Sierra Leone’s Quarantine App Offers Real-time Data, Improves Citizen Service Delivery

by DSTI MEDIA

September 27, 2020

A mobile application developed for the National COVID-19 Emergency Response Center (NaCOVERC) has made it easier for officials in Sierra Leone to track services at quarantine facilities. The Quarantine App can be used to log and track food delivery, date in and expected date out of quarantined persons, psychosocial support and other services in real-time.

Benjamin Davies, Research and Operations Manager, and Foday Kamara, Software Developer HCD Incubator DSTI have trained Quarantine Supervisors, Ops Coordinators, Field Managers, and all-district ICT staff to use the Quarantine App which was developed with the support of DSTI partner Dimagi.

“Before this app was developed, one would have to log information in a book and then get a data entry clerk to enter it on a computer and then find a reliable internet connection to send that information to Freetown, ” says Davies.

The training sessions took place over thirteen weeks at District COVID-19 Emergency Response Center (DICOVERC) nationwide.

”With the App, the moment monitors go to the site, enter the information, and click sync, the server makes the information readily available nationwide. It allows for real-time decision-making based on the facts on the ground at that particular moment,” says Kamara.

Since the rollout of the app in July, there has been a significant reduction in complaints made by contacts in quarantine facilities. The Quarantine App is connected to the 117 Call Center so accurate information could be provided to persons in quarantine..

Over 11,144 people have been in quarantine so far according to the latest figures from the Ministry of Health and Sanitation September 21 Situation Report on Covid-19.

Wilsona Jalloh, Acting Team Lead, Human Capital Development Incubator

”We would have had the App and the tablets with end-users earlier but the lack of flights and Covid-19 restrictions slowed down the rollout process, ” said Wilsona Jalloh, Acting Team Lead, Human Capital Development Incubator.

”We are thrilled to have collaborated with our global and local partners to make our quarantined homes and centres easier to manage for our frontline workers, and more suitable for citizens affected by Covid-19.”

Since the outbreak, Sierra Leone has used technology to replace inefficient manual processes and in so doing strengthened the wider healthcare system and improve the national pandemic response.

Blog

Government Incubator Education Innovation Summit highlights lessons from national pilot program

by DSTI MEDIA

September 16, 2020

Learning by experimentation was the theme at the Education Innovation Summit hosted by the Human Capital Development (HCD) Incubator in Freetown, Sierra Leone last week. President Julius Maada Bio launched the HCD in 2018 as an Innovation in Government Incubator to test, seed, and scale innovations related to health, agriculture, and education.

The Incubator hosted education partners, Save the Children-SL, Rising Academy Networks, EducAid, National Youth Awareness Forum Sierra Leone (NYAFSL), and World Vision SL to exchange ideas, best practices, and innovations in education service delivery. Their winning ideas are currently being implemented in 170 schools and communities in Phase One of the Education Innovation Challenge.

The leaderships of the Directorate of Science, Technology, & Innovation, the Ministry of Basic Senior Secondary School Education (MBSSE), and the Teaching Service Commission jointly co-chaired the event.

The Minister of MBSSE, Dr. David Sengeh, said that access to quality education in Sierra Leone has always been unequal; rural communities have had less than the Western Areas, and girls and women less than their male counterparts. He said that making education inclusive was a guiding principle for the Free Quality School Education Program. He also announced that the Education Innovation Challenge was to receive additional donor funding that would extend the pilot phase.

The Chairperson of the Teaching Service Commission, Dr. Staneala Beckley, said that the Summit’s purpose was to assess the pilot’s impact on learning outcomes for children. She said that the challenges and lessons gleaned from this phase would inform the pilot.

Two representatives from the HCD and DSTI; Benjamin Davies and Foday N. Kamara, presented the EIC baseline findings—data collected from a random sample of ~10,000 students whose literacy and numeracy levels were evaluated by researchers before the pilot.

Wilsona Jalloh of the HCD Incubator gave a summary of The Challenge so far and reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to data collection. She said that the findings drive decision-making—not just the pilot design but education policy. The pilot’s singular focus is to improve learning outcomes for all of the children in Sierra Leone. The HCD will conduct an end-line study and review the 2020 National Primary School Examination results to learn more about the interventions’ impact.

There was a breakout session for the various EIC implementing organizations. They brainstormed in smaller groups with DSTI, HCD, and other education stakeholders to understand what worked, the challenges, and outstanding questions.

The EIC Summit closed with a recommitment of Government to the partners who will continue these innovations in education service delivery.