Posts focused on Data Management Systems and MEL

Last week, we shared experiences from the process of conducting Data Use Pilots along with our partners, Publish What You Fund. Today, we’re sharing further takeaways from using the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) in conducting the Pilots, with a focus on results and issues we encountered throughout the process. Our last post discussed that IATI

There are approximately 42,000 agricultural projects published through the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI). These projects contain information on which donors are spending what and where. The Initiative for Open Ag Funding has repeatedly heard that this information can be a powerful tool when planning and coordinating projects. Yet despite such enthusiasm, we found that

Last month, the Results Data Initiative (RDI) convened its second cross-ministry co-design workshop — surfacing new opportunities for the Government of Tanzania to put health data to use at the local level. This two-day workshop re-convened stakeholders from across ministries and local governments, building on the priorities they identified in the first workshop back in

In addition to supporting timely data collection about water access in Tanzania, the Sensors, Empowerment, and Accountability (SEMA) network provides a public-facing District Water Engineer Dashboard. Figure 1: Screenshot of DWE Dashboard Map This dashboard allows key audiences – citizens, District Water Engineers (DWEs), other Ministry of Water and Irrigation officials – to easily view the

“Basically, we used to have two methods of getting information on water infrastructure… The first… [was] the water department at the municipal level would visit the villages once or twice a year during the months of June and December to do stock-taking of all water points and their functionality status. “The second method was to

Access to safe water is essential to our health and wellbeing. As an international community, we recognize this as demonstrated by our commitment to Sustainable Development Goal 6, “Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.” At the national level, universal access to safe water is a core indicator in Tanzania Vision

This post builds upon a DG contribution to the 2017 OECD Development Cooperation Report, launched on October 17, 2017. All too often, discussions about managing for results in development fail to specify who is managing, what decisions they are authorized to make, or what results data are being used. Identifying the who and whats is

It didn’t surprise me when I learned that — when Ministry of Finance officials conduct trainings on the Aid Management Platform for Village Chiefs, CSOs and citizens throughout the districts of Malawi — officials are almost immediately asked: “What were the results of these projects? What were the outcomes?” It didn’t just matter what development

The 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda offers the promise of new technologies, big data sources, and increased government statistical capacity for data-driven policy and progress. However, we cannot assume that more data will result in a better world. Moreover, a data revolution comes with risks: Will SDG reporting consume already-limited government statistical capacity? Will “focus on

In 2003, an undergraduate student at the College of William and Mary set out to write his honors thesis on the efforts of international development organizations to help communities adapt to and mitigate the effects of global climate change. His research quickly hit a roadblock: existing public data on foreign aid flows was not precise