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How Prioritising Projects Works?

10 February 2023

In the process of prioritisation, the importance of considering a multitude of factors must be emphasized. Although it is commonly accepted that the municipality’s IDP should be the primary driver of priorities, there are however many other metrics in support of the IDP objectives that should be considered in the process. One of the most effective ways to achieve this is to apply a multi-criteria-weighted approach.

CP³ uses a multi-criteria assessment framework to facilitate project prioritisation. The capital demand list otherwise referred to as the Wishlist, or investment requirements is ranked according to how they align with each criterion within the multi-criteria assessment framework. The output of such a prioritisation run would indicate how a municipalities project pipeline aligns with the municipality’s overarching developmental objectives and strategies. In a typical scenario, these objectives and strategies range from strategic, spatial, social, economic, and environmental to the financial objectives and strategies of the municipality. Using this methodology, municipalities are applauded for strategic and coordinated departmental planning and budgeting amongst others councilors.

Novus3, through the application of the CP³ prioritisation tool, provides a prioritisation approach to municipalities that is Participative, Transparent, Adaptable, System Based, and Collaborative. This allows for easy calibration by key decision makers, consistent reliability in the results, the ability to immediately adjust as the context and realities in a municipality change, run various scenarios, and ultimately break down the entrenched silo practices in capital investment practices.

#Novus³ #AdvisoryServices #CP³ #Budgets #SoftwareSolutions #PeopleOrientated #LetsMakeADifference #CEF #Capex #ValueAdd #CP³Modules #CP³Functions #Prioritisation

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Capital investment prioritisation

Novus3’s innovative and celebrated approach to prioritsation, stems from significant multi-disciplinary experience that was gained in-situ at local government level, firmly rooted in an understanding of the built environment. Through the use of the CP3 system, our clients have the ability to appraise large and complex capital demand requirements within minutes, resulting in defendable, evidence based budgets. The results are often challenged and stress tested by politicians during political debates – the process therefore repeatedly have been proven to be beyond reproach and consistently reliable.

IDP Process Plan and change management

Novus3 provides advisory services to our clients, supporting them in setting up the correct structures and mechanisms internally which becomes the basis for sustainable and collaborative planning and implementation. The IDP process plan has a number of inter-related complexities that plays out on a cyclic basis year-on-year. Pre-empting and reacting to upcoming requirements in the IDP process pro-actively, renders the process into a constructive and demonstratable outcomes-based process.

Public sector budget and fiscal impact simulation

The financial management of public sector funding at local government level, even on a small scale, often rivals the complexity encountered at huge, listed, multi-national companies in the private sector.. Local governments have to operate and make smart financial decisions within a complex and exceedingly stressful environment. Compliance with legislation, policy frameworks and accepted accounting practices have to be maintained. Simulating these complexities allows our financial executives to ask “What if?” questions and reliably peer into the future with a long-term understanding of the implications of decisions that are taken in the present.

Spatial Development Frameworks

Novus3’s specialised knowledge and access to bespoke and purpose-made spatial and other analytic tools, provided the company with the opportunity to develop unparalleled experience in the development of Capital Expenditure Frameworks (CEFs) by bringing a practical angle to the formulation of implementation plans. A realistic roadmap is provided on how to realise the objectives developed in the Spatial Development Frameworks of the municipalities where we were involved. In return for the development and submission of these CEFs, these municipalities were awarded with significant additional funding from central government.

Built Environment Performance Plans

As part of the National Treasury City Support Program, Novus3 was regarded as specialist advisors on the built environment value chain – a process embedded in Built Environment Performance Plans (BEPPs). BEPPs were intended to form the bedrock of municipal capital planning and management for larger cities (metros). Novus3’s specialist knowledge played a big role from an advisory and capacity building perspective during the development of a number of BEPPs that were developed for a number of metros.

Infrastructure Capital Investment Plans

Infrastructure investment has to find a balance between addressing historical backlogs and inequalities, maintaining satisfactory prevailing functionality and level of service and strategically investing in unlocking future opportunities and growth whilst acknowledging a plethora regulatory constraints, policies and rules. In the process, certain strategic outcomes are sought which may manifest spatially strategically or environmentally. Our infrastructure capital investment plans provide the strategic guideline and provide the recommendations to find this balance.

Capital Expenditure Frameworks

Novus3 has developed multiple capital expenditure frameworks (CEFs) for multiple municipal clients and are regarded as the sector leaders in this area. These CEFs are financial roadmaps providing clear direction on financial constraints, the most important capital and investment priorities, an understanding of the unique local fundamentals and a sustainable response to these multiplicity of challenges.

Project preparation processes

The efficient planning and execution of projects from the moment of idea conception until the last brick has been laid has been the subject of study from as early as the reign of the Roman Empire. The governance process within the public sector has to play an important role in the journey of project preparation. The under-expenditure of allocated funding regrettably is often the only element in the built-environment that consistently re-occurs. All too often, funding is allocated to projects that simply are not ready to proceed to the next step. Novus3’s CP3 system is used to aid clients in the progressive steps involved in the project preparation journey.