Upgrading the Management Information System for the Development and Employment Fund

To assist DEF in developing the terms of reference (TOR) that it can utilize to issue the tender and solicit proposals from local service providers.

• As part of Development and Employment fund (DEF) efforts to enhance its services and operations, DEF started several institutional transformation interventions; including upgrading DEF management information systems (MIS).

• Al Jidara provided technical assistance to DEF to define the business needs for new IT systems and to develop the Terms of Reference (ToR) to procure them. Al Jidara initiated the task by reviewing DEF’s current documentation, manual and electronic and systems as well as in depth meetings with staff of all relevant directorates. Based on the assessment and understanding DEF’s future direction, policies and business needs, Al Jidara identified gaps and areas of improvement in the functionality of the current system. Furthermore, Al Jidara undertook a business benchmarking exercise to compare the functionalities and platforms used in DEF with other microfinance institutions in Jordan.As a result, the IT conceptual architecture and business functionality of the new IT systems were developed in addition to comprehensive technical term of reference (ToR) to upgrade DEF’s MIS. Moreover, Al Jidara developed an action plan to implement the systems and conducted market research to estimate the expected cost of implementation.

• The assignment was conducted under an EU-supported project aiming to provide technical support project for the implementation of the Jordanian National Policy Framework for Microfinance (NPFM) with a Sector Reform Contract (SRC), targeting four key objectives: a) strengthening the regulation of the microfinance sector, b) consolidating its governance system, c) its financial infrastructure, and d) improving outreach of Micro Finance Institutions in rural areas.