i.  Background/Problem Statement

LGUs are required to collect large amounts of household data. This is supposed to be used for planning and response purposes as well as reporting specific indicators to regional and national government.

Currently this data is collected by several departments, which is a waste of resources. The departments also utilize  local officials, hired personnel or volunteers.  This is generally done on paper with the raw paper records provided to the municipal/city government for collation and reporting.  The collated data often is not shared with the barangays (villages) at which it is colected, so local officials are working without current data.  Also sometimes this uncollated data is sent to national level leaving even the city without the data.  

The data collection requires a large amount of human resources and logistics and current methods collect this data as “new” data every year.  Because of these issues the barangays do not prioritize data collection as they don’t have access to it and only comply with city/municipal demands.  Hence data used for all levels of planning may not be current or accurate.  

This system will eliminate the bottlenecks through:

• System is centralized through the cloud so all levels of government will have access to their specific data needs for analysis and planning.

• Digital User Interfaces will be designed easy to use in any situation with either direct connection to the internet or offline and downloadable capacities.

• Reports and data are guided by government mandates so that definitions are standardized.

• Identifier is by location of residence and QR code systems will allow data collectors to update rather than collect again.  Update logs will verify accuracy of data.

In 2020 a bottleneck analysis was completed at the barangay level and a trial using Kobocollect (shareware type cloud data collection system) piloted user interfaces with select barangays and people with limited skill sets and showed that it was usable with minimal training.  This was combined with a barangay resiliency building program that identified that lack of data was a critical issue facing barangay officials.  In 2021 the JV built the cities Vaccination Information Management System and Immunization Registry which successfully allowed the City to manage and schedule vaccinations and report to national agencies. 

Currently there is a small amount of seed funding that is being used to develop a prototype to test the data collection and reporting for some of the more critical reports.  This will be tested with the LGU’s by the end of 2021 and the design will be ready for scale up with more reports and implementation in the field for live use.

To scale up there is a need for investment by outside for building the system and implementation.  Currently the only avenue is through LGU funding ie. they are buying an untested system (again).  

Biggest gaps are resources to implement as well as expertise for the data privacy compliance.  This will require outside assistance.  

Once the system is proven in the one city we are working on a business model that would make this available to all LGU’s.  There would be a one time set up cost with management, maintenance and storage user fees based on number of records.  Ideally, we would be aiming for it to be recognized as an approved system by the Department of Interior and Local Government which has administrative oversight of all LGU’s.

The system is designed to work with mobile tablets or smartphones for data collection and then information is collected and stored in the cloud with web based reporting and dashboards for computers or mobile devices.  Infrastructure investment by LGU’s is minimal, training and set up a one time expense and then a user fee to cover administration, management and storage.  This not only reduces capital cost but also the need for specialty IT expertise allowing resources to be better directed at data collection, analysis and use.

 

ii.  Objectives and Activities

 

1. Database, User Interface, Dashboard and Reporting System completed:

   • Continue to develop the system architecture by determining the data collected and reported and by which departments and levels of government.

   • Fine tune the User Interfaces for data collection based on purpose and user feedback

   • Dashboard design for graphic representation of key data sets for government officials for planning and also for working with non-government partners working in development or humanitarian response.

   • Reporting systems for uploading to upper levels of government and internal use for service delivery and planning.

   • User interface and data management systems for uploading including an updating audit trail.

   • Debugging, troubleshooting and enhancing the system during implementation

2. Full implementation by the LGU for the entire city which will involve the City LGU and 66 Barangay (Village) government units.

   • Working with LGU for equipment purchase where needed, downloading of software and allocation of user ID’s

   • Training and coaching of Barangay and City Officials in the field actually collecting data

   • Training and coaching the users for report creation and uploading to national government.

   • Creating the user manual for barangays and the city for use during the implementation period and as an official user manual.

   • 2nd year updating at the barangay level to ensure that the system will continue to work .

   • 2 years of storage and system maintenance and service. 

3. Framework for customization and expansion of the system for other LGU’s.

   • Market analysis with other LGU’s to develop the final framework for what would be customized and what would remain the same.

   • Outreach to Department of Interior and Local Government and other concerned departments for potential standardization of system approach.

   • Completion of package framework

4. Developing of costing model for:

   • Municipality/City or Province implementation and customization

   • Storage, administration and maintenance

   • Privacy Compliance

5. Developing a data privacy system that is governmentally compliant but also advocates for citizen rights over data collected.

   • Select a data privacy expert that has experience in building systems for government compliance within new systems.

   • Review with Concerned government departments to make sure it is compliant with cloud-based data storage for government data

   • Institutionalize the data privacy office and mechanisms within the Joint Venture.

 

 iii.   Deliverables and Schedule

Pre Digital Square Investment:

January/February 2022

• Prototype analysis and scale up design brief preparation with LGU’s and Developer input.

Digital Square Investment

• Months 1-3

  • Final scope of data collection and design brief sign off by LGU

  • Programming of system

  • Field Trials and Debugging

  • Reporting testing with submission to national government

• Month 4-6

  • Training and Operations Manual

  • Field Implementation in 66 barangays with LGU

  • Continuous system enhancements

  • Development of Privacy Component scope of work

• Month 6-12

  • Continued field implementation with data updates that are at 6 month intervals

  • Dashboard Implementation with continuous feedback from users and independent users such as humanitarian agencies, CSO’s development agencies.

  • Review of costings and development of business model

  • Outreach to Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) for steps for endorsement

  • Implementation of Data Privacy Office for compliance with existing government regulations

• Months 12-18

  • Coaching and potential debugging for updating process

  • Completion of manuals and business model with system description and customization models

  • Continued working with DILG for endorsement of system and included Return of Investment analysis.

  • Start implementation of system in other LGU’s and organizational scale up for increased implementation with training of trainers and programmers for customization.

iv.     Risk Mitigation

Change of Administration at the city level is possible in May which may mean differing priorities:

• The data gathering is mandated by law and this is pitched as providing better tools and cost reduction.  

• It is supported by two departments within the city government, Health and Disaster Risk Reduction, both of which have budget allocation for data management and department mandates.

• The Barangays through a barangay resiliency planning program implemented by SDCS has clearly articulated that this is a high priority gap and are requesting City LGU assistance.

 

Covid-19 will continue to pose problems for implementation of most community based programs.

• SDCS and ROH have been able to continue working during this time with community based implementation and have developed systems and methodologies to reduce risk.

• Being a high priority at the barangay level the barangay officials will be keen to proceed and will be able to innovate so as to continue work.