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Do you feel that finding reliable information in your organization on which to base decisions is becoming increasingly difficult in an ever-changing humanitarian context? Do you find it difficult to develop an information management strategy as it deals with so many different aspects of your teams’ work and so many different internal entities? And whilst information can be harvested from the web, are you unsure about how to make best use of this data and complement your own operational data? Do you find it difficult to explain what information management is and how it can be used?
Information management (IM) is one of the keys to identifying needs and assisting affected populations in a more efficient manner. It ensures that information gaps are identified, and that data from different sources is linked and analysed, and becomes actionable information within an organization and for its partners. An information management strategy allows you to define standard procedures that optimize workflow and ensure that the right information reaches the right people. Efficient information management is necessary for all sectors, be it WASH, education or CCCM, since you will conduct needs assessments, track distributions, carry out household surveys and generally monitor and evaluate your implementation for all programme activities. Information management involves collecting reliable and timely information, coordinating, planning and implementing assessments, analysing and storing information, as well as disseminating and presenting information in a format that is easy to understand and use, such as maps or graphs. Ultimately, these information products will inform planning and decision-making. CartONG assists humanitarian organizations in their IM work with any or all of these steps.
Learn more about how CartONG can help you with your Information Management projects below:
Information management is also strongly related to Mobile Data Collection, Geographical Information Systems and Capacity building so don't hesitate to visit those pages also.
After ten years of ad hoc collaborations between CartONGand Solidarites International (SI), the two organizations decided to sign a Partnership Agreement to facilitate future activities in the next three years.
The agreement concerns the capacity building of SI teams on Information Management (IM), the running of studies, the provision of strategic advice and technical field support related to Information Management, as well as the development, configuration and deployment of IM tools.
In that vein, work has started at the very end of 2019 to support the Myanmar and Bangladesh field operations in the improvement of their IM practices and processes, that will continue for most of 2020 (learn more here and here).
CartONG is conducting 3 asynchronous training sessions (lasting 3 weeks in total), as part of a longer curriculum entitled "Consultants in the aid sector: the basics of the profession" developed by Groupe URD. This online course is designed to train future consultants, in project evaluation. The sessions developed by CartONG cover the following topics: introduction to data management and best practices, mobile data collection, and data analysis and visualization. The sequences were developed jointly with G roupe URD to introduce data management from qualitative studies as well.
In 2021, as part of the ongoing MoU, CartONG extended its support to ACF. CartONG analysed the sand winds that hit Madagascar lately with a much higher impact, supported the emergency desk of ACF to build a ligthweight IM system to provide a quick and generic picture of a state of an emergency, allowing ACF to make informed decision spededily about planning a responde. As part of the projet "Strengthening CSOs' Information Management" project co-funded by AFD, CartONG has been supported by ACF in the development of a data analysis and the Excel toolkit to be published on the Learning Corner.
Read more »In 2020, the SWSC decided to adapt the FACET tools for use by all consortium member NGOs for their WASH risk evaluations in health facilities & schools. CartONG supported the adaptation of the tools to the SWSC needs and hosted a series of webinars to help the NGOs discover the tools.
In 2021, SWSC asked CartONG to set up the tools associated with their reporting needs on WASH, on health facilities and schools, but also communities. CartONG supported the consortium members in developing a PowerBI dashboard, the forms, guidance and provided technical support to the field teams.
Read more »FACET is a mobile application measuring water supply and sanitation provision in public institutions. In the past, CartONG has already contributed to the technical development of data collection and analysis tools to analyze WASH services in schools and health centers. This time, the new tool focuses on detention centers. An XLSform questionnaire and a Power BI dashboard template will be created by CartONG to make it possible for Tdh’s teams to analyze service levels in several areas (water, sanitation, hygiene, waste, maintenance and living space, environmental cleaning).
This project aimed at supporting the operation in terms of data management, by analyzing their needs, determining recommendations, and helping them build the information management system needed by the operation. It is being conducted as part of the 3-year partnership agreement concluded between CartONG and Solidarités International.
Read more »In support of the Federation of Solidarity Actors in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (FAS AuRA), CartONG is working on creating a database that will be used for the design of an online map showcasing existing health services for vulnerable people in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (AuRA) region. The database is meant to aggregate data from several sources, and as part of our support, we are also cleaning existing data and incorporating it into the database. The online map that will be designed with the data will be published on the RESAP website.
In September 2021, CartONG was asked to support the International Cocoa Initiative (ICI) during the course of several months by drafting a set of technical specifications for an application to collect, store and visualize data that meets ICI’s needs. This support also included advising ICI on suitable options to achieve the said objective.
This activity aimed at supporting the operation in terms of data management, by analyzing their needs, determining recommendations, and helping them build the information management system needed by the operation.
Read more »The support provided by CartONG to FairTrade International in 2021 aims at building two updated forms to monitor the key performance indicators, coded into Kobo in both field languages (French and English), that will fit into the existing online platform (Impact Cloud) that Fairtrade international is using to monitor its West african Cocoa program (WACP). After the conception of the forms, CartONG trained and accompanied 25 staffs to ensure the quality of the data collection.
CartONG is also supporting FairTrade international in its digitalisation process, building a Kobo form that will help the standards & pricing unit to assess the price of Cocoa. CartONG will continue this process in 2022 and also follow-up the deployment and test of this new process.
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