Annual report 2012

Akvo helps today’s brightestinternational development talentguide their organisations into a newera. This era will see entire aidportfolios come online, easy tonavigate and detailed to the finestlevel. It will see infrastructure statussuch as water points mapped digitallyat a local or country level usingmodern smartphones. And it willmake the complex mesh oforganisations and people involved inreducing poverty easier tounderstand and engage with.

It can also change the waydevelopment interventions are made,and establish the identity and voiceof a new generation of developmentactors – those working on the ground,and those committed to being openabout what works and what doesn’t.

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AkvoSee it happenI became chairman of Akvo late in 2012, at a time when the organi -sation began to enter an altogether new phase of its development.Akvo was launched in summer 2007, but its roots run deeper. Itrepresents a fusion between those who have long sought a muchbrighter, dynamic future for international development cooperation,and those who are committed to open information technology.

Unlike many of today’s most familiar online services such as Googleor Facebook, which rely on advertising income to fund their develop -ment, Akvo’s software is built on a solid foundation of service revenues,supplemented by strategic grant investments. This combinationmeans we can respond more directly to ease development aid into a new phase. By the end of 2012, our systems justified at least €150 million worth of development cooperation projects, and were starting to open a new window into billions more. We do thisby providing a layer of digital services that make it easy for ourpartners to rapidly scale up new programmes and initiatives. Thisreport sets out some of those in more detail.

In March 2012, an agreement was finalised with US NGO Water For People for Akvo to assume responsibility for the productdevelopment, global support and rollout of FLOW. This smart phonetool was con cei ved to map infrastructure such as water points, usingphone surveys featuring geographically referenced data and photos,managed via web dashboards, with significant field imple -mentations in place.

A dedicated software development team was quickly put in place,and major new investments secured from organisations includingCisco Inc, the Hilton Foundation and the Dutch Ministry of ForeignAffairs. By the end of the year, a new product – Akvo FLOW 1.5 – wasready to be introduced to existing and new users.

As Akvo went from having one core product to three, werestructured our software development team to focus on distinctproduct lines – Akvo RSR, Akvo FLOW and Akvo Openaid. For the firsttime, product managers would decide how to evolve their tool, andthis has made the software development process more responsive to

internal and external needs. Our partnership team, which had pre -viously handled business development and programme operations,restructured too, with a new partner operations function emerging.

Since establishing its new home at the AmLab building in Amster -dam in October 2011, Akvo has thrived in the creative atmosphereof this historic location. 2012 saw the launch of Akvo Track Days,unique one-day events for existing and potential partners to meetour team, get hands-on experience of our tools, get inspired abouthow they can be used and share experience with each other.

We continue, too, to build a network of international hubs to supportour expansion. Akvo’s East Africa hub opened in spring 2012 in theexciting atmosphere of the Nailab incubation lab in Nairobi and byyear end was ready to spin out to its own new location. In Decemberwe also established a new hub in Washington DC, at the OpenGovHub, right next door to the World Bank. This location is filled withnew organisations working to bring open data and new approaches tointernational development and we look forward to a fruitful time there.

I’m grateful for the support and wisdom former chairman MarkNitzberg has provided to the Akvo team during 2012 and I’m pleasedhe will continue to serve on Akvo’s supervisory board. His insightinto the workings of a technology firm will remain invaluable.

Akvo’s core staff now numbers close to 30, with most workingdirectly on software development and partner support and training.Our work involves introducing web and mobile services in placeswhere there has never been such infrastructure before. This is noeasy task, even with technology trends going our way – and toolsthat are designed to be really simple. Our partner team plays acentral role in supporting people through this process.

Our work over the coming year will focus on helping teams of peopleuse Akvo tools to do great things. We’ll work hard to support all ourpartners, as they bring to life their efforts to improve the livingconditions of many millions of people, still living in chronic povertyaround the world.

Aalt LeusinkChairman of the board, Akvo FoundationMarch 2013

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6

15

7

Akvo product overview

Put your projects online. Share status updates with everyone.

Akvo RSR stands for Really Simple Reporting. It’s a web-based systemthat makes it easy for development aid teams to bring projectsonline and share progress with everyone involved and interested.

Akvo RSR helps project networks with lots of partners work better,because it’s designed to help them get organised and scale. Teamscan post text, photo and video updates as progress happens, fromfield or regional offices, with the latest stories instantly distributedto multiple websites. This helps everyone understand where, whyand how money is being spent, and it brings to life the work ofthose involved.

Collect, analyse and display geographic monitoring data, usingmobile phones.

Akvo FLOW is a mobile phone and online service that transformsfield monitoring using Android smartphones.

Teams in development cooperation and aid networks can nowmonitor and evaluate initiatives in the world’s poorest andmost remote places using location-aware mobile phone surveys.Surveys can be designed quickly and distributed to phones,and results shared immediately on interactive maps. This helpseveryone understand if each project is making a difference.

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9

Show how aid money is spent. Make this information easy to use.

Akvo Openaid is a web-based tool for publishing large quantitiesof development aid data in an easy to use format. Large aidorganisations and government donors can set out how developmentaid is being spent in a form that is both machine-readable andhuman-friendly.

With accurate and up-to-date information about aid flows, everyonecan plan more effectively, programmes become better targeted andcitizens can hold their governments to greater account about wheremoney goes.

Find and share what you need to know about water and sanitationtechnology quickly and in one place.

Akvopedia is a portal for online knowledge on smart, low-cost,sustainable water and sanitation technology and approaches.Simple yet vast, it works just like Wikipedia – anyone can edit it. In2012, the site garnered over 1.1m page views – an average of around3,000 page visits per day.

Akvopedia connects people to experience gained in other projects.With access to this information, field and planning teams can getinspiration, learn lessons, share knowledge, find experts and makegood decisions.

10

Programme overviewHere's an overview of the main programmes Akvo supported in 2012.

Dutch WASH AllianceThis five-year, €50 million Dutch governmentprogramme is improving water and sanitationfacilities for two million people in eightcountries. We’ve supported 100 field partners topublish project information using Akvo RSR. In2013 we’ll roll out Akvo FLOW and introduceOpenaid. www.washalliance.nl

Connect4ChangeAnother five-year Dutch programme of just under€50 million, using technology to improve health,education and economic development in 11African and South American countries. We helpedfield partners publish project information usingRSR and introduced FLOW in Uganda. Thisinvolved multi-lingual training materials and newsupport networks. www.connect4change.nl

Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DGIS)We continued to cooperate with DGIS to increasetransparency and build Dutch and inter na tio nalpublic support. We intensified our jointcooperation with the US and UK governments,multi-lateral organisations like UN Habitat andUNDP, and corporate partners like Mars andCisco. DGIS financially contributed to thedevelopment of FLOW and we agreed to helpbring the new Public Private Partner ships (PPP)“sustainable water fund” projects online usingRSR. We continued to develop Openaid.nl, whichdisplays Dutch global aid spend through a user-friendly, open-standards compliant interface.

Water For PeopleIn 2012, we signed a partnership with Water ForPeople to assume res ponsibility for the furtherdevelopment and rollout of FLOW. Together wesecured investment from Hilton Foundation andCisco Inc.

11

Football for WaterThis four-year, €27 million programme is im pro -ving hygiene education, drinking water andsanitation in 200 schools in Ghana, Mozambiqueand Kenya. We’re helping bring all the projectsonline using RSR. Several spin-offs are emergingincluding Sport for Development – a further €4m,eight-country programme.

Unicef / Liberian governmentTogether with DGIS, Unicef and others, we’rerolling out FLOW in West Africa. Plans exist fornational water point mapping exercises in SierraLeone, Benin and Ghana and we’re working withthe Liberian government to follow up on theFLOW mapping of 10,000 water points in 2010.

WASH UnitedThis German sports initiative is running sport andhygiene, water and sanitation educationprogrammes in Kenya, Uganda and Lesotho,using Akvo RSR and FLOW to simplify reportingand monitoring.

UN HabitatWe worked with UN Habitat to introduce OpenUN-Habitat, an open data portal built on AkvoOpenaid, with the support of our softwaredevelopment partner Zimmerman & Zimmerman.We’re also collaborating to bring projects onlinerelated to the Lake Victoria initiative.http://open.unhabitat.org http://un-habitat.akvoapp.org/en/

Netherlands Water Partnership (NWP)Akvo is still a member of NWP, who incubated usin our early years. During 2012 we worked withIRC, Aqua for All and NWP to develop a joint USstrategy resulting in several initiatives with USand Dutch water sector NGOs. One programmenow underway is the large MillenniumWater Alliance in Kenya.

Aqua for AllWe’ve had a strategic partnership with Dutchfoundation Aqua for All almost since ourinception. It’s brought over 120 projects onlinewith RSR and is helping us deploy FLOW in otherconsortia programmes, like Football for Water.We also support its Walking for Water annualfundraising and awareness campaign focused onengaging school children.www.wandelenvoorwater.nlwww.walkingforwater.eu

Mars ChocolatesMars is pioneering an initiative to ensure all itscocoa comes from sustainable sources by 2020. In2012 it used RSR in a pilot micro-financeprogramme to help Ivory Coast farmers increaseyields. 2013 will see a website to enable story-telling from these farmers to Mars associatesglobally, and an Akvo FLOW dashboard tofacilitate data collection in Indonesia.

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UNDPOver two years, we’re supporting UNDP in centraland eastern Europe to publish its projects. Thefirst RSR implementation in a large UNorganisation, its been warmly welcomed andsoundly embedded into working methods.http://undp.akvoapp.org/en/

CordaidOne of the largest Dutch NGOs, Cordaid isreorganising in response to changes in how aid isallocated. As part of this process, it resolved tobecome much more transparent. Following itsexperience in Connect4Change, Cordaid isdeploying RSR across the organisation to publishits entire portfolio of 500 projects. RSR is theunderlying content management tool for its newwebsite, which is improving communicationsinternally and externally. In 2013, Akvo willsupport all Cordaid’s partners across the globe touse Akvo RSR. http://www.cordaid.org/en/

Bill & Melinda Gates FoundationIn 2012, together with our AmLab neighbours1%CLUB and Text to Change, we obtained a grantfrom the Foundation to jointly implement ourtools and services for the first time, under anintense spotlight. We’re now activelyparticipating in workshops hosted by the GatesFoundation designed to galvanise new initiatives.

IRCIn 2012 we signed an agreement to intensify ourwork with IRC and together promote innovativeways of monitoring. One example is a proposal tofurther develop FLOW and roll it out country-widein Ghana. We also jointly developed a new financeportal within our knowledge base Akvopedia.

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Activities – pouring cement, visiting water points, holding classes.Problems – broken parts, government paperwork, lack of local support.Solutions – substituted parts, issued permits, community meetings.Needs – knowledge, funds, labour.Reactions – how do people react to what is going on around them.Benefits – expected and unexpected.Lessons learned.Future plans and ideas.

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Tell the project’s story. What is happening now?Be specific. Details bring stories to life.Be brief. One or two paragraphs, a picture with caption or a short video (three minutes is enough) – each one is enough to continue the story and give it a timeline. Frequent short updates also increase confidence and trust in you and your work. Use natural language. Be yourself. Avoid jargon and acronyms, and don’t worry if it is not perfect. Real life is not a Hollywood movie – it is much more interesting. Oops!

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Text Updates

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Upload your video to a video platform – YouTube, Vimeo or Blip.Copy the URL of the video you want to share and paste it into the text field. Go to help.akvo.org for more info.

Caption the video with a 75-character (or less) description of what is in the video. Enter the video maker’s name (credit).

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Training highlightsIn 2012, we put a lot of energy into improving our training andsupport processes and materials.

New materialsWe created an appealing training kit to introduce people to AkvoRSR and the concept of telling the story of their work as it unfolds.We chose a format that underlines that RSR stands for Really SimpleReporting – an 'at a glance' z-fold guide that doubles up as a funposter – diffusing any anxieties people might have about postingproject information and updates. The guide, which is available inEnglish, French and Spanish, comes in an illustrated box with otherintriguing, inspiring and useful stuff such as a USB stick loaded withmultimedia support information and some of our ever-popular postcards.

Track daysIn March and October, our historic Amsterdam HQ was the venue forour first two Akvo partner Track Days. With around 50 people at eachevent, the energy at both was high. A choice of workshops and groupactivities offered new perspectives and practical skills on topicssuch as open data, Akvo tools, the power of social media and newand future methods, opportunities and expectations fordevelopment communications generally. In 2013 we're planningmore Track Days in other Akvo hubs, starting with Amsterdam andNairobi in May.

Training workshopsWhen new partners or programmes come on board, we try to gatherkey individuals together to teach them how to use Akvo tools suchas FLOW or RSR and how to make simple and effective videos. Theworkshops, which often take place at scheduled regional meetingsto avoid unnecessary travel, are designed to enable participants topass on what they learn to their colleagues. In 2012, we heldworkshops in eleven countries.

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Financials 2012Another change in 2012 relates to the governance structure of Akvo.Originally the foundation was set up with a board having ultimateresponsibility for the governanance of Akvo, with managementbeing responsible to that board. We have now changed the articlesof incorporation so responsibility rests with a board of directors,who are operational management. Our previous board membershave assumed positions on a new supervisory board. This modelmeans we can better handle the high growth scenario we’re facing – with faster decision-making day to day, but still backed by a veryexperienced advisory team.

Income in €000

Income own fundraising• Fundraising activities 10• Project contributions 98

Total income own fundraising 108

Government services 1,889

Other income 700

Total income 2,697

Costs in €000

Expenditure on behalf of the objectives 1,841Expenditure fundraising 0

Charged staff costs -1,814

Direct project costs – staff 1,814Direct project costs – material 545

Total direct project costs 2,359

Total costs 2,386

Balance of income and costs 311

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Contact us

AKVO HEAD OFFICE’s-Gravenhekje 1A1011 TG AmsterdamNetherlands

LONDON25 Blue Anchor LaneBermondseyLondon SE16 3ULUK

NAIROBIParklands Road 25Office 4PO Box 36655 - 00200NairobiKenya

WASHINGTON DC1889 F Street NW2nd FloorWashingtonDC 20006 USA

PARTNERSHIPSPeter van der Linde t: +31 (0)20 820 0175peter@akvo.orgTwitter @petervdl

COMMUNICATIONSMark Charmert: +44 (0)7976 960739mark@akvo.orgTwitter @charmermark

TECHNICALThomas Bjelkemanthomas@akvo.orgTwitter @bjelkeman

IMAGESpage 3Images from trainingworkshops in Mali, Ugandaand Indonesia taken by Lissyvan Noort, Luuk Diphoorn andAmitangshu Acharya

page 8Akvo RSR workshop for WASHAlliance, November 2012,Bamako, Mali, by Lissy vanNoort

page 12Akvo RSR and FLOW workshopfor Connect4Change, October2012, Bamako, Mali, by Lissyvan Noort

page 14Akvo RSR training manual

page 16Akvo RSR and FLOW workshopfor Connect4Change, October2012, Bamako, Mali, by Lissyvan Noort

page 18outside AmLab, Amsterdam,Netherlands, by Mark Charmer

back coverAkvo team meeting, January2013, Amsterdam, Netherlands,by Mark Charmer