The focus of the material in the E-Book and on this website is to: -

• Outline the Strategy Dynamics (SD) simulation approach to improving land admin (LA)
• Provide a number of illustrative examples of using the SD approach
• Show how to TEST for SUCCESS before investing using he SD approach
• Entice others to try the SD approach

Several groups should find the E-Book useful. They are –

• Land administration (LA) professionals who specialise in Development Assistance (DA) projects and may be part of the design, implementation or valuation team for aid agencies or development banks
• DA specialists in project design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation
• Aid Agencies and Development Banks may see merit in the SD approach to value add to their internal design and operational guidelines /formats
• NGOs (Non Government Organisation) who work in the land area
• Officials in Government and in Land Agencies in DA recipient countries who may see the SD approach as a way to work more closely with donors, and to also gain a much clearer understanding of how and why an aid project should work over time, and what can be expected to be achieved, and by when
• Anyone with an interest in DA and/or LA

The Purpose of this E-Book is to:-

• Outline the Strategy Dynamics (SD) approach, with examples, that allows a coherent evaluation of strategic alternatives to improve land administration (LA) and to test for effectiveness and sustainability, DURING project design, and BEFORE committing large funding for implementation.
• Show how to test for effectiveness and sustainability any Performance Improvement Proposals (PIP) in LA, in a transparent and quantifiable manner
• Show how M&E (monitoring and evaluation) of an improvement project can be enhanced by using the SD approach to compare actual to target improvements over time, and to examine the likely effects of revising performance targets
• Provide a number of illustrative examples of using the SD approach in various aspects of LA where Development Assistance (DA) might be considered. These examples show the SD approach applied in design and also in managing a project during aid, and post aid. A focus is placed on identifying the likely conditions for sustainability of improvements post aid, when the host agency alone is responsible for recurring annual funding, maintenance, and performance
• Engender discussion concerning the efficacy of this SD approach for increasing the likelihood of "success". Success is deemed to be the near complete achievement of project objectives, and long term sustainability of the benefit flow, post DA

It is NOT the purpose of this book to:-

• Produce an academic paper – the alternative title for this book could well be, some thoughts from a retired practitioner with some field experience

Several things struck me from my experience in both developed and developing countries.

• Firstly, that land administration (LA) is a very complex and largely hidden system, and while there are many who understood small parts of the system in great detail, there were few who understood it completely as a whole, let alone as a system.
• Secondly, that the cost to governments in running LA systems effectively at scale, and the costs to users in complying with them are very high, largely hidden, and can be challenging for developing economies.
• Thirdly that change in LA does not happen quickly, even in developed economies, let alone developing economies where culture is an important factor. It may be unreasonable to expect change to be achieved and to “stick” within the usually relatively short time periods of Development Assistance (DA).
• Fourthly, that it was not unusual when coming into a country to find that there had been previous “land” projects with various levels of benefit “stickability”.
• Fifthly, that “stickability” depended in no small measure on incountry operations and maintenance budgets being adequate, and sufficient resources being allocated to maintenance and training.

I had the feeling that there was a need for additional approaches (i.e. new tools in the project designer’s tool box), and to think of LA as a system, and to be able to TEST improvement proposals quantitatively before investing. While it is quite easy to come to the view that something new is needed, it is quite another matter to come up with something, and to be able to convince yourself, let alone others, that it has merit.

In my search for an additional approach I came across system dynamics and became convinced that it had merit. Then I came across Dr Kim Warren’s Strategy Dynamics and his modelling software, Silico, which I found very appealing, and have used throughout this book. Having recently retired, I have now been able to devote some time to come to grips with SD, and produce this E-Book.

I readers will be tempted to try Strategy Dynamics in LA after perusing this book.

This E-book is divided into three Parts.

• Part A consists of three chapters which:- introduce Land Administration (LA) and its goals; indicate where the system of LA fits into the project development logic of Development Assistance (DA).
• Part B consists of five chapters which:- introduce Strategy Dynamics (SD) and its principles; shows in some detail the application of SD its application to a relatively simple development task, that of removing a processing backlog in a Land Registry (LR), and keeping it low, post IDA. How the SD approach adds value to current approaches is outlined.
• Part C consists of a number of chapters showing how SD can be applied to other areas of LA in

The Rationale is:-

• It is possible to TEST proposed improvements for effectiveness and sustainability post Development Assistance (DA) using simulation, BEFORE investment dollars are committed
• Testing will improve design, and therefore project objectives are more likely to be achieved and be sustainable, post DA
• Land Administration (LA) as a whole is a complex system. Treating LA and proposed interventions as a system will provide insights not currently available and will improve design. There are many who understand particular aspects of LA in great detail, but few who understand it as a whole, and fewer still who understand how it operates as a system.
• Much information is available on the technical tools for LA, their pros and cons etc., but much less is available on the quantitative evaluation of strategic objectives for LA
• Change in LA tends not to happen quickly, and long time frames may be necessary to achieve objectives and sustainability. Simulation is suitable to explore the likely effects of various rates of change in important parameters in systems over long periods, especially post DA.
  System dynamics and Strategy dynamics are used by for profit and not for profit organisations to develop and test strategy and business plans, before committing to investment. Why not do similar in LA?
• The SD approach adds value to current approaches and saves rather than makes work. The approach assists “buy in” from all stakeholders by making very clear, the what, by when, how and why improvement will occur. SD can also be used in M&E (monitoring and evaluation) to assist in managing the project during the period of aid, and post aid.

The SD schemas and models developed can be thought of as digital twins of the project of the improvement endeavour.