Dorothy Brewster-Lee

Senior Technical Advisor , Tanzania

March 30, 2011

ICT4 Development Conference

Lusaka, Zambia

Improving OVC Programming with Mobile Reporting

Project Background

OVC PEPFAR TK1 PROJECT

Strategic Objectives• To increase the capacity of communities, families and orphans

to respond effectively to the needs of OVC and their families. • To increase the institutional capacity of the local government

and CRS Partners to deliver high quality and sustainable OVC interventions .

Location• 5 regions across Tanzania

A Mobile Application for OVC Care

Vision• Enhance the quality and effectiveness of our

OVC programming through mobile applications

Mission• Quality OVC information captured, synthesized,

and made easy to use for decision makers, community volunteers, program managers and service providers

Challenges to be addressed through ICT solution

1. Real –time data: Long time delays between data collection. reporting and decision making

2. Data quality: Data collection in the field and office incomplete and inaccurate

3. Decision and referral support: CV requiring more technical support relative to referrals.

4. Program quality: Inadequate system volunteer performance monitoring

5. Data storage

6. Inadequate data storage mechanism

Moving from M&E paperwork…

• Phase 1 : Design prototypes

• Phase 2: Field test & refinement

• Phase 3 : Train 35 stakeholders and assess

• Phases 4 &5 (Not completed) : CRS staff field management and roll out with local government

ICT Solution

Solution: Using telephones for completion of OVC routine management , monitoring and reporting

Hardware / platform : Nokia 3100c or 2700c mobile phones with a removal SD memory card, to allow local backups to be taken.

Software: The CommCare mobile phone application is written using JavaRosa, the open source API. CommCare HQ, the backend system and reporting tool is written in

Python/Django.

Vendors: D-Tree & Dimagi

ICT Solution

Required External Support

Phase 1 2 3 4 5 Total Days

IT Specialist USA5 5 1 3 2 15

IT Specialist TZ15 21 5 9 6 56

Computer Programming

20 20 15 10 10 75

Key Challenges

1. Electronic feedback mechanism for community

2. Budget for on-going maintenance

3. Maintaining IC volunteer team user support mechanism

4. User errors

5. Quality assurance for telephone enabled referrals

Lessons Learned

• Mobile data collection was accepted widely by volunteers

• Reduced volunteer field time, travel time and travel costs

• Shorten time for information exchange with project office

• Increased ability for VC activity monitoring

• Importance of a community record

• Requires a technical support mechanism for partners and field implementers

• Importance of ensuring community and new partner integration through training and equipment .

Sustainability

On-going technical requirements:

• CRS server maintenance (post D-Tree)• Periodic updating on forms will require programming time• Volunteer retention and retraining

Sustainability issues: • Limited to the life of the funded project.• Sustainability of the mobile process will be enhanced by

linkage to the national electronic data base and data sharing with other community stakeholders.

Summary

• Our communities maybe far more ready to receive this technology than we are ready to offer it.

• Care must be taken that the technology actually empowers rather than dis-empowers local stakeholders

Thank You!