According to a press release, the new system spearheaded by the Abu Dhabi Department of Finance supports its ongoing drive to develop a common and standardised financial framework across Abu Dhabi government entities. It also introduces a number of tools aimed at enhancing the efficient use of government funding through performance based measurement tactics.
A series of training workshops have kicked off to introduce the new system to budgeting and strategic planning staff across the various Abu Dhabi government entities. Speaking at the opening session, His Excellency Mohammed Sultan Al Hameli, Executive Director of the Department of Finance said, “We at the Department of Finance consider ourselves one of the key enablers of the vision of our leaders when it comes to establishing the frameworks for the optimisation of resources and operations and the maximization of efficiency and accountability across all Abu Dhabi government bodies.
“Under the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Department of Finance, we launched into an evaluation phase to review the basis of government budgeting and assess the efficiency of our strategic planning and performance monitoring processes and structures. After thourough consideration we identified the best global practice aimed at ensuring accuracy and reducing budgeting and implementation time. As of early 2010, we will be able to apply this system in Abu Dhabi government entities, to create a single government budget using the data collected from various government departments in the emirate through the new Oracle Hyperion Planning System.
On the long term the new system will set the platform for the Abu Dhabi government to create a single unified government budget from a centralised, web-based interface. It will also reduce budgeting and planning cycles and empower budget analysts to track and communicate the progress of plans and budgets by creating automated reports, alerts and other related performance based requirements. The Oracle Hyperion Planning will allow the government entities to conduct financial, strategic and operational planning easier while ensuring excellent performance indicators by providing the time, effort, accuracy and speed required for preparation and follow-up on budget management through this new revolutionary system.
Falah Hassan Addai Al-Husseni, Economic Advisor at DoF and the project manager for Oracle Hyperion Planning System explained that “the new system consists of a centralized web and excel based planning and forecasting solution that offers a smart view of the details of the plan on MS Excel. It enables staff to complete the planning and facilitates budget input and analysis outside their official working hours. It also allows them to analyse their performance with other unified financial and integrated indicators online with the help of graphical reporting tools suitable for dashboards and scorecards applications. The system is set to save time through the automated financial reports, alerts and other flexible scheduling facilities. Oracle Hyperion Planning was built to come in line with Abu Dhabi government atmosphere while increasing the flexibility of meeting any future needs.”