M&E system,” although this was abandoned during implementation of the MIS, especially because the compilation and oversight functions in the hierarchical structure were no longer needed when the data were automatically aggregated and instantly available online for involved institutions.

During implementation of the WEDP, the approach to developing the M&E system gradually became a partnership, with active client participation. The Government of Ethiopia made the decision to develop and test an ambitious online real‐time MIS, which they deemed could potentially be useful to the government structure more broadly _._ The government therefore engaged its own IT experts from the IT department at FeMSEDA to assist the WEDP in developing specifications for the MIS and ensure that the system would be developed so that it would be useful at a later stage. On the technical side hardware such as servers, networks, and server rooms were upgraded to serve larger data flows than what the WEDP would generate. The client’s eagerness to develop the MIS into a system of general applicability highlights the potential for using M&E efforts to generate sustainable results in capacity building.

A local IT company was hired through a competitive bidding process to develop the MIS. Based on initial rounds of developing the MIS specifications, a simple, low‐cost solution satisfying some minimum requirements was selected. The aim was to develop a real‐time web platform–based system that was as simple as possible and at the same time choose solutions that would enable the FeMSEDA IT department to manage and develop the system once the IT company withdrew from the project. The contract with the IT company included one year of support after start‐up of the MIS. It was envisaged that FeMSEDA could subsequently manage the MIS without external support.

Finally, the WEDP had a unique design in that rigorous impact evaluations were included in a separate component of the project (World Bank 2012). Hence, from the start the involved parties wanted to learn about how the WEDP was working and how to increase its effect. This may have increased awareness of the usefulness of accurate, timely data and interest in using data to monitor progress and achievements.

# **4. Methodology**

The empirical foundations for this paper are the experiences of the involved stakeholders as reflected in qualitative interviews collected in Addis Ababa in June 2017, approximately six months after the MIS had started basic operations. We also used the full archive of project documents and internal World Bank documentation used in developing the MIS. Our own experiences complement this.

At the data collection stage, the WEDP project was coming to an end,<sup>5</sup> and World Bank support to project M&E was at a minimum. We collected data from the key stakeholders, primarily focusing on the three main user categories of the MIS: FUJCFSA, DBE and the micro finance institutions, and the Federal TVET Agency.

> 5 The project was extended for two additional years with additional funding from the Governments of Italy and Japan. As of September 2018, the project implementation end date is expected to be December 31, 2019.

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