Last Mile Mobile Solutions:Innovations in Humanitarian Interventions

Presented by Schelda Jean Baptiste

LMMS & Cash Program Support Officer

World Vision International

LMMS Defined Leverages innovative technologies at the last mile of humanitarian

programming - that final transaction area between NGOs and end-beneficiaries.

LMMS project looks to increases the effectiveness, efficiency, andaccountability in humanitarian service delivery through improved remotedata collection, beneficiary management, commodity distribution andreporting processes.

LMMS is designed to make the delivery of humanitarian aid quicker andeasier while enabling greater accountability for the assistance delivered.

LMMS manages various types of data associated with humanitarian service

delivery and it is used during registration as well as

distributions.

WVI global mandate to role out LMMS in all programs which can use thesystem- to replace paper system.

• A beneficiary-registration system developed by WV, which registers

households, tie them to humanitarian interventions and records all

resource transfer transactions at the final delivery point and instantly

generates distribution reports.

• All processes from inception are paperless but electronically

recorded.

• The system was initially developed for food-based projects but is now

being used for cash-based projects as well and is being piloting for

other projects (Shelter, WASH, Livelihood, Education, Health and

Nutrition.

LMMS Defined

Data LMMS Manages

Beneficiaries

Households & Members

One Head Member per Household

Enrolment /Participation

Association of Beneficiaries with Projects

Eligibility for Aid

Project Mgmt

General Distribution

Targeted Feeding

Aid For Work (Cash & Food)

Commodities

Item Catalogue

Inventory by FDP & Project

Commodity Transactions

Distributions

By Project, Date, & FDP

Distribution Plans (Household Rations Calculation)

System Data

Locations, FDP’s, Warehouses

Application Users

LMMS processes

• After the targeting and verification of beneficiary through the agreed

selection criteria, beneficiaries are then selected to be part of the

program.

• Using an Android mobile device our field staff photograph beneficiaries

and record all other relevant household demographics such as name,

location, vulnerability (at household and member level) that makes

them eligible for the assistance, which are then used to improve the

speed and efficiency of distributions. The data gathered can also be

analyzed quickly and used to plan additional assistance, and to

monitor and report on the assistance provided.

LMMS process cont’

• The beneficiary data is sent to the laptop/roaming server using wireless

connection for verification.

• Once enrolled and approved on the system, the beneficiary then receives a

photo identity card with a barcode that is scanned each time there is a

distribution (cash/food/NFI) for verification and calculating accurate

rations in a matter of seconds resulting in fewer errors and duplication.

• Eligible households are enrolled into projects and all their information is

stored on the electronic database.

• Multiple projects can be enrolled without repeat registration.

LMMS process cont’

• Commodity rations / cash allocations are set once per project to

automatically calculate quantities needed for distribution planning

depending on the program.

• During distribution, ID cards are scanned to determine eligibility and

individuals are visually matched using photos on ration cards and in

database.

• Inventory as well as reporting is done in real time. Some of the reports

include the list of beneficiaries that received cash/commodities in detail.

Old Way of Doing Business

Old Way of Doing Business• Complete paper based system of remote data collection and data

management on Humanitarian Projects

• Redundancy in data collection

• Manual efforts to develop and maintain various beneficiary lists

• Manual calculations of ration sizes due at distributions. Errors, Graft.

• Report generation completely manual and extremely labour intensive with implications on timeliness

• Limited methodology of performing beneficiary verification

What’s Changed?

What’s Changed?

• All data collected once on mobile phones/tablets, in digital format, in complete form

• Handle new data types - photo images, geo-spatial mapping, etc

• Automated processes - calculations of rations due, tracking incoming/outgoing stock

• Field workers can roam field distribution sites, connecting via Wi-Fi

• Identify what employee entered what data – processed which beneficiary records

• Photo verification on collection of commodity assets

• Real/Near-Real time updates to data repositories

• Capacity to run queries and generate reports immediately – Master Ben List, Distribution Plans, Planned Ben Distribution Lists & Actual Ben Distribution Reports.

“It is my first time to leave a food distribution before lunch time, in the past we have always left at sunset.” Elderly Food Aid Recipient, Zimbabwe, 2010.

Summary

Manual process requires the re-registration of beneficiaries for new programs, while LMMS

can leverage historic beneficiary lists to automatically register beneficiaries to new programs

LMMS does not require re-registration of beneficiaries for new programs. Major time and

cost savings are realized at the registration phase of the process flow

The Hardware Components

• Laptops:• a.k.a Roaming Servers

• Mobile Units:• CN devices + * NEW * Android devices

• Peripherals:• Mobile charging options, battery packs

• Printer and Cards

• * New * Access Points, Sat Options

Roaming Servers – Islands Unto ..Advantages

• Operates in zero Internet

connectivity.

• Access to data served by the

applications in the field,

dynamically.

• Data is spread out, risk can be

reduced if a single system goes

down.

Disadvantages

• Consolidation efforts can suffer

or made complicated.

• More equipment required – cost

and mgmt of assets.

• Damage to a server that

“roams”.

• Keeping certain common data

consistent - challenging & risky

Catastrophe – System Failures

• Out of power:• Servers in particular

• Mitigation: Power options?

• Mitigation: New 6 or 9 cell batteries

• Connectivity problems:• Registration – can’t connect to (local) server

• Mitigation: temporary ID cards (paper forms – rugged).

• Mitigation: Offline registration capability

• Distribution day – can’t connect to server • Mitigation: PBDLs

• Adequate training for staff to know how to check for IPs and connect.

• Server gets damaged severely or loss• Mitigation: extra equipment?

• Mitigation: Restore from data backups

• Mitigation: Access to remote server (risk mgmt)

• Software problems• Mitigation: follow the recommended setup (e.g. limit other software installations)

• Bug tracking

In the Near Future

Centralized Cloud ServerAdvantages:

• Consolidation.

• Time to set up reduced.

• Ease of mgmt (set up,

backups).

• Lower cost of ownership

(capital expenses

significantly reduced).

• Computing capacity scales.

• Transparency to data.

• Load balancing, Auto

Scaling.

• Data security.

Disadvantages:

• Internet dependency.

• Data security (can be

managed).

Who’s using LMMS:World Vision:

• Kenya

• Uganda

• Ethiopia

• South Sudan

• Sudan

• Burundi

• Malawi

• Zimbabwe

• Lesotho

• Mali

• Niger

• Mauritania

• Niger

• Haiti

• Philippines!!

• Myanmar

• Pakistan

• Chad

Externals:

• Save the Children

• Medair

• Oxfam

• Norwegian Refugee Council

• Deutsche Welthungerhilfe

Salamat Po