This document summarizes how open source software and mobile payment systems were used to help coordinate the Ebola response in Sierra Leone. It describes how second hand laptops and open source software like Open ERP were used to build management information systems and digital payment systems that helped overcome challenges like lack of infrastructure, corruption, and ensuring workers were paid reliably. Over 3,000 duplicate worker records were removed, while over 200 fraudulent or double dipping workers were reported. The systems helped digitally pay over 21,000 Ebola response workers in Sierra Leone, demonstrating how open source solutions can be effectively deployed in limited resource environments.
Ten Technology Trends That Will Change the World in Ten YearsCisco Services
For more info: http://www.cisco.com/go/ibsg/innovations
At Cisco Live 2011, Dave Evans, Cisco’s chief futurist and chief technologist for the Cisco Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG), presented the 10 technology trends that will change the world in 10 years.
Lee Rainie, director of Internet and Technology research at the Pew Research Center, gave the Holmes Distinguished Lecture at Colorado State University on April 13, 2018. He discussed the research the Center conducted with Elon University’s Imagining the Internet Center about the future of the internet and the way digital technologies will spread to become the “internet of everywhere” and “artificial intelligence” everywhere. He also explored the ways in which experts say this will create improvements in people’s lives and the new challenges – including privacy, digital divides, anti-social behavior and stress tests for how human social and political systems adapt.
Better, faster and cheaper can be exactly the wrong thing to do when fundamentally different models are enabled and compelled by the revolutions of social connection, mobile connection and big-data discovery. Annual end-of-summer address to joint meeting of L.A. chapters of ACM and AITP, 19 September 2013
Ten Technology Trends That Will Change the World in Ten YearsCisco Services
For more info: http://www.cisco.com/go/ibsg/innovations
At Cisco Live 2011, Dave Evans, Cisco’s chief futurist and chief technologist for the Cisco Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG), presented the 10 technology trends that will change the world in 10 years.
Lee Rainie, director of Internet and Technology research at the Pew Research Center, gave the Holmes Distinguished Lecture at Colorado State University on April 13, 2018. He discussed the research the Center conducted with Elon University’s Imagining the Internet Center about the future of the internet and the way digital technologies will spread to become the “internet of everywhere” and “artificial intelligence” everywhere. He also explored the ways in which experts say this will create improvements in people’s lives and the new challenges – including privacy, digital divides, anti-social behavior and stress tests for how human social and political systems adapt.
Better, faster and cheaper can be exactly the wrong thing to do when fundamentally different models are enabled and compelled by the revolutions of social connection, mobile connection and big-data discovery. Annual end-of-summer address to joint meeting of L.A. chapters of ACM and AITP, 19 September 2013
Government For The People, By The People, In the 21st CenturyTim O'Reilly
My joint keynote with Jennifer Pahlka of Code for America at the Accela Engage conference in San Diego on August 5, 2014. We talk about current advances in technology, and how they call for anyone developing services to put their users at the center. In particular, we talk about how these lessons apply to government. Making government work by the people and for the people in a 21st century way is central to restoring faith in government.
Ethics in development of Information TechnologyAnKit Mhatre
When people are asked to give their opinion about technology as a whole, they seem to think in a more of a black-and-white way, a binary approach. Many people express that technology is more of a ‘job-destroyer’, ‘something which enslaves humans by making them dependent on itself’, some also say that it ‘makes us lazy and equips us with God-ly powers’, etc. However, in contrast to these points, other people claim that it’s ‘something which induces progress into the society’, ‘something that saves human lives and feeds the starving and the poor’, ‘which increases the standard of living’, and ‘which creates interesting and rewarding jobs’.
Speaking about the development, we, as people who are studying Information Technology, have learnt that the enormous field of Internet of Things (IoT) focusses on developing internet-connected applications which will make our lives easier and comfortable. In addition to the principles and practices which are expected to be followed during the development of the applications, there are some lesser emphasized facts too. These facts include an important factor of ETHICS.
Humans are accustomed to follow some ethics right from our birth, rather we are induced these ethics by our elders. The reason is quite simple – for the betterment of the society and to avoid any evil exploitation of the lesser intelligent people. However, modern capitalism tends to bend the traditional ethics. People resort to ease and comfort over what is right.
A lot of subtopics fall under the wide section of Ethics. They include:
1. Characterizing the Internet of Things
2. Privacy (Of the users as well as their valuable data)
3. Control (Who actually controls the collected data)
4. Environment (Concerns about the environment and practices)
5. Solutions (for the preservation of the principle of Ethics)
In this slide show, we are going to emphasize on the initial couple of topics.
Technology in Business Law by Ammar YounasAmmar Younas
This lecture has been prepared by Ammar Younas, Senior Lecturer in Commercial Law at Westminster International University in Tashkent for the Class of 2019-2020 Introduction to Business Law.
“The modern city is becoming a pointer system, the new URL, for tomorrow’s hybrid digital–physical environment. Today's Facebook will be complemented by tomorrow's Placebook. Explosive innovation and adoption of computing, mobile devices, and rich sources of data are changing the cities in which we live, work, and play. It's about us, and how computing in the context of our cities is changing how we live. A digital landscape overlays our physical world and is expanding to offer ever-richer experiences that complement, and in emerging cases, replace the physical experience. In the meta–cities of the future, computing isn't just with us; it surrounds us, and it uses the context of our environment to empower us in more natural, yet powerful ways.”
I talk about the evolution of digital content into services, the role of sensors in the future of the web, about the idea of man-machine collaboration in internet services, and about the role of social networking in building content.
Social Interaction within 10 yrs considering the Impact of Technology on Huma...Rahul Puranik
Humans and Technology go hand-in-hand. The technological advances in the last century had significant impact on the way Humans socially interact in today's world. This presentation is an attempt to capture the current situation and forecast the way humans would interact socially in the coming years.
The network as a design material: Interaction 16 workshopClaire Rowland
Exploring the UX challenges which the properties of networks and connectivity patterns pose to connected products/the internet of things: latency, reliability, intermittent connectivity
Like every year, BETC Digital travelled to Austin to bring you fresh inspiration and new ideas from SXSW, the famous digital festival.
Where is digital heading in the following years? We attended conferences by people such as Eric Schmidt, Julian Assange or Edward Snowden to gather their views of the topic.
This is the original keynote file for my talk at the Smart Disclosure Summit in Washington DC on March 30, 2012. I will upload a PDF with notes separately.
Government For The People, By The People, In the 21st CenturyTim O'Reilly
My joint keynote with Jennifer Pahlka of Code for America at the Accela Engage conference in San Diego on August 5, 2014. We talk about current advances in technology, and how they call for anyone developing services to put their users at the center. In particular, we talk about how these lessons apply to government. Making government work by the people and for the people in a 21st century way is central to restoring faith in government.
Ethics in development of Information TechnologyAnKit Mhatre
When people are asked to give their opinion about technology as a whole, they seem to think in a more of a black-and-white way, a binary approach. Many people express that technology is more of a ‘job-destroyer’, ‘something which enslaves humans by making them dependent on itself’, some also say that it ‘makes us lazy and equips us with God-ly powers’, etc. However, in contrast to these points, other people claim that it’s ‘something which induces progress into the society’, ‘something that saves human lives and feeds the starving and the poor’, ‘which increases the standard of living’, and ‘which creates interesting and rewarding jobs’.
Speaking about the development, we, as people who are studying Information Technology, have learnt that the enormous field of Internet of Things (IoT) focusses on developing internet-connected applications which will make our lives easier and comfortable. In addition to the principles and practices which are expected to be followed during the development of the applications, there are some lesser emphasized facts too. These facts include an important factor of ETHICS.
Humans are accustomed to follow some ethics right from our birth, rather we are induced these ethics by our elders. The reason is quite simple – for the betterment of the society and to avoid any evil exploitation of the lesser intelligent people. However, modern capitalism tends to bend the traditional ethics. People resort to ease and comfort over what is right.
A lot of subtopics fall under the wide section of Ethics. They include:
1. Characterizing the Internet of Things
2. Privacy (Of the users as well as their valuable data)
3. Control (Who actually controls the collected data)
4. Environment (Concerns about the environment and practices)
5. Solutions (for the preservation of the principle of Ethics)
In this slide show, we are going to emphasize on the initial couple of topics.
Technology in Business Law by Ammar YounasAmmar Younas
This lecture has been prepared by Ammar Younas, Senior Lecturer in Commercial Law at Westminster International University in Tashkent for the Class of 2019-2020 Introduction to Business Law.
“The modern city is becoming a pointer system, the new URL, for tomorrow’s hybrid digital–physical environment. Today's Facebook will be complemented by tomorrow's Placebook. Explosive innovation and adoption of computing, mobile devices, and rich sources of data are changing the cities in which we live, work, and play. It's about us, and how computing in the context of our cities is changing how we live. A digital landscape overlays our physical world and is expanding to offer ever-richer experiences that complement, and in emerging cases, replace the physical experience. In the meta–cities of the future, computing isn't just with us; it surrounds us, and it uses the context of our environment to empower us in more natural, yet powerful ways.”
I talk about the evolution of digital content into services, the role of sensors in the future of the web, about the idea of man-machine collaboration in internet services, and about the role of social networking in building content.
Social Interaction within 10 yrs considering the Impact of Technology on Huma...Rahul Puranik
Humans and Technology go hand-in-hand. The technological advances in the last century had significant impact on the way Humans socially interact in today's world. This presentation is an attempt to capture the current situation and forecast the way humans would interact socially in the coming years.
The network as a design material: Interaction 16 workshopClaire Rowland
Exploring the UX challenges which the properties of networks and connectivity patterns pose to connected products/the internet of things: latency, reliability, intermittent connectivity
Like every year, BETC Digital travelled to Austin to bring you fresh inspiration and new ideas from SXSW, the famous digital festival.
Where is digital heading in the following years? We attended conferences by people such as Eric Schmidt, Julian Assange or Edward Snowden to gather their views of the topic.
This is the original keynote file for my talk at the Smart Disclosure Summit in Washington DC on March 30, 2012. I will upload a PDF with notes separately.
Developing a successful digital marketing strategy - Part 1 (high level)Durgesh Kaushik
Quick notes on how to go about building your digital marketing strategy. Describing the importance of social media, content marketing, marketing automation, performance marketing, net promotor score and digital marketing infrastructure for start-ups.
Larmer Brown Introduction to UPK and UPK Professional Larmer Brown
An introduction to Oracle's User Productivity Kit Professional (UPK). A content development tool for capturing system processes in any IT application. Larmer Brown has been working with UPK since 1998 helping organisations realise the desired business benefit from their investment. Our UPK services are modular and customisable, designed to provide you with support exactly where and when you need it.
It has been said that Mobiles +Cloud + Social + Big Data = Better Run The World. IBM has invested over $20 billion since 2005 to grow its analytics business, many companies will invest more than $120 billion by 2015 on analytics, hardware, software and services critical in almost every industry like ; Healthcare, media, sports, finance, government, etc.
It has been estimated that there is a shortage of 140,000 – 190,000 people with deep analytical skills to fill the demand of jobs in the U.S. by 2018.
Decoding the human genome originally took 10 years to process; now it can be achieved in one week with the power of Analytic and BI (Business Intelligence). This lecture’s Key Messages is that Analytics provide a competitive edge to individuals , companies and institutions and that Analytics and BI are often critical to the success of any organization.
Methodology used is to teach analytic techniques through real world examples and real data with this goal to convince audience of the Analytics Edge and power of BI, and inspire them to use analytics and BI in their career and their life.
In this week’s webinar, Laura Masse walks us through the growing importance of Blockchain technology. We hear about how it can propel innovation strategy, disrupt business models, and create new revenue streams. We understand how the Blockchain isn’t just a way to exchange currency, but a mean to build Immutable Trust. We also hear about specific brands utilizing this technology and roadblocks to expect when trying to implement the Blockchain.
Laura Masse breaks down blockchain technology into 3 distinct functions:
1. Decentralized Digital Ledger
2. Decentralized Database
3. Platform for “Smart Contracts”
The overuse of technology may have a more significant impact on developing children and teenagers. On the other hand, it has numerous advantages easier, faster and more effective communication, better, more efficient manufacturing techniques, less wastage, more efficient stock management and ordering systems.
George konstantakis iot and product design360mnbsu
The Internet of Things (IoT) may be at the core of the next Industrial Revolution! The socioeconomic implications of IoT, in general, are astounding. As with all disruptive technology, there are threats and opportunities that must be understood by business leaders. How do these implications relate to the needs of manufacturing businesses and the human resources that are intertwined with them? How can Product Design address those needs? This closing session will explore these questions and offer solutions.
Trends in Law Practice Management – Calculating the RisksNicole Garton
Presented by the CBA’s Legal Profession Assistance Conference, the Canadian Lawyers Insurance Association and the National Law Practice Management and Technology Section live via webconference.
The advantages of cloud computing, virtual or online law practices and unbundling of legal services are getting a lot of press – convenience to clients, reduced overhead expenses, remote access, and enhanced access to justice are among the benefits touted. But there are also very real and practical risks, and ethical implications, for each new tool or practice implemented. As these trends infiltrate legal practice in North America, lawyers and law firm leaders need to exercise due diligence to assess the potential risks and benefits.
Our panelists, Nicole Garton-Jones and David Bilinsky will provide a practical overview of these trends in law practice management. In doing so, they’ll provide you with tools to reduce the risk and identify the questions you need to ask yourself, as well as potential third party service providers, your insurers and your law society, when conducting your own risk-benefit analysis.
Register here: http://www.cba.org/pd/details_en.aspx?id=na_onfeb212
Two of the three largest data breaches in healthcare industry history have occurred in the past six months – exposing personally identifiable patient and health plan membership records on 84.5 million individuals – a number equal to the populations of California, Texas, New York and Nevada combined. Both breaches were attributed to hackers from China. These, and other massive hacks in financial services and retail, prompted President Obama to sign an executive order in February calling on government and the private sector to step up the nation's defenses against cybersecurity threats.
Moving towards a mobile and wearable stragegy includes both up and downside risk. How to arrive at the upside, that is the question... Presentation delivered at Enterprise Apps World, London on 10 June 2014
How to deal with mobile in times that have venture capital flooding the place, innovations in IoT and wearables galore while you want to keep your information and people safe but they have to be as productive as possible... Presentation delivered at Apps World, London on 12 November 2014
What are the opportunities and threats that come with IoT, BYOeverything, traditional systems and the need to have your workforce as productive as possible? Presentation delivered at Apps World London 12 November 2014
cyber crime & information security is most famous in the world..day by day increase cyber crime in internet world. that see. the detail about of cyber security.
This is an update of my previous presentation from 2012. I discuss several recent topics including the Witnesses Principle, the rise of Big Metadata, and the need for autonomy and possibly self-awareness for financial instruments designed to hold value for periods greater than a single human lifetime.
Malware in the Wild: Evolving to Evade DetectionLastline, Inc.
Lastline co-founder and chief architect Engin Kirda presents new insights into malware in the wild including new research coming out of Lastline Labs on high resolution dynamic analysis of Windows kernel root kits at SXSW Interactive.
Web security – application security roads to software security nirvana iisf...Eoin Keary
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A process server is a authorized person for delivering legal documents, such as summons, complaints, subpoenas, and other court papers, to peoples involved in legal proceedings.
ZGB - The Role of Generative AI in Government transformation.pdfSaeed Al Dhaheri
This keynote was presented during the the 7th edition of the UAE Hackathon 2024. It highlights the role of AI and Generative AI in addressing government transformation to achieve zero government bureaucracy
Russian anarchist and anti-war movement in the third year of full-scale warAntti Rautiainen
Anarchist group ANA Regensburg hosted my online-presentation on 16th of May 2024, in which I discussed tactics of anti-war activism in Russia, and reasons why the anti-war movement has not been able to make an impact to change the course of events yet. Cases of anarchists repressed for anti-war activities are presented, as well as strategies of support for political prisoners, and modest successes in supporting their struggles.
Thumbnail picture is by MediaZona, you may read their report on anti-war arson attacks in Russia here: https://en.zona.media/article/2022/10/13/burn-map
Links:
Autonomous Action
http://Avtonom.org
Anarchist Black Cross Moscow
http://Avtonom.org/abc
Solidarity Zone
https://t.me/solidarity_zone
Memorial
https://memopzk.org/, https://t.me/pzk_memorial
OVD-Info
https://en.ovdinfo.org/antiwar-ovd-info-guide
RosUznik
https://rosuznik.org/
Uznik Online
http://uznikonline.tilda.ws/
Russian Reader
https://therussianreader.com/
ABC Irkutsk
https://abc38.noblogs.org/
Send mail to prisoners from abroad:
http://Prisonmail.online
YouTube: https://youtu.be/c5nSOdU48O8
Spotify: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/libertarianlifecoach/episodes/Russian-anarchist-and-anti-war-movement-in-the-third-year-of-full-scale-war-e2k8ai4
Jennifer Schaus and Associates hosts a complimentary webinar series on The FAR in 2024. Join the webinars on Wednesdays and Fridays at noon, eastern.
Recordings are on YouTube and the company website.
https://www.youtube.com/@jenniferschaus/videos
This session provides a comprehensive overview of the latest updates to the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (commonly known as the Uniform Guidance) outlined in the 2 CFR 200.
With a focus on the 2024 revisions issued by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), participants will gain insight into the key changes affecting federal grant recipients. The session will delve into critical regulatory updates, providing attendees with the knowledge and tools necessary to navigate and comply with the evolving landscape of federal grant management.
Learning Objectives:
- Understand the rationale behind the 2024 updates to the Uniform Guidance outlined in 2 CFR 200, and their implications for federal grant recipients.
- Identify the key changes and revisions introduced by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in the 2024 edition of 2 CFR 200.
- Gain proficiency in applying the updated regulations to ensure compliance with federal grant requirements and avoid potential audit findings.
- Develop strategies for effectively implementing the new guidelines within the grant management processes of their respective organizations, fostering efficiency and accountability in federal grant administration.
Many ways to support street children.pptxSERUDS INDIA
By raising awareness, providing support, advocating for change, and offering assistance to children in need, individuals can play a crucial role in improving the lives of street children and helping them realize their full potential
Donate Us
https://serudsindia.org/how-individuals-can-support-street-children-in-india/
#donatefororphan, #donateforhomelesschildren, #childeducation, #ngochildeducation, #donateforeducation, #donationforchildeducation, #sponsorforpoorchild, #sponsororphanage #sponsororphanchild, #donation, #education, #charity, #educationforchild, #seruds, #kurnool, #joyhome
What is the point of small housing associations.pptxPaul Smith
Given the small scale of housing associations and their relative high cost per home what is the point of them and how do we justify their continued existance
How to stop and apocalypse with second hand laptops and Open Source Software.
1. How to stop an apocalypse with
second hand laptops and Open
Source Software
32C3 Hamburg
By: Emerson Tan (NetHope Emergency Response),
Salton Massally (iDT Labs, Sierra Leone)
December 30, 2015
2. Private and Confidential
Content
Introduction and outline
Background: Ebola and Sierra Leone
The principles of successful intervention
Development and implementation of MIS and Payment systems
Questions?
3. Private and Confidential
Content
Introduction and outline
Background: Ebola and Sierra Leone
The principles of successful intervention
Development and implementation of MIS and Payment systems
Questions?
4. Licensed under Creative Commons
Introduction
Sierra Leone:
• Roughly the size of Ireland; population ~6 Million
• 6th Poorest country on earth
• Civil war 1991-2002
• Rich in resources (diamonds, gold, minerals)
7. Licensed under Creative Commons
Health System Scale Up:
• 18 Ebola Treatment Centers
• 50 Community Care Centers
• Contact Tracers
• Safe Burial Teams
• Ambulance Drivers
• Disinfection teams
• Labs
We’re going to need an army…
Coordination System:
• 13 Command Centers
• 2 Rapid response teams
• 117 Ebola Emergency Line*
• Labs result reporting system
• VSAT based internet to all key
facilities
• Mobile Phones, Sat Phones,
BGAN…
8. Private and Confidential
Content
Introduction and outline
Background: Ebola and Sierra Leone
The principles of successful intervention
Development and implementation of MIS and Payment systems
Questions?
9. Licensed under Creative Commons
Principles of effective technology intervention in developing world contexts
Be on the Ground, Not remote
• Being on the ground means developers are immediately exposed to problems and failures. Changes can be implemented quickly as problems are
identified
• Tighten the development loop
Make use of Local resources and people
• Local people understand the local environment and way of doing business, including all the local scams
• Those that have taught themselves and innovated locally are highly invested in project success and will not leave
Take chances and fight inertia
• Giving the right people a chance to prove themselves can have excellent results over more established complacent providers
• Fresh eyes see problems differently
Use open source software, reuse and leverage what exists
• Reuse and repurpose everything!
• Make source code available for next time
Plan how you are going to leave
• Bake in handover to local ownership and make provisions for system longevity
10. Private and Confidential
Content
Introduction and outline
Background: Ebola and Sierra Leone
The principles of successful intervention
Development and implementation of MIS and Payment systems
Questions?
11. Licensed under Creative Commons
The Nightmare
- Challenges
- Solutions
- How to work a miracle
12. Licensed under Creative Commons
Challenge: Pressure
There was some pressure…
• Problems with pay led to strikes and civil disorder
• Strikes and civil disorder lead to bodies and patients in the streets
• “You guys have six weeks to come up with a working solution this problem set or the country
is fucked.” – Senior UN official in private conversation, October 2014.
13. Licensed under Creative Commons
Challenge: Welcome to the nightmare of trying to pay for everything
“The sinews of war are endless money’
Paying people is harder than it looks:
• 8 ATMs in the entire country
• Banks shut down due to epidemic
• One of worlds most corrupt countries
• Banking system circulation shutdown
14. Licensed under Creative Commons
The Nightmare
- Challenges
- Solutions
- How to work a miracle
17. Licensed under Creative Commons
Approach
Ubiquity of mobile phones among the
Ebola Response Workers, Extension of
mobile money wallet schemes
A local ICT social enterprise with technical capability in
open source ERP, Internet infrastructure implemented
as part of the response
A comparatively advanced
mobile phone based digital
payment ecosystem
18. Licensed under Creative Commons
The Nightmare
- Challenges
- Solutions
- How to work a miracle
19. Licensed under Creative Commons
Open Source had solutions for most of our key technical problems
Complications Open Source SolutionProblem
Can’t use finger print based biometrics
(cross contamination risk)
ODK makes developing enrollment
applications very fast
Open source facial recognition
framework
No Worker ID scheme
Must store profiles, payment histories,
generate pay lists, manage issues
OpenERP/OdooData Repository
Very limited variation in names
nationwide
Lots of missing and inconsistent data
Dedupe, a python library that uses
machine learning to quickly perform de-
duplication and entity resolution on
structured data
1000’s of duplicate
and ghost entries
from Gov lists
(corruption)
Must be SMS based, and scale to 30K
users flawlessly. Must allow interaction
Kannel SMS and WAP gatewayCommunications
Corruption is a way of life
Audit module included and code is
available for audit! Transparency win!
Leakages, system
gaming and
patronage
20. Licensed under Creative Commons
Deployment
Complications SolutionProblem
No power grid, No data centers, No
good sysadmins, No infrastructure.
Emerson ‘persuades’ GoSL into letting
the system be hosted at Amazon.Government demand
s data hosted in SL
Had to be instantly available
99.999 reliability
OpsWorks
Amazon EC2
Amazon RDS
Amazon Route 53
Amazon SQS
Amazon SES
Infrastructure
Must be robust Berkshelf/Chef
Deployment
management
Constant scope change
Coffee, Energy Drinks, Camp beds in
office, no showers, not enough sleep
DevOps
21. Licensed under Creative Commons
Open Source Software restored faith in ability of systems to be run honestly
22. Licensed under Creative Commons
The real challenge is never technical
Business process
development and
implementation is
much harder than
tech in these
contexts.
23. Licensed under Creative Commons
Results
Duplicate Records Removed through Information Management
System 3,054
Number of Fraudulent Ebola Response Workers Reported to the
Anti-Corruption Commission
150
Number of Double Dipping Ebola Response Workers Reported to
Anti-Corruption Commission
78
Medical Centers reported to Anti-Corruption Commission 3
# ERWs
Paid
Total # ERWs
in Country
% of Total ERWs
managed IMS
Direct
Cash
Digital
Money
Guinea 1,400 23,174 N/A 78% 22%
Liberia 1,393 11,000 N/A 43% 58%
Sierra Leone 21,058 27,000 100% 0% 100%
25. Questions?
WHEN A PLAN COMES TOGTHER
Salton: smassally@idtlabs.sl
Emerson: emerson.tan@nethope.org
Editor's Notes
Sierra Leone: Key facts
Famous for all the wrong reasons, civil war, blood diamonds, leonardo di caprio movies
Roughly size of Ireland for European reference
Very poor
Life expectancy is only 48 yrs
Civil war wrecked the education system: literacy rate is less than 25%
Lots of minerals, place should be rich
I could spend hours banging on about how Ebola nearly brought the countries it affected to their knees. The disease is terrifying, and the images that played across your TVs are nothing on actually watching it in front of you (from a safe distance of 2 meters).
However, these documentary makers showed up and this trailer for their documentary does a pretty good job of summing up some of the impacts to society and individuals that the epidemic had.
The strategy to get the outbreak under control was at first glance pretty simple.
70% of dead ebola patients buried safely, as recently dead people are the most infectious
70% of live cases in treatment in isolation units so they be cared for safely
This gets the curve to flatten out and the situation stabilises, as the system improves to 100% in all categories the epidemic should be ended.
But this is a race against the clock, how to build the systems needed and get them to national scale in a very hard environment starting from a very low base.
Of course the previous slide is a gross oversimplification, because achieving those simple goals means building a huge amount of infrastructure and employing a huge number of people, in new organizations, who all then have to be coordinated together.
In a country with 30% phone coverage, only 2 paved highways outside the capital, no power grid, economy shutdown, movement restrictions
Ok, this is now sounding much more complicated. I had to do a bunch of infrastructure work to get all this to work, but this was simple compared to the ultimate nightmare
Paying people.
By October, strikes and other disruptions due to failure to pay healthcare workers were becoming a critical danger to the effort to contain the epidemic
Hazard pay introduced to bypass the mess at the ministry of health, some workers hadn’t been paid for months as the Ministry of health manual systems collapsed
The policy was great in theory, only the system needed to run it all simply didn’t exist at the time the policy was announced
I got dragged into a session where finally how the system was to be built, almost casually. I’d been working on getting Satellite internet service to all the treatment centers and disctict command and coordination centers. In the course of the meeting I remember saying ‘what you guys need is an ERP system’. I got some very blank looks, finally, someone said ‘what’s one of those’. After about 10 minutes this turned into ‘you seem to know something, you advise us who to hire and how to do this’
Oh shit.
Paying people should in principle be really simple. In the developed world more or less everyone has a bank account and paying people is as simple as
Only it isn’t.
No ATMs outside the capital, No Accurate staff lists, There are only 12 surnames in the entire country, Most people can’t read and write and many don’t even know their own birthdays.
This makes for an administrative and organizational NIGHTMARE.
Lorissa had known about iDT labs for some time
Sierra Leone’s only real software development startup since 2013
Everyone was very young, but they has already had some OpenERP experience having built the HR system for Africell, a local cell phone company with about a thousand employees.
So, take the existing HR system, tweak it a bit and scale it to ~30K people.
That’s easy isn’t it?
Deduplicating without enough details was a nightmare
Twenty thousand records supplied with no unique ID or adherence to convention and unique characteristics missing
Important fields like Identification, telephone numbers, address etc that we could use to deduplicate were mostly missing
Extensive spelling mistakes added several feathers to our hats of frustration
Devops and an appreciation/patience for major scope changes and feature creeps was Key
Ability to respond to how users interacts with the system and the deficiencies in processes that the system was meant to support and data supplied was paramount
Almost daily deployment to opswork for the first two months…
…longest streak 29 days
…328 commit in the first month alone after the system was already in production
…longest stay in office 3 days without sleep or shower
...The gods named Cheap Coffee and yet still Cheaper Energy Drinks kept us going
Devops and an appreciation/patience for major scope changes and feature creeps was Key
Ability to respond to how users interacts with the system and the deficiencies in processes that the system was meant to support and data supplied was paramount
Almost daily deployment to opswork for the first two months…
…longest streak 29 days
…328 commit in the first month alone after the system was already in production
…longest stay in office 3 days without sleep or shower
...The gods named Cheap Coffee and yet still Cheaper Energy Drinks kept us going
After a few weeks of operation and once people were confident they were being paid on time and with no deductions, strikes stopped completely
We hacked together biometric registration kits from voter registration kits, replacing secure tamper proof parts which wouldn’t run our software with laptops ‘borrowed’ in a hurry from World Vision (an NGO) after some hasty phone calls.
Seeing the team and seeing the technology built faith in the system in the health workers