Lima, Peru-One evening, a few months ago, Enrique Normand, a partner in the law firm of Estudio Rubio, Leguia, Normand & Associates, was finishing up contract negotiations between a Peruvian company and a group of US investors when he realized they were missing a crucial document. They needed to obtain it from the Oficina Registral de Lima y Callao (ORLC), the notoriously slow public registry for Lima and its seaport, Callao. In short, they needed a miracle.

The ORLC, an independent government agency, is the only place one can verify the legal status of property, including businesses, homes and personal estates. Historically, getting the required information in less than three to four weeks had been impossible. But thanks to ORLC?s new website, the document Normand needed to complete the US$100 million deal was available with the touch of a computer key. The website was set up by a team of technology experts with a $400,000 grant from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Back to 1888

Peru?s public registry-and many of its problems-have existed since 1888. The last major change at the registry was in 1970 when it graduated from handwritten to typed records. The agency?s many problems-such as the length of time it took to send a certificate and the illegal sales of homes to more than one buyer-were well known, but viewed as an unfortunate reality.

In 1995, Hernán Martínez was hired as chief of ORLC. In an interview with CHOICES in his third floor office overlooking ORLC?s busy lobby, he admitted that "no one in Peru thought it was a good system, but no one had any idea how to make it better." That same year, he met Vincenzo Puliatti, programme manager for UNDP?s Programa Nacional de Informática y Comunicaciones (PNIC). PNIC was established in Peru in 1992 as part of a larger programme to bring technology to Latin America. It began as a one-man operation with a small office inside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Now, Puliatti has a staff of nearly 70 people and PNIC has established computer networks and communication facilities for several government agencies, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Institute for Consumer Defense, the Ministry for Women and Human Development and the Ministry of Justice. Besides the initial grant of $400,000, PNIC raised more than $6 million in cost reimbursement contributions from government agencies.

With the help of Puliatti, Martínez did what no one imagined could be done: he automated the entire agency, created a user-friendly website (www.orlc.gob.pe) and instilled confidence in a new generation of customers. The process took longer than expected-four years-and cost more than $11 million, which was paid by ORLC. It involved, among other things, purchasing 600 computers, transferring volumes of centuries-old handwritten inscriptions onto more than 500 optical disks and establishing an elaborate fingerprint recognition system (to satisfy a long-existing law that all certificates bear the signature and seal of a certified registrar).

Everyone seems quite pleased with the results. "This is the first automated public registry in Latin America," Martínez said proudly. "Other countries, such as Cuba, Panama and Venezuela, have approached us for advice."

Saving time and money

Jorge Eduardo Orihuela, a local notary, delights in being able to access ORLC?s files electronically. Like Normand, he can register or verify the value of a piece of property, check on the status of a certificate and trace the ownership of a plot of land from his home or office.

"You don?t need to be an expert to navigate the site, which means that even I can use it," says Orihuela. He has also noticed important changes both in the way ORLC employees do their job and in the certificates they give out. "The organization has improved, from management to services. Before, the information was stored in huge books, and it would take many days to get hold of a document. Maybe someone else had the book you needed, or a page might have been torn out. Now, the system is safe and many people can share information at the same time. It makes my job-and my life-much easier."

Even if a customer does not have a personal computer, the benefits of the new system are enormous. PNIC, which created the blueprint for the project and executed much of the work, has set up
a sophisticated computer network that allows ORLC employees to retrieve information quickly for walk-in customers. Daniel Sernagué, a local businessman seeking a bank loan, went to the agency recently to get a signed certificate. "I remember once, years ago, I paid for something to be done right. I came back a month later and it was still wrong," he says, "but today, I can get my certificate as soon as I pay for it."

One of many improvements

Another of PNIC?s revolutionary projects came toward the end of 1993, shortly after Puliatti met Miriam Schenone, then the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice. Schenone had been talking to UNDP about making the information required by the local judiciary more accessible. "The various ministries were in a chaotic situation, and I was frustrated at not being able to get things done," she said. "UNDP asked Puliatti to join us for a meeting. I didn?t know what he could do to help, but I could see a commitment and decided to take a chance."

Within a year, Puliatti?s team had established a computer network for the ministry and created a website (www.minjus.gob.pe) for accessing all of Peru?s current laws and their relevant predecessors. Complementing the website, an ongoing series of CD-ROMs were developed that stored all current laws, as well as inactive ones, once they had been removed from the website. "Before the CD-ROMs," said Schenone, "the Ministry of Justice had an index system that only identified the book a law was in, but did not tell you what the law was, or give any background on related laws from the past."

To illustrate the impact of the CD-ROMs, Schenone told a story about a recent trip to Spain on business. "When a question came up about a Peruvian law," she said, "I pulled out a CD-ROM and said ?Give me a minute. I have it right here.? Everyone was so impressed."

PNIC?s involvement ended shortly after the first CD-ROM was produced, a project which took six months and cost $8,000 plus personnel, all of which was paid for by the Ministry of Justice. "We moved on once the system (Sistema Peruano de Información Jurídica) became self-sustaining. The CD-ROMs are sold to interested users at an annual fee of $400 (for which they get one CD-ROM a month), and are distributed free of charge country-wide to all judges and attorneys, even in rural areas where they cannot afford to maintain an updated legal library," says Puliatti.

In December 1999, PNIC?s programme in Peru was completed successfully. The team from PNIC created an international non-governmental organization on information technology for development and a website (www.it4dv.org) to reach new constituents. "Technology is constantly evolving," says Puliatti, "and therefore one has to continue to build on it. UNDP left behind a solid model in Peru, and I hope that similar initiatives can be implemented in other countries."