In September 2012 the Asian Development Bank selected KOGAS as preferred consultant to undertake the study ADB TA-7739 Supporting Water Operators' Partnerships - Indonesia Water Supply and Sanitation Institute (IWSSI)(44090-012). The contract was signed shortly after and the project started on October 10th 2012.

The main objective of the project is to accelerate the building of capacity in urban water and sanitation services in Indonesia, through the creation of a training and professional certification body for water and wastewater operators.

The priority is therefore to address one of the three pillars of water governance capacity building, the other two being policy and control. The addressing of this problem has three interacting levels of action:

• Characterization of competency, to define the key areas of knowledge and skills, and to assist in the development of policies and regulations;
• Competency-based structured training, to realize the transfer of knowledge and building of skills onto the target groups;
• Competency-based professional certification, to create a mechanism of standardisation of professional competence as well as an incentive for continuing development of competencies in the industry.

The project team has carried out preliminary research during the first six weeks of the project to determine the current state of affairs and produce a working baseline for refining the scope and direction of the work during the remainder of the project.

This initial research exercise has included many meetings with stakeholders: water operators, wastewater operators, PU, BBPSPAM, FORKALIM,PERPAMSI, INDII, ADB Resident Mission, WASPOLA, and more.

The next phase of our project will carry out further research about the institutions involved in the model, the existing programmes, the existing resources for training delivery (training centres), and so on.

The final outcome of the project shall include:

• A model and business plan for the creation of a training and professional certification body, including resources required, curriculum, selection criteria, delivery mechanism and monitoring and evaluation measures;
• A complementing strategy for the strengthening of the training delivery centres (centres of excellence);
• A development path, representing the possible scenarios of development of training and certification demand and supply;
• Recommendations for policy making."

Written by,

Jose Cordovilla, Project Team Leader