Mobile Technology Usage by Humanitarian Programs: A Metadata Analysis – Rashmi Dayalu ODSC Boston 2015

CommCare, developed by Dimagi Inc., is an open-source mobile technology platform that supports hundreds of humanitarian frontline programs worldwide.The objective of this analysis is to demonstrate how CommCare metadata contains a wealth of information that can inform humanitarian programs in their use of mobile technology. This understanding can help programs determine the most effective way to implement CommCare or other mobile technology in resource-poor settings. A typical CommCare user is a frontline worker, such as a community health worker who provides outreach to pregnant women and children. An important feature of CommCare is that it supports case management, allowing users to register, update, and close cases in their CommCare application. A case is usually a user’s client, e.g., a pregnant woman who is supported by the CommCare user. While using CommCare, the user fills out electronic forms which eventually get submitted to the CommCare cloud server. The cumulative number of forms submitted by CommCare users as of December 2014 was just over 10 million. Metadata for each form submitted through CommCare are stored in Dimagi’s data platform; included in a form’s metadata are date and time stamps for when each form was started and ended by the user and when the form was eventually received by the cloud server.

Presenter Bio

Rashmi is an Epidemiologist who joins Dimagi as a full-time data analyst. She is wholeheartedly aligned with Dimagi’s goal to effect positive impact among underserved people around the world. She is convinced that a very important part of this vision involves the development of robust quantitative measures. Rashmi brings to Dimagi over six years of experience in monitoring, evaluation and surveillance tracking in the Public Health arena. Her projects have been focused in the United States, Malawi and Kenya.

Rashmi has an MPH in Epidemiology from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor with a concentration in Global Health. Prior to her graduate studies, she received a B.S. in Cell and Molecular Biology from the University of Washington, Seattle. Her non-career activities include Karate, swing dancing, yoga, and wondering what it means to be human, though she hasn’t reached a quantitative conclusion for this last pursuit.