By the 14th Public Affairs Detachment
TIKRIT, Iraq – The Provincial Contracting and Budgeting Software, developed by two Soldiers from Company A, 407th Civil Affairs Battalion of the Salah ad Din Provincial Reconstruction Team, was turned over to the Salah ad Din governor and his assistant for technical affairs in Tikrit, Iraq, Sept. 14, 2008.
The two Soldiers primarily responsible for developing the PCABS were Sgt. 1st Class John Merckling and Sgt. David Socha of Company A, 407th Civil Affairs Battalion.
Qahtan Hamada Saleh, the governor assistant for technical affairs, thanked the Soldiers and every single person that participated in finishing the program, during the presentation and exchange, to include the interpreters and other support resources.
The need for the software was discovered this past year when the spread sheet for 2008 was submitted for funding for a new year's worth of projects, said Sgt. David Socha, Company A, 407th Civil Affairs Battalion.
"There were a couple of formulas that I didn't understand," Socha said. "So, I took all the columns and laid them out on the wall and it took that entire wall space there," Socha said, pointing to the back office wall.
The spread sheet program in use was great for covering the information needed from prior years, but the amount of projects being done quickly out grew a spread sheet format and needed to be turned into a database program, said Socha.
This new database program once in use should increase the province's ability to communicate the need for a project and the ongoing progress of a project as well.
"We were able to build in a lot of transparency," said Scott Headlund, chief of governance for Salah ad Din province, referring to the programs capabilities. "So that we would be able to ensure that the process was being fair and would be able to track all the funding coming into the province."
The program should make it easier for the contractors' to monitor their current projects progress and help ensure the fair distribution of projects by the government.
"The software package is in English and in Arabic and they did a fantastic job setting it up so that it is very user friendly," said Headlund.
"The government was very excited about getting it and has been asking over last month continually to get it," said Headlund. "We wanted to ensure it was a good product when we gave it to them. So we will be doing a month of data testing checking it out and making any refinements that are needed."
PCABS was developed by A Company, 407th Civil Affairs Battalion and this is the first site where the project is being implemented, said Headlund. Headlund added that he knew of no other capital based planning software anywhere in Iraq.
The program will track what projects are being done, which contractor was awarded the project and how the money is being spent by the contractor for the project, Headlund said.
The main driving focus for developing the PCABS was organization, said Socha. The information outgrew the spread sheet and will in time outgrow this program. The way the program has been organized is more structured and any programmer that looks at this information in the future should be able to understand how it is organized and be able to pour the information into a newer system fairly easily.
"In that respect we've done a great service to the province and the people of Salah ad Din," said Socha. "Setting them up for the future and setting them up with something that can really help them out."