Increasing Asset Management Capabilities of Local Authorities in Sri Lanka

Infrastructure planning, management and budgeting, including establishing and managing of infrastructure inventory has been quite a challenge in local authorities of Sri Lanka and one can see a lot of gaps, duplication, and wastage of already limited resources in the provision of services to the community. A robust Asset Management System has been the longstanding need for the Local Authorities to efficiently plan and manage the local infrastructure. But their capacity in this regard is much wanting and there has been a need for both (i) establishing an efficient and user-friendly system and (ii) building the capacities to operate and manage the system. Government of Sri Lanka has been making a concerted effort to improve asset management practices. One such successful effort was securing the support of RMIT University for digital transformation of the asset management practice in Sri Lanka enabling capacity building not only in optimized management of infrastructure assets but also enabling digital transformation of the practice. A pilot project to develop the system and build capacities in asset management of local authorities has just been completed. The Government plans to expand the capabilities of other local authorities based on this experience. The paper presents the current scenario of Asset Management in Local Authorities of Sri Lanka and efforts of the Ministry in-charge of Local Government in increasing the capacities of Local Governments in establishing and working on sustainable inventory and asset management systems, through an Asian Development Bank funded project. The paper will present the current practice, identification of the best appropriate level of digital capability for the authorities and design and implementation of the software platform in seven local authorities as a pilot. The training program deployed and the benefits of the project as observed by the governing authorities will also be presented.