USAID-FUNDED IRAQ GOVERNANCE AND 
PERFORMANCE ACCOUNTABILITY 
(IGPA/TAKAMUL) PROJECT
TASK ORDER 003 UNDER CLIN 5
FINAL REPORT FOR SUB-TASK 2
AUGUST 2019 
This publication was produced for review by the United States Agency for International Development. 
It was prepared by DAI.
USAID-FUNDED IRAQ GOVERNANCE 
AND PERFORMANCE 
ACCOUNTABILITY (IGPA/TAKAMUL) 
PROJECT 
TASK ORDER 003 UNDER CLIN 5
FINAL REPORT FOR SUB-TASK 2
Program Title: USAID-Funded Iraq Governance and Performance Accountability 
(IGPA/Takamul) Project
Sponsoring USAID Office: USAID Iraq
Contract Number: AID-267-H-17-00001
Contractor: DAI Global LLC
Date of Publication: August 17, 2019
Author: IGPA/Takamul Project Team
The authors’ views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Agency for 
International Development or the United States Government.
CONTENTS
ACRONYMS................................................................................................................. 2
CRITICAL ACHIEVEMENTS..................................................................................... 3
IMPLEMENTATION STATUS................................................................................... 4
ACTIVITY STATUS OVERVIEW.................................................................................................... 4
RECOMMENDATIONS .............................................................................................. 6
USAID-FUNDED IGPA/TAKAMUL TASK ORDER 003 – FINAL REPORT 2
ACRONYMS
CIO Chief Information Officer
DPM Deputy Prime Minister
KRG Kurdistan Regional Government
PFM Public Financial Management
SOW Scope of Work
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CRITICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
Objective of Sub-Task Two
Sub-task 2 of Task Order 3 under the USAID-funded Iraq Governance and Performance 
Accountability (IGPA)/Takamul project provided senior advisory support, through a Chief 
Information Officer (CIO), to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to spearhead the 
implementation of reforms in the area of public financial management (PFM) systems, processes, and 
technology, thereby helping to improve the government’s efficiency and effectiveness. The CIO 
worked to reinforce the link between policymakers and electronically accessible public services to 
improve service delivery. These efforts included interventions to help reduce the proportion of total 
KRG expenditures devoted to personal emoluments and to support preparations for right-sizing 
the KRG civil service.
Throughout Sub-task 2, the CIO provided critical support to the KRG in drafting an Action Plan for 
key reforms related to payroll, e-payments, and e-services. In addition, the CIO responded to ad￾hoc requests for support from the KRG, including providing technical assistance to a mentorship 
program for the Deputy Prime Minister’s (DPM) Reform Team.
Critical Achievements
• Drafted Action Plan which sets out a roadmap for critical KRG reforms in payroll, e-payment, 
and e-services, and circulated the Action Plan within the KRG for comments.
• Completed high-level designs for extending biometric registration from KRG beneficiaries 
to the general citizenry.
• Supported a mentorship program for the DPM Reform Team by developing a project 
rationale and business case for the program and creating innovative approaches to assist with 
reform efforts and the transfer of service delivery to Kurdish stakeholders.
• Prepared a draft budget for phases two and three of the payroll and governance project 
based on staffing levels, communications, and other operating costs under previous KRG 
administration. It is probable that this draft budget will be adopted by the new KRG 
administration.
IMPLEMENTATION STATUS
Activity Status Overview
1. Development of a methodology to describe the consultant’s suggested approach to KRG 
reforms, including key issues, development strategy for applications/tools, high-level features 
of proposed work packages for the KRG, and a high-level approach to the management and 
operational structure for the KRG reforms. 
Result: The CIO prepared the delivery methodology for implementing KRG reforms related to 
payroll management, ePayments and eServices. The methodology consisted of:
USAID-FUNDED IGPA/TAKAMUL TASK ORDER 003 – FINAL REPORT 6
1. An application development and rollout strategy that described the proposed software 
development related to policy and operational outcomes;
2. The work breakdown structure with the overall requirements divided into discrete 
functional, technical and integration components will work together to implement the KRG 
reforms
3. An initial package of the various components of work needed for the systems development 
such as development standards, tools and processes; data structure and migration; processes 
to avoid duplication; data maintenance; data correction; research and development
4. A management and organizational structure that delineated roles and responsibilities for the 
design authority consisting of the KRG IT Department, KRG Council of Ministers leadership 
team and the CIO
2. The action plan will be a detailed implementation plan that aligns with KRG priorities to 
increase the efficiency of public expenditure management in the areas related to improving 
public financial management and service delivery for each of the fifteen processes and 
technical interventions identified.
This action plan will include: 
• Project Plans, dependencies, milestones, and target delivery dates
• Risks/issues, mitigation plans, and contingencies 
• A catalogue of scopes of work (SOW) that support delivery of the Plan (both for 
Technical Assistance and goods/services) along with a procurement strategy that 
includes methods, plans, and timelines 
• A monitoring and evaluation (M&E) framework for the engagement, and supporting 
SOWs
• A list of recommended interventions for technical assistance by USAID. 
Results: An Action Plan was developed and circulated within the KRG for comments. The final 
Action Plan includes detailed SOWs grouped into functional and technical themes. SOWs also 
include procurement methods and outline costs and timelines. These include a detailed terms of 
reference for data modelling and e-payment strategy and legislative review. The Action Plan also
provides recommendations for USAID to continue support to the KRG reform efforts, also 
summarized in the Recommendations section of this report. In addition, the Action Plan includes 
project plans, dependencies, milestones, and target delivery dates and addresses risks/issues, 
mitigation plans, and contingencies. The CIO also suggested a monitoring and evaluation framework 
for the engagement and support of SOWs, as well a list of recommended interventions for technical 
assistance by USAID.
As part of the Action Plan, the CIO completed high-level designs for extending biometric registration 
from KRG beneficiaries to the general citizenry. Once the process is developed, the KRG is planning 
to use it to pilot the registration of 40,000 individuals who claim to be taxi-drivers. Currently, there 
is no license-based controls or identification for these purported taxi-drivers.
The final Action Plan will be submitted to USAID separately with the consultant’s final 
report.
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3. Provide on-going CIO advisory work to the KRG.
Results: The CIO supported a mentorship program for the DPM Reform Team. The CIO helped 
to develop a project rationale and business case for the program, as well as created critical thinking 
and innovation approaches to assist with reform efforts and the transfer of service delivery to 
Kurdish stakeholders. The DPM’s Reform Team will work on initiatives related to: company 
registration, building permits, driving licences, internship programs, and infant vaccinations. The
CIO’s support will help the DPM to deliver a presentation on reform achievements plans, as well as
help to guide the development of an e-services strategy and focus areas for the next two years.
In addition, the CIO prepared a draft budget for phases two and three of the payroll and governance 
project based on staffing levels, communications, and other operating costs, under previous KRG 
administration. It is probable that this draft budget will be adopted by the new KRG administration.
RECOMMENDATIONS 
The CIO identified areas for USAID to consider for further support of KRG reform initiatives.
1. Advice and Guidance Consulting - Provide advice-and-guidance consulting on e-services that 
will assist the KRG and can help position USAID at the center of emerging digital service 
delivery reform for governance. 
2. Payroll and Payments Automation- Take advantage of cost and time benefits of automating 
payroll checking and direct payments to individuals.
3. E-services – Assess the need for funding support on a case-by-cases, as priority areas for 
USAID interest may exist across different funding contracts, departments, or initiatives. 
Universal registration may be of particular interest as a means to help address priority areas 
such as pro-poor growth, gender equity (access to services), economic growth, and e￾payment to internally displaced persons.
4. Risk level consideration – Consider initiatives to be medium risk-high reward, as each will 
require sustained support to be successful, but have the potential for high reward. 
5. Watching brief – Maintain flexibility within the remainder of the Plan to enable response to
requests for assistance in developing digital transformation.
6. Prioritize interoperability training – Prioritize interoperability training, in particular for API 
Environment Management, as it can be initiated at any time. It is an essential precursor to all 
exchanges of data between software components to be developed in both technical and 
functional SOWs and should be considered a priority action.
7. Support low-risk interoperability interventions – USAID should consider funding low-risk, 
high-impact technical support that requires limited amounts of hardware and would provide 
a strong platform for functional software build/deployment, namely: Application and Data 
Security; User Interface Design Assistance; SMS Gateway and Integration; and Authentication 
– Testlab.
8. Procure trainings on ICT enhancement, capacity development, and quality assurance –
Procuring capacity building in areas such as SQL Server and C# can be initiated at any time
and does not present a procurement challenge.
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9. Support low-risk capacity development technical interventions: USAID should support low￾risk capacity development and sustainability interventions in ICT enhancement, capacity 
development, and quality assurance, as they represent limited investment in hardware, with 
the majority of expenditure being training and consulting interventions.