Govt develops real-time oversight dashboard to track national projects, cut bureaucratic delays – Min Ally

The Government is moving to strengthen the oversight of public spending across Guyana with the rollout of a centralised monitoring dashboard designed to track national projects in real time, reducing the need for costly field inspections while improving accountability in remote and hard-to-reach regions.
This was according to Public Service Government Efficiency and Implementation Minister Zulfikar Ally on Tuesday during the National Stakeholders Forum hosted by the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance under the theme “Strengthening Access and Accountability through Digital Platforms”, held at the World Trade Centre, Kingston, Georgetown.
Speaking on the initiative, the Minister explained that the digital platform – developed with the National Data Management Authority (NDMA) – forms part of a broader push to modernise governance and ensure that public funds are properly monitored across all 10 administrative regions.
He noted that with infrastructure and development projects spread nationwide, including in outlying communities that are expensive and difficult to access, the dashboard allows Government agencies to efficiently oversee works without incurring additional travel and operational costs.
“I want to spend some time speaking about the Oversight Monitoring Dashboard because this was one of the very first initiatives we worked on. As a Government, it is very difficult – our country is very large. We have projects in all 10 regions, some in very remote and outlying communities that are difficult to access. Not only are they difficult to reach, but it is also very expensive to get there,” he said.
He added, “However, public funds are being spent in every region in Guyana, no matter where it is. President Ali felt that we needed to improve how we monitor what is happening and how we are spending money, and we needed to do it in a way that does not require us to spend more money just to track our own work. So, we developed a dashboard with the help of the very good people at the NDMA, whom I must congratulate, along with his team, for all the excellent work they have done.”
He emphasised that it is important to note that many of the systems being implemented were developed locally by Guyanese, working alongside the NDMA. He stated that these locally developed systems eliminate the need for expensive licensing fees, as they are designed and built within the country.
He further explained that the Oversight Monitoring Dashboard provides a comprehensive view of Government projects across all sectors, including agriculture, housing, and tourism. According to him, the system allows officials to monitor projects in any region using devices such as mobile phones, iPads, computers, and smart boards within Ministries, enabling real-time oversight of all ongoing initiatives.
Ally noted that previously, officials relied on spreadsheets and paper-based reports to track project progress, which was often time-consuming.
“Previously, if you asked what was happening with or what the status was of the road being built in various regions, you would be given an Excel document or spreadsheet showing how many kilometres of road had been completed, how much money had been spent, and the contractor involved. You would be looking at it on paper. That is not what we have now.”
He related that at the Ministerial level, the dashboard now allows officials to access detailed, real-time information on every project, including photographs and videos uploaded weekly to show progress. He added that this applies to every capital project across the country – amounting to thousands of projects across all sectors.
The Minister further explained that the digital platform now allows Government stakeholders to access real-time updates through a centralised system, improving efficiency, reducing operational costs, and strengthening transparency in public administration.
The system, Ally noted, also enhances accountability among public officers, as project updates must be consistently recorded on the dashboard, while adding that failure to do so becomes immediately visible within the system, helping to identify gaps in performance and ensuring greater diligence in reporting.
He added that the initiative forms part of a broader Government agenda aimed at decentralising services and improving public administration across all regions.
“You have heard the story; many of you have probably had the experience of travelling long hours, depending on where you live, to get your passport or birth certificate or to renew it, or you have had to spend long hours in line at 4am at the passport office,” he said.
The Minister said that the Government’s digital transformation and wider public service reform initiatives are being driven by the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) administration’s broader goal of ensuring that no Guyanese is left behind in national development.
He stated that the Government cannot afford a situation where citizens are excluded from opportunities, adding that a range of programmes have been introduced to support education, skills development, and access to training at all levels.
Among these initiatives, he highlighted the GOAL scholarship programme, which currently has over 54,000 Guyanese enrolled in studies across various disciplines, including Information and Communications Technology (ICT), at the Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctoral levels. He also pointed to the Coursera partnership, noting that while the platform is normally fee-based globally, it is fully funded by the Government of Guyana, allowing citizens free access to international courses.