Transcript ICT4D in CRS - mHealth Working Group

Vectors, Hosts and Viruses
Bridging gaps between ICT and
Health program staff at CRS
Presenter: Carrie Miller
Senior Technical Advisor for HIV & Health
on behalf of the ICT4D Team
mHealth Working Group & Nethope Healthcare Working Group
Save the Children, Washington, DC
August 16, 2012
What has CRS done to date to advance
ICT4D (including mHealth)?
ICT4D Strategy Goal: Mainstream the use of ICT4D solutions in our
programming.
Build commitment to
the use of ICT4D
solutions
• Business case for
investment in ICT4D
solutions developed
and communicated
• Identify funding
Establish an ICT4D
knowledge exchange
program
• Knowledge &
Innovation site
• Monthly webinars
• ICT4D conferences
• Mar 2010 - Nairobi
• Sep 2010 Washington
• Mar 2011 - Lusaka
• Mar 2012 - Kigali
• 2013- In planning stage
Build and maintain a
portfolio of ICT4D
solutions
• Portfolio of proven
solutions
• Initiate pilots
• Innovation fund
• NetHope
Develop CRS’ capacity
to deploy and sustain
ICT4D solutions
• Created an
ICT4DTeam“Help
Desk”
• Strengthened
partnerships with
technology
companies
How is ICT4D used in CRS’ health
programming?
Technology is used to…
Collect Mobile Data
• Collect and store project data i.e., beneficiary registration,
services rendered and impact indicators
Analyze and Report
• Analyze project data and generate reports to meet donor
requirements
Track and Monitor
• Track and monitor where and what services are rendered to
whom, providing visibility to stakeholders
Raise Awareness
• Disseminate project information widely to partners, field
agents, community workers, and beneficiaries to raise
awareness and facilitate distance learning programs
Communicate and Train
• Support two way communication between CRS staff, partner
staff, field agents, community workers, and beneficiaries in
dispersed locations
Provide Remote Services
• Provide services to beneficiaries with limited infrastructure
e.g. banking, access to market prices, weather data, patient
care information, disaster warning and learning programs
How did we get started in mHealth?
Partnerships with solution providers
•
•
•
•
AIDSRelief – Futures Group (Electronic Medical Records, SMS)
CRS India – Dimagi (job aids for Community Health Workers (CHW))
CRS Nicaragua – Sustainable Sciences Institute (job aids for CHW)
CRS Malawi – D-Tree (CSI for volunteers; C-IMCI Health Surveillance
Agents)
Support from ICT4D Team (and solution providers)
• CRS India – custom development (Uttar Pradesh - Health Management
Information System for Caritas India)
• CRS Sierra Leone – Zerion (iFormbuilder Malaria KPC)
What are the considerations for an ICT4D
Solution?
Implementing an ICT4D solution is not just about picking a technology…
PEOPLE
•
•
People that use and run
the technology
Addresses “Who?”
TECHNOLOGY
•
•
•
•
•
End User Devices
Software / Application
Infrastructure
Telecommunications &
Networks
Addresses “What?”
PROCESS
•
•
Business processes that
support the use of the
technology
Addresses “Where”,
“When” and “How”
How does CRS organize support for ICT4D
projects?
ICT4D TEAM
REQUESTOR
To ensure an ICT4D solution is properly implemented in projects, CRS programs are
supposed to inform the ICT4D team of their plans and support needs.
Raise helpdesk
ticket
Complete Project
Definition Sheet*
on CRS.org
Contact requestor
to clarify high-level
requirements for
request
Advise requestor on
alternate support
sources should
team be unable to
fulfill request
Review with
requestor to kick-off
support
No
Conduct internal
review to approve
request
Request
approved?
Yes
* A walkthrough of how to complete a project definition sheet is covered later in the presentation
Develop high-level
workplan / solution
recommendation
for request
What type of ICT4D support is available?
ICT4D Requests
Proposal
Service
Project
Description
• Project is at proposal
development stage to
secure grant / funding
• Project funding secured
• Support required to rollout an ICT4D component
e.g. mobile device to
conduct survey
• Project funding secured
• Support required to
develop and roll-out a
complete ICT4D system
(i.e. software, devices,
back-end hardware)
Support
provided
• Provide inputs on ICT4D
solutions that can be
used on the project
• Ensure sufficient budget
is allocated for ICT4D
• Procurement of the
software and devices
• Provide training to build
capacity of local IT staff
• Provide technical
expertise and support
• Project management and
delivery of the project in
accordance to a project
lifecycle methodology
(including vendor
management if an external
vendor is contracted)
• Development / configuration
of the ICT4D system
What should be considered prior to
raising a request?
Considerations
1
2
Importance
Objectives
• What are the objectives of the project?
• How do you envision the ICT4D component
supporting the project objectives?
• Ensure clear understanding and
alignment to project objectives
Outcomes &
Impact
• What difference will the ICT4D component
make to your project?
• What are the issues / difficulties faced if the
ICT4D component is not in place?
• Provides business case for
investment in ICT4D
Timeline
• For proposal support requests, when is the
proposal due for submission?
• For services and projects, when must the
ICT4D system be rolled out in order for it to
effectively support execution of the field
project?
• Ensure system can be delivered
in a timely manner
Budget
• How much budget are you able to allocate to
implement the ICT4D system / component?
• Ensure clear understanding of
budget constraints
3
4
Questions to ask yourself
What should be considered prior to
raising a request?
Considerations
Questions to ask yourself
Importance
5
Stakeholder
• Who is the business owner? Who will champion
and support implementation of the ICT4D
system/component?
• Who will use the ICT4D system? Are they CRS
staff or partner staff?
• Ensure necessary buy-in from
stakeholders can be obtained
• Ensure budget sufficiently covers the
number of users involved
6
Limitations
• What are the factors restricting / limiting use of
the ICT4D system / component that will need to
be considered? Consider both the environment
(limited connectivity) and people (limited IT
knowledge) aspects.
• Ensure the appropriate ICT4D
technologies can be selected
• Know the boundaries which limit the
choice of technology and other
regulations and restrictions
How do staff request support?
The long term objective of the malaria project is to increase malaria prevention
behaviors in the three regions of Sierra Leone. To measure project outcomes, a
baseline knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) survey needs to be conducted
to assess the prevalence of behaviors in the target areas. Utilizing technology for
the survey will streamline the data collection process and expedite identification
of key areas to address through behavior change communication initiatives.
Using technology will eliminate the need for photocopies, support data accuracy
by automating skip patterns, provide more opportunities for supervision by geostamping and allowing the project manager to oversee data collection in
multiple sites at the same time. Elimination of data entry will allow analysis to
begin sooner.
Normal
Specify how technology
will be used to meet the
programming objectives
and not just list the
project’s objectives.
Describe the outcomes
and impacts of using the
technology on the project
and not just the overall
outcomes of the malaria
project.
An urgent priority should
be exceptional.
How do staff request support?
Project Kick-Off: 1st March 2011
Survey Kick-off: 15th March 2011
Baseline Data Ready: 30th April 2011
Based on the grant funding of USD2 Million, USD10,000 has been allocated
for implementation of systems to support the project.
Key CRS staff involved in the project are: A, B, C, D, E and will need to be
involved in the data collection preparation
Capture project
milestones that are
dependent on the
technology being in place.
If possible, provide a
specific date
Specify the amount of
budget that the project
has or can allocate to
technology
Specify key project
members that will need to
be within the
communication loop of
this request
How do staff request support?
Business owner = Name, Title
Partner = Caritas Sierra Leone, Ministry of Health
Enumerators conducting the surveys are independent field agents
Limited internet connectivity out in the field where the data is collected
Enumerators collecting data have very low IT skill levels
Beneficiaries only understand Sierra Leone Krio and their local languages
The survey will be conducted with 12000 beneficiaries involving 50
enumerators. Data collected must be integrated with the existing
database.
I would like GKIM to recommend a technology solution for data collection
and provide a cost estimate. On-site training will also be required for the
recommended solution.
Specify the business
owner who is sponsoring
the project. Also specify
the users as this will
influence the technology
recommendation
Specify factors related to
the environment where
the project is run that will
need to be considered
when selecting a
technology (people,
connectivity etc)
Include any other
additional useful
information to be
considered e.g. scale of
data collection,
dependencies, specific
support needed from
GKIM, if any other local
vendors have been
contracted etc.
Who is the ICT4D Team?
ICT Experts
• Solution
architects
• Overseas
Service
Delivery Unit
Subject Matter
Experts
• Agroenterprise
• M&E
• Health
• Emergency
• Distance
learning
ICT4D Team
• Meet weekly
• Review
portfolio
• Review
proposals
• Provide
support
What is CRS’ ICT4D Project Lifecycle
Methodology?
GKIM has a project lifecycle methodology in place to ensure consistent and high quality
delivery of all IT projects including ICT4D projects.
Analyze
Requirements
Initiate
Business involvement
Key Activities
•
•
•
Define scope of
the project
Develop high-level
solution
recommendation
Plan the project
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Raise request
Provide high-level
requirements
Verify timeline
Verify solution
•
•
Architect &
Design
Identify business
processes that the
system will support
Identify data that will
be managed by the
system
Identify and
document detailed
functional and
technical
requirements
•
Identify and
prioritize
requirements
• Functionalities
• Performance &
Security
Provide sign-off on
requirements
•
Haiti M & E
•
Implement &
Test
Develop overall
system
architecture
Develop high-level
and low-level
design of each
component (e.g.
database, UI etc)
to meet defined
requirements
•
Review and
validation of design
•
•
Operate &
Maintain
Deploy
Development and
integration of each
component based
on the design
Comprehensive
testing of the
developed system
•
Participation in
and/or
identification of
participants for
user acceptance
testing (UAT)
•
•
•
Establish support
structure for system
both centrally and
locally (helpdesk)
Conduct training to
stakeholders
Configuration and
roll-out of devices
•
Participation
and/or
identification of
participants for
training
•
EARO M & E
Farmbook
PCS Scorecard
Malawi Mobile
Application
•
•
•
•
Maintain and
provide support to
end users of the
system
Provide fixes for
system issues
Enhance and tweak
the system
Management of
user turnover i.e.
passwords etc.
Raise help desk
tickets for incidents
Plan and raise
change requests for
system
enhancements
What is the long term vision?
Portfolio of
reusable
tools
High-touch
consultative
support
Scalable
costeffective
model
Tips for Enhancing Collaboration
• ICT staff: Field visits are invaluable
– Understand field constraints and capacity
– Trouble shooting/support for new users
– Able to articulate challenges to solution providers
• Health staff:
– Keep current on mHealth research and applications
relevant to health projects to reduce “reinventing the
wheel”
– Get firsthand experience with developing and rolling
out an mHealth solution
Tips Continued…
• ICT and Health Staff:
– Make an effort to learn key concepts/terms from
each other’s fields
– Be patient and communicate often; if possible set
up a mechanism for regular communication
– Collaboration enhanced by experience
– Don’t underestimate the amount of time needed
for understanding the requirements & training
– Document lessons learned and share
Acknowledgements
Slides adapted from Pei Ni Ong with input from Jessica Silverthorne,
Stephen Hellen, Or Dashevsky, and Ognen Plavevski
Full presentation about CRS’ ICT4D processes and others from the
March 2012 ICT4D Conference in Kigali, Rwanda are available at:
http://www.crsprogramquality.org/ict4d-2012/