Field Practitioners Toolbox – Handheld GPS Units

Last week I wrote about some of the important contributions that have helped to strengthen UNIDOs field programmes through the use of Mobile Phones and SMS messaging. Another area where UNIDO field staff are seeing important results is with the use of Global Positioning System (GPS) hand-held data collection units. GPS has been around commercially for over 25 years. It is used in navigation, in marking ‘features’, measuring areas and distances, and as an important tool in building a much more complete picture of an operational environment.

One of the most obvious areas where GPS has improved the efficiency of project implementation activities is in its use as a navigation tool. Two areas that UNIDO has seen a real improvement in the field is with the use of GPS in rural areas where government services are extremly limited and in post-conflict zones where infrastructure is destroyed . In the Nuba Mountains of Sudan, the accurate mapping of communities on reference maps is uncommon. Most villages/village clusters are spread out over large areas and knowing with certainty where project activities are being rolled out or where surveys informants reside can be a time consuming process. However, GPS has provided UNIDO field technicians and consultants with the ability to quickly navigate to communities, beneficiaries, and other stakeholders with far greater efficiency and reliability. It has also greatly reduced the turn around time for various follow up and monitoring initiatives.

Another somewhat similar situation can be found in a number of post-conflict zones. As a result of war, sectarian violence, and on-going instability limited efforts and investments have been made to create a reference system which details the location of residential, commercial, and government buildings. In Iraq, UNIDO has been using GPS to identify the location of project linked ministerial counterparts, training facilities, enterprises and workshops, and other beneficiary groups. Field technicians are able to move between standard geo-referencing and other commonly used systems that are typically used in conflict zones; like, the US Military Grid Reference System (MGRS). Given that UNIDO’s reach and movement in Iraq is facilitated by the UN in coordination with the US military. Being able to clearly identify site assessment locations for security providers helps to minimize transportation costs and builds greater confidence between various national and international organizations and agencies.

Marking site assessment locations (stored as waypoints) is not just limited to proposed survey areas. The use of GPS features ‘marking’ has also been used extensively by the Organization to identify a number of other features that are core components of our livelihoods or micro-enterprise support programmes. UNIDOs South Korean funded project in Fallujah (TARGET) has been using GPS for a number of years. GPS has allowed project managers to conduct an intensive survey of the Fallujah Industrial Zone and capture that data with greater repeatability. We have been able to link survey results to particular workshops which helps to build a much more comprehensive profile of the enterprise, its existing technology, and the operational context that it works within. GPS has also helped to ensure that suppliers that are contracted to conduct rehabilitation and civil upgrades at these enterprises can easily locate the site; as well as providing much better logistical planning information for those involved in the delivery, installation, and commissioning of project financed technology and equipment packages procured for these enterprises in the Fallujah Industrial Zone.

GPS is also an important tool in calculating and mapping areas (eg. industrial areas) and lines (eg. roads and waterways). It can also help with the planning activities of project and programme managers. One area where GPS is seeing increasing use is around land resource management. In southern Sudan, UNDP has recently launched an important project aimed at mapping plots of land so as to help confirm plot locations, building properties, and other land features that will likely be affected by a potential influx of people once Southern Sudan gains independence and greater international engagement and support. Technologies like GPS are likely to play an important role in assisting the coordination of development programming in post-independent Southern Sudan.

Finally, UNIDO places great importance on the safety and well-being of its staff who operate out of large number of field offices throughout the globe. Nowhere is this concern greater than in countries that are just emerging from conflict and instability. One way that UNIDO monitors the security and well-being of its field staff is through the use of GPS-enabled technologies. One of the ‘tools’ that UNIDO is using in a number of challenging operational environments in Africa and the Middle East is GPS Messaging Units; like SPOT. Next week I will discuss this technology and other equipment that is being used by field practitioners to facilitate their work and enhances their security in areas that remain unstable and volatile. These sorts of dedicated investments are becoming standard issue for many programme and project staff as they work to improve the quality of life of project targeted beneficiaries, households, and communities.

Field Practitioners Toolbox – Mobile Phone and SMS

For field practitioners working in some of the more challenging operating environments on the planet, many of us our constantly looking for tools and practices that will help to improve development outcomes for the people and communities we are engaged with. Typically we are handcuffed by programmes and projects that have been developed by programme/project design teams who are far removed from the realities of the field and the socio-economic barriers that are regularly encountered by field practitioners.

Programme and project documents claim to assist communities to ‘kick-start’ the private sector development process, or strengthen the community reconciliation process, and/or increase output by strengthening investment flows to name just a few ostentatious claims. Although these goals are clearly important, project field staff/technicians are rarely provided with the guidance and tools necessary to achieve these ambitious targets. This ‘dis-connect’ inevitably leads to frictions between the implementation field team and programme/project designers living in the more sheltered milieus of Washington, New York, Geneva, Rome, Vienna, etc. Furthermore, project designs rarely explicitly consider the extent to which the channels through which implementation activities are rolled out become politicized; especially when local counterparts re-direct programme inputs towards self-serving or nefarious ends. In many of the world’s troubled spots, these are the ‘realities on the ground’.

To help minimize the emergence of these sorts of project-level pathologies, many of UNIDO’s Agri-Business Development Branch’s field staff are introducing a new set of technical tools so as to strengthen the development results under our various post-conflict country programmes. Three noteworthy initiatives are (i) the growing use of data collection and monitoring efforts that leverage the growing use of mobile phone and SMS communication,  (ii) enhanced use of GPS and GIS-related technologies, and (iii) using cost-effective and commercially available tracking units to promote the safety and security of field staff. Over the next few entries, I will make a few observations about how these technologies are leading to real improvements on the ground.

It is widely recognized that mobile phones are enhancing communication flows and feedback mechanisms throughout the world. One of the important lessons that has emerged from the work of writers like Joseph Stiglitz is that poor information, leads to poor decision-making, which leads to poor technical/human/financial resource allocations, which lead to sub-optimal development outcomes. Taking this contribution as an important referent point, our Branch’s field staff has begun using mobile phone and SMS messaging in three important areas:

1.    Communicating with project survey informants;

2.    Communicating with project-targeted beneficiary groups; and

3.    Monitoring project/programme impact

One area where many UN agencies are regularly criticized involves how information is collected and how survey informants are kept informed about how their information is used. In many country operations, UN agencies regularly collect information about quality of life indicators, market prices, security levels, consumption patterns, etc. In many cases, survey teams collect this information but never keep the survey informant updated on how the information supplied will feed into programming or how these important contributions will impact their lives and communities. To address this issue, UNIDO has begun collecting mobile numbers of survey informants and through the use of Group SMS we are able to not only thank survey participants but also keep them updated on how the information is being used and the project activities that have been developed or strengthened as a result of their contributions. As a result, UNIDO’s ‘brand recognition’ has been strengthened, project stakeholders report a greater sense of ownership, activities are conducted in a much more transparent manner, and community level monitoring of our efforts are greatly enhanced. This is a cost effective and easily implemented approach that has resulted in large dividends in areas where it has been practiced. Although it is a fairly recent initiative we expect to see its applicability extended to other operational activities involving stakeholder communication and ownership.

In post-conflict environments, a number of UN organizations have limited access to the field. We are constrained by adverse changes in the level of security in our programme targeted areas. In these environments we rely on local counterparts to facilitate the unfolding of project activities. In a number of UNIDO’s country programmes, political and sectarian cleavages are an operational reality. Working at the local/field level puts staff in direct contact with individuals, groups, elites, etc. that may believe that it is in their best interest to control/channel the distribution of project resources to particular constituencies. Not only does this inevitably lead to a ‘negative blowback’ for the reputation of the Organization but it may also lead to increased polarization and a tearing apart of the social fabric of the community. To reduce the likelihood that beneficiary targeting is politicized, UNIDO has been using mobile phones and SMS to directly communicate with project beneficiary groups. The use of SMS allows project managers to notify potential beneficiaries about important and upcoming community workshops, the location and start-up date of a capacity building training session, and even for some WEP-enabled phones beneficiary selection forms can be received, completed, and returned. The use of SMS to communicate with project beneficiaries is an important development for field practitioners and managers. It allows us the opportunity to communicate directly with a beneficiary and in so doing, potentially take out the perverse incentive to politicize our technical and livelihoods assistance programmes.

Finally, mobile phones and SMS are becoming a powerful tool to assess the impact and results of our projects. In many of our livelihoods and micro-industry support programmes we regularly compile detailed information on our beneficiaries. For example, UNIDO has built up a large portfolio of projects that have vocational training components as a key programmatic feature. By collecting information from our trainee (including mobile phone details) we are able to directly sample the impact that our training has had on the income, employment, and quality of life status of trainees that have successfully graduated from our various technical and vocational training programmes. We are also able to assess the quality of training, the competency of our training staff, and seek recommendations that will strengthen our programming. This is a cost-effective approach to monitoring; especially for programmes that cover a large geographical area or where there is low level of security. It has also improved transparency and reduced instances of corrupt practices. One area where we see great potential is in gathering regular data on the activities, viability, and operational constraints and opportunities facing the micro and small-scale producers that we have been engaged with.

Technology is making in an important impact in the lives of people across the globe. UNIDO Agri-Business Development Branch is continuously learning from these changing dynamics and is designing approaches that can leverage technical/technologies so as to enhance the results and outcomes for our programmes but also ensure that our resources are allocated towards those that need our assistance. More importanty, the information that is collected and communicated can then be directly fed back into the design considerations of project managers, who are largely involved in programme development efforts, but for a variety of reasons are far removed from the realities in the field. Technology is helping to close this gap and as a result, better information is being generated which will lead to stronger project designs that much more effectively reflect the conditions regularly encountered by the implementation teams and other technicians.  Next week I will look at how GPS and GIS-type technologies are improving reporting and tracking methods for field managers.