about other countries which require similar programs," Phillips said. "If we can show people in other countries that a project like this can be successful it may just open up their minds to the fact that it is possible to make the government's operations more efficient and successful."
Concept Systems will include extensive training of government staff, and the establishment of a government call centre in Port Moresby.
"Our people will be running and managing the call centre on an ongoing basis, but it will also function as a training centre for government employees so they get the benefit of a continuous IT training program as well as the increased efficiency of the software system itself," Phillips said.
Phillips also revealed that the company is in deliberations with the PNG government regarding a financial package, and believes the technologies will play a key role in modernising the government
"They have the vision and the determination to make sure the program works," Phillips said. "Once you have a strong government and public systems in place other infrastructure can develop around it. I give it five to ten years but I think PNG will really start to advance thanks to projects like this one and the commitment of the people."
