NTU delivers newly developed Road Asset Management System and Training on the new System

NTU is currently implementing the EU funded project, “Technical Cooperation Program - Institutional Capacity Building" in Ethiopia. The overall objective of the Technical Cooperation Programme, which has been running since October 2018, is to provide Institutional Capacity Building to the Regional Road Authorities (RRAs) and in turn support the achievement of the RSDP V plan to; Improve the road density and therefore the accessibility to economic activities and public services (education, hospital, health centres); Support the economic development in different sectors (industrial parks, agriculture, etc); and ultimately helping to alleviate poverty; and to Improve road sector governance through the implementation of the RSDP V and beyond.

As part of the project NTU has been developing and implementing a Roads Asset Management System (RAMS) that will be used by the RRAs. The system and usage procedures were delivered to Ethiopian Roads Authority (ERA), with training on the new system taking place last week. This training, the sixth round of eight rounds to be delivered, was originally planned to be held over 5 days, with participants travelling to Addis Ababa, from all over Ethiopia. However, in the context of the ongoing Global Pandemic, and with the associated travel and social distancing restrictions in place, the Training was reconfigured to be held in a virtual web-based setting, using a combination of video, instant messaging and file sharing platforms. The training was delivered by the Team Leader and GIS/IT Expert, who designed and developed the system. The training was a great success with good participation from the RRAs, where attendees learned about the new RAMS and how they can use the System in their daily activities. Participants will be awarded with certificates of attendance.

The focus of the next training activity, also to be conducted on-line, will be on “Quality Assurance and Supervision of Road Works – URRAP Roads” and will take place this week.