KUWAIT CITY, March 25: In line with the Cabinet's directive to promote digital transformation and enhance oversight, Dr. Amthal Al-Huwailah, the Minister of Social Affairs, Family, and Childhood Affairs, has announced the launch of an automated financial and administrative oversight system for cooperative societies. This system aims to improve transparency, expand the application of corporate governance systems, protect shareholder funds, and ensure the financial solvency of the societies.

Dr. Al-Huwailah stated that the project was awarded to a specialized company at a cost of 35,000 dinars. She emphasized that the automated system would impose strict oversight over all financial and administrative operations within the cooperative societies. The system also allows for monitoring the performance of boards of directors and enables tracking the movement of goods and merchandise through a unified electronic platform.

“The system also provides an advanced statistical database, allowing the ministry to track strategic stocks of food, medical, and consumer goods, as well as provide accurate forecasts for future market needs,” Dr. Al-Huwailah said. She noted that the Computer Science Department in the Ministry’s Planning and Administrative Development Sector would be responsible for managing and operating the project in close coordination with the Cooperation Sector.

The system includes interactive dashboards that offer decision-makers the ability to track shareholder data, profit and sales ratios, supplier performance, logistics operations, and employee affairs. The dashboards allow for the display and analysis of data on various levels, including the country, governorate, or cooperative level, based on specific time periods.

Dr. Al-Huwailah highlighted that this project aligns with the Ministry’s vision and the Cabinet’s objectives to expand digital transformation and enhance automated financial and administrative oversight. The system is designed to ensure transparent and efficient management of shareholder funds while balancing the supply and demand for essential goods and materials to maintain stable prices in local markets.

Sources within the Ministry of Social Affairs explained that the project is divided into two main phases. The first phase includes analyzing requirements for the dashboards, designing and building the infrastructure for servers, databases, and applications, and establishing a communication system with the relevant authorities. This phase also involves linking the necessary data and ensuring its storage within the Ministry’s database.

The second phase of the project will activate automated connectivity between data-providing associations. This phase will also implement quality control procedures to ensure data accuracy and availability within the agreed timeframe. The development of new dashboards, expansion of monitoring scope, and training of new users on these dashboards will be part of this phase.

Dr. Al-Huwailah noted that the automated system would provide an advanced database for tracking strategic stocks and forecasting market needs. The unified database will be fed with real-time data from cooperative societies, enabling effective and timely decision-making.

In a related development, Acting Assistant Undersecretary for Social Welfare Affairs, Dr. Jassim Al-Kandari, announced that the Ministry of Social Affairs had received a generous donation of 250,000 dinars from the Issa Al-Othman Endowment Foundation. The donation will support the welfare sector’s charitable fund, specifically for children and residents of foster homes. Dr. Al-Kandari also mentioned that next week would see the signing of a cooperation protocol with the Public Authority for Minors Affairs to support the expansion of the “Alternative Nation” project for children in the Family Foster Administration.

Sources from the Ministry of Social Affairs revealed that the development methodology for the new automated system is based on designing and creating a data warehouse structure. The database will include applications for data cleaning and be stored in a unified system that connects to all cooperatives. This system will serve as the primary source for data analysis and will provide the ability to filter data at the state, governorate, or society level.

This innovative system marks a significant step toward improving the financial and administrative oversight of cooperative societies, ensuring better transparency, accountability, and efficiency in managing public resources.