Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone Information Systems

Project Background

SLIS is a component of the Development Assistance Coordination Office (DACO), which itself is positioned under the Office of the Vice President.

SLIS was established by UN-OCHA in 2002 to coordinate the collection of data of war related socio-economic destruction down to Chiefdom level. In addition, the “Who does What, Where” data base was established to identify the various Humanitarian Relief actors, their projects and project locations on Chiefdom level. Analysing that information gave birth to the District Data Packs, Sector Data Packs and the Sierra Leone Encyclopedia Compact Disc annually produced by SLIS. These products formed the basis for the Consolidated Appeals Process during the Humanitarian Relief phase.

In 2004, as Sierra Leone was transitioning from Relief to Development, the role of SLIS was re-examined and re-adjusted. It was agreed that the SLIS products should shift focus from humanitarian relief to development. In addition, expatriates from SLIS were commissioned to provide specialized capacity skills development for certain Government institutions. While the mandate to produce the Data Packs was claimed by a national institution SLIS kept producing its well known product - the Sierra Leone Encyclopedia. Today SLIS consist of 3 units:

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Development Unit

Application Solution Development Unit

Web Development Unit.

Project Objectives

Assisting DACO and Government in developing capacity at Local Councils level and within the Ministries in the area of data collection, processing, management and analysis as well as promoting the usage of such information products in strategic planning and policy formulation.

Developing the National Spatial Data Infrastructure to create new and enhance existing geographical datasets of Sierra Leone and building the capacity in national stakeholder institutions in this regard. It supports the operational systems designed by the Application Solution Development Unit with geo-spatial applications and assists a wide community of Government, Ministries and National Commissions, UN Agencies, INGOs and NGOs to facilitate their work by introducing a geo-spatial approach.

Creating operational systems for the Office of the Vice President, Ministry of Mineral Resources, Office of National Security, Freetown City Council and other Government institutions, which require administrative systems. The systems are primarily designed to meet the benchmarks set out by the PRS, MDGs and the RBM program currently being implemented across all Ministries. Examples are a Disaster Management support tool, a Mining Cadastre database administering Industrial and Artisanal Mining Rights through their life cycle or systems supporting the set up of transparent revenue collection mechanisms for local governments.

Aiding UNDP and other Government Agencies in realizing their own data dissemination goals by the means of Internet.

Project Outcome

Build the capacity of local councils and Government ministries. Designed  UNDP country office website and produce an annual information tool - Sierra Leone Encyclopedia