Maturity Matrices for Institutional Benchmarking of Dam Safety in Indonesia

Indonesia has a large and growing portfolio of large dams distributed across the island archipelago. This infrastructure is important in supporting the Government’s vision of security at the nexus of water, food, and energy and contributing to economic prosperity and poverty reduction measures by storing water for productive purposes. The development of Maturity Matrices for Institutional Benchmarking of Dam Safety in Indonesia is intended to provide a method for assessing the effectiveness of the operation, maintenance, surveillance and emergency preparedness programs adopted by dam authorities. The Maturity Matrices can serve a wide range of functions and are intended to be used as a tool to help in identifying and prioritise areas for improvement in the dam safety program, compare the performance of the dam safety program over time, contrast the effectiveness of different programs across different dam management units, and inform the prioritisation of resources for dam operation, maintenance and safety improvement. Maturity Matrices are a powerful tool to evaluate how well developed a process or program is performing. They are typically based on a system used to demonstrate the state of practice in an organisation for performing an activity. The matrix shows advancing maturity from a rudimentary or elementary level of practice through stages to advanced, expert or good industry practice. Maturity Matrices have been developed for dam owners and operators to assess the effectiveness of a dam safety program against in-country standards and guidelines, or, good industry practice as considered most appropriate. The Maturity Matrices also provide a useful means to communicate the effectiveness of a dam safety program to wider audiences. As part of continuous improvement initiatives, the matrices allow areas requiring improvement to be identified and prioritised for targeted investment and resourcing. The Maturity Matrices developed herein have been developed with due recognition of the Indonesian context. The foundations are provided by the national legal and regulatory framework with the specific elements identified and further elaborated through a series of workshops and expert consultations. The Maturity Matrices are focused on the operations of the Dam Management Units within the Balais, or basin organisations, and targeted to the dam safety standards and guidelines in Indonesia, or best industry practice as considered most appropriate in-country.