Argentina - Social and Fiscal National Identification System Project

Report No. PID6061 PID6061 Project Name Argentina-Social and Fiscal National... Identification System APL Region Latin America and the Caribbean Sector Public Sector Management Project ID ARPA55461 Borrower Ministry of Economy Implementing Agency Secretariat for Fiscal Equity Office of the Chief of Cabinet of Ministers Av. Julio A. Roca 782, 1067 Capital Federal. Telephone/fax: 54.1.343.0181/89 Date this PID prepared April 1999 Appraisal Date February 1999 Date of Board Presentation April 20,1999 Country and Sector Background. The Government's social benefit programs require up-to-date information on people, legal entities, and their relationships to the programs and to each other for the accurate determination of entitlements and payments. At present, registries on these data share information imperfectly (if at all). This precludes the cross-checking among them that is needed, e.g., for avoidance of benefit duplication as well as improved registry data integrity. Better information would also permit increasingly targeted allocations of public funds in the health and social security sectors. It likewise would be a potent tool for reduction of tax evasion. Project Objectives. To identify social and/or fiscal attributes of physical and legal persons in Argentina, through a sustainable information exchange system, aimed at improving the efficiency, effectiveness and impact of social services and fiscal programs at all levels of government in Argentina. The proposed Project would entail the development of collaborative facilities and arrangements for facilitating the exchange of fiscal and social sector information among federal, provincial and municipal agencies. In the first instance, the participants would include the National Social Security Administration (ANSES), National Registry of People, Secretariat of Social Development, Federal Public Revenue Administration, Ministries of Justice and Labor, along with the Province of Mendoza and others to be determined. By supporting the creation of more accurate data on all inhabitants and legal entities, the project is expected to improve the delivery of social program benefits. It should also lead to the realization of significant expenditure economies which could permit future increases in social and other public programs. . The incremental nature of the proposed Project, as well as the sensitivity of some of its aspects, require consensus-building and establishing credibility based on proven results. For this purpose, the initial two year phase of the project would be directed to putting in place basic information exchanges among a limited number of programs so as to show their benefits to additional potential stakeholders. It would also seek to win the consensus of enough  other agencies for future broader scale participation. The envisaged second (four year) phase would replace the initial ad hoc, basic exchange procedures with a more systematic methodology supported by an Internet-enabled technology infrastructure. It also would begin to institutionalize SINTyS. The third phase would introduce suitable mechanisms for SINTyS' long term independent functioning and sustainability. Project Description. The project would be implemented over an eight-year period starting in mid-1999. It would finance technical assistance, consultant services and the acquisition of computer and telecommunications equipment for five components: (a) Improvement of Social Services Activities to improve the identification of individuals, entities and relationships through information interchanges, and to cross-check this data's completeness, accuracy and reliability for uses in social security, health and other programs; (b) Improvement of Fiscal Efficiency. Activities to improve information interchanges and to cross-check and verify the completeness, accuracy and reliability of agencies' data for preventing, detecting and discouraging tax evasion; (c) Institutional Framework, Infrastructure and Common Services. Activities to establish a legal and technology infrastructure within a comprehensive institutional framework; including the testing and validation of Intranet-based systems; and the preparations of measures for protection of accuracy, privacy and other rights regarding data handled through SINTyS; (d) Management of the System Activities to oversee direction of the project and to eventually manage an ongoing SINTyS program; (e) Project Administration .The National Project Director (the Secretary of Fiscal Equity in the Office of the Chief of Cabinet of Ministers) would be assisted in day-to-day management of the project by a project administration unit in the Secretariat who would work in close collaboration with another project administration unit in ANSES for procurement and accounting. Project Financing. The Project will involve expenditures of US$83 million. The Bank will contribute 65 percent and the Ministry of Economy the balance. The Bank's support would be in the form of Adaptable Program Lending and consist of a series of loans. The first of these would be for US$10 million. Sustainability will be facilitated by the Policy Coordination Committee created for the SINTyS program which is chaired by the Chief of Cabinet of Ministers, and includes the National Director and the main providers of information. This would be supported by agreements with each of the participating agencies, and bolstered by the project's provisions for institutionalizing the SINTyS program. In addition, Argentina's technical environment for the shared information exchange is inherently sustainable, consisting of readily available, standard private sector services. Project provisions call for an examination of the eventual privatization of the management of the infrastructure and infrastructure services. Lessons Learned from Past Operations. Many lessons have been drawn from technical assistance projects, which this project attempts to address, as follows: The Bank's experiences with efforts to upgrade large database systems in Argentina were brought to bear on the project, particularly the importance of incremental, carefully sequenced changes and the need to assure quality and access. Project design also took into account experiences elsewhere in implementing public information standards, confidentiality and data access rules. The need for a phased approach as well in order to build consensus and establish credibility in preparing the way for substantial undertakings, as - 2-  well as permitting well designed, clear exit opportunities if later developments indicate their need. Reduce project focus and complexity to an implementable minimum whose results can be expanded on and replicated. I Keep the project owner- and program-neutral to avoid potential conflicts, demonstrate transparency and ensure sustainability in the face of political change. Ensure on-going political commitment through a senior-level Coordination Committee. Plan for an early institutionalization of the management of the network to minimize inevitable inter-institutional conflicts. Poverty Category. The proposed project is not poverty targeted and no estimate of the potentially affected population now exists. However, women and children are likely to account for a significant share of the poor who should qualify for social programs but do not presently receive such help. Environmental Aspects. The proposed project is not expected to have any environmental impacts. Program Objective Categories. The primary category is Public Sector Management (BY). Contact Point: The InfoShop The World Bank 1818 H St., NW Washington DC 20433 Telephone: (202) 458-5454 Fax: (202)522-1500 Note: This is information on an evolving project. Certain activities and/or components may not be included in the final project. This PID processed the week ending April 9, 1999. - 3-