Briefing note

Digital data and improved governance

The value of using advances in technologyto bridge the gap between citizens,decision makers and service providers hasbeen clear for some time.

There are many examples of innovations in this field,such as the Making All Voices Count programme, whichissued 178 grants to projects aiming to use innovativeways to foster accountable governance in 13 countriesin Africa, Asia and Southeast Asia.

Learning from this programme demonstrated manybenefits of using digital technologies in the pursuit ofimproved accountability, including the positive roletechnology can play in providing planning data wherethe lack of user feedback poses a problem to improvingservices, and the support technology can offer tomobilise collective action.

As can be expected, programmes have adopteddiffering technologies, and different methods forgathering data and for using the information collectedto reach their aims, with some approaches moresuccessful than others within their specific contexts.

It would be inappropriate, therefore, to indisputablystate that digital data on citizen’s experience of service

provision is 'the answer’ to accountable governance.Rather, clarity on programme strategies, contextualrelevance and achievements should be clearlycommunicated, in order to make the most of lessonslearnt.

This briefing note therefore outlines the digital dataapproach adopted by the SABI programme, providingthe reasons for decisions made in the programmedesign, as well as achievements made one year intoprogramme implementation.

ContextThe following key aspects of the Sierra Leonean contextinformed the SABI programme design:

- Sierra Leone had emerged from the outbreak of Ebolathat blighted the country from 2014-16. During thisperiod, citizens demonstrated the power of collectivecommunity-led action in overcoming a nationalchallenge, by quickly adopting new health-relatedbehaviours, contributing to the halt in the transmissionof the virus. SABI sought to build on this momentum ofcollective action.

- Sierra Leone has an adult literacy rate of 32.4%, whichis lower amongst women and marginalised groups, and

SABI uses the Kobo Toolbox software to gather the perspective of citizens on their experience of state services. The open sourceprogramme is free and enables the user to design a questionnaire, which can be downloaded onto a smartphone through an app.

in rural areas of the country. To implement an inclusiveapproach, therefore, SABI needed to adopt a technologythat could be used by low literate groups.

- Whilst 83% of Sierra Leoneans report having access toa mobile phone, only 33% use them to send textmessages and only 16% use them to access the internet,the majority of whom are located in the urban WesternArea. Moreover, 63% of Sierra Leoneans in rural areasjudge their network access to be mixed or poor quality.So SABI needed to adopt a methodology that would beaccessible to all Sierra Leoneans, regardless of theiraccess to, and preferred use of, mobile phones.

- After years of dependency on INGOs for the provisionof services in the health, education, social protection,water and energy sectors, and due to high levels ofcorruption within government, there exists a high levelof apathy amongst citizens toward improved servicesfrom the state and thus a low level of engagement withgovernment service providers. SABI needed toacknowledge this widespread attitude and behaviour tofacilitate improved relationships for improved servicesbased on the data gathered.

Within this context, SABI sought to use digital datatechnology to gather and share data on citizens’perspectives of services, such that this informationwould be used for two primary purposes:

1. To inform collective action by citizens to hold theirstate service providers to account.

2. In planning by state service providers to improveservices.

Technology adoptedGathering data

SABI uses the Kobo Toolbox software to gather theperspective of citizens on their experience of stateservices. Kobo Toolbox is an open source programme,meaning it is free to use. It enables the user to design aquestionnaire, which is then downloaded onto asmartphone through an app.

SABI worked with a wide range of stakeholders,including citizens, government officials, donors, andINGOs, to design a questionnaire which asked citizensabout their experience of using schools, health centresand cash transfer services. This questionnaire was thendownloaded onto smartphones, which were used byyouth volunteers to interview over 45,000 citizensduring the first round of data collection.

Why use Kobo Toolbox?

- Kobo Toolbox is free to use, representing good valuefor money.

- Kobo Toolbox offers full control to the programmedesigners, allowing us to create a questionnaire withresponse drop down menus and skip patterns. Thisfunction streamlines data analysis.

- The Kobo Toolbox app can be used in areas with nomobile internet network, by saving the responses ontothe Smartphone, which are then uploaded at a laterpoint when mobile internet network is available.

- By creating a questionnaire that is used to interviewcitizens, low literate groups are able to engage in theprogramme and share their experiences of accessingservices, which a direct data gathering approach wouldnot allow.

Analysing and communicating questionnaire findings

SABI uses both MS Excel and MS PowerBI to analyse thedata gathered and communicate it to our keyaudiences, including citizens, service providers,government officials, donors and INGOs. The use andbenefits of MS Excel are well known and so we focushere on MS PowerBI. MS PowerBI is an interactive datavisualisation tool, which can be hosted on a public

A questionnaire which asked citizens about their experience ofusing schools, health centres and cash transfer services wasdownloaded onto smartphones, which were used by youthvolunteers to interview over 45,000 citizens.

website. The data visualisations can be designed by thedata owner, and include bar charts, pie charts,geographical maps, and word maps. MS PowerBI linksdirectly to Kobo Toolbox, updating the visualisations asmore questionnaires are gathered and submitted.

Why use PowerBI?

- The version of PowerBI used by the SABI programme iscurrently free to use, offering good value for money.Paid for versions of the software are also available.

- The data visualisations are designed by us, enabling usto present the findings of the questionnaire in themanner most appropriate for our audiences.

- The data visualisations are interactive, meaning thatthe audience can choose how to analyse the datathemselves. For example, graphs can be disaggregatedby gender, age, location of the respondent, or otherfactors as chosen by us.

- By hosting the data visualisations on the SABI website(www.sabi-sl.org/community-data), the questionnairefindings are publicly accessible and more likely to beused by key decision makers to inform interventions toimprove services.

Approach to gathering citizens’ perspectiveson service provisionSABI works through a cohort of 122 trained youthvolunteers, who use the Smartphones on which thequestionnaires have been uploaded, to interviewcitizens in over 600 communities across Sierra Leone.The volunteers receive intensive training in appropriateinterviewing techniques, how to use the smartphonesand how to support citizens to respond to the findingsgathered from their communities. The questionnaire isdesigned to be administered to the following eightrespondent categories:

- Pregnant women and lactating mothers- Adolescents- People with disabilities- Young people participating in the Labour IntensiveWorks Programme- Cash transfer recipients- School pupils- Ebola survivors- Heads of households

Each respondent category is asked questions relating toservices specifically designed for their use. Respondentsare selected within their communities, rather at thepoint of service access, such that citizens who are notaccessing services are also captured.

In the first year of implementation, the youth volunteersinterviewed over 45,000 citizens from over 600communities in all 14 districts of Sierra Leone.

Why work through volunteers rather than gatherquestionnaire responses directly from citizensthemselves?

- Working through trained volunteers enables SABI toengage with respondent groups that may not be able tocomplete a questionnaire on their own either becausethey have a low literacy level or do not have access to amobile phone.

- Volunteers are provided with funds to travel betweencommunities, meaning that citizens who live in an areawith no mobile network can be interviewed in their ownhomes, and their responses uploaded into the databaseby the volunteer at a later point.

- Volunteers are able to identify respondents in allgroups, including those who have not accessed servicessuch that information on the barriers that preventaccess can be gathered.

- Young people in Sierra Leone are a marginalisedgroup, with many young people facing pooremployment prospects and low access to quality furthereducation. By training a cohort of young people in thisprocess, SABI is creating opportunities for skillsacquisition and future employment for those youngpeople engaged.

Data visualisations hosted on the SABI website are interactive, sothe audience can choose how to analyse the data themselves.

So what?For more information on what SABI does with theinformation gathered through this process, and how theprogramme facilitates collective action for improvedservices on the basis of citizens perspectives, please seeSABI Briefing Note 1: Approach to CommunityEngagement.

SustainabilityThe costs involved in maintaining the data collection,analysis and distribution process that SABI hasdeveloped are as follows:

- Staff time to design and review the questionnaires,and PowerBI dashboards.

- Purchase and maintenance of smartphones to gatherand submit the questionnaire responses.

- Data airtime or internet access to submit thequestionnaire responses.

- Training of, and provision of monthly stipends andfunds for transport, to the youth volunteers

- Management and oversight of the youth volunteers

Costs to replicate this approach will depend on context.In Sierra Leone, with the reach described above, thisprocess requires an annual budget of approximatelyGBP 400,000.

Clearly, the process as it is currently operated is notsustainable without continued funding. However, SABI isusing technology in this manner to model ways in whichuser feedback can be gathered and used in planning forimprovements to services, and by citizens to facilitateevidence based collective action for accountablegovernance.

Once the benefits of this approach have been clearlydemonstrated through SABI, future phases of theprogramme will seek to establish income streams tomaintain the practices adopted.

The costs of maintaining the data collection, analysis anddistribution process include the training of youth volunteers.

© Christian Aid February 2018 J20149 Photographs: SABI/Tom Dixon