Ladies and Gentlemen… Introducing #Budeshi 2.0
Written by Gift Omo-idedia, Vershima Tingir and Victor Adelowo
Like the ever-evolving fashion world, so is technology, and the big question remains, can you keep up? Well yes we can! in the words of R & B duo McFadden & Whitehead, “Aint no Stoppin’ us now”. The story of #Budeshi is a story of openness, accountability and public engagement, most importantly the story of #Budeshi is a story of hope, hope for better governance, improved health care, education and service delivery, #Budeshi is a platform that showcases the utility of the Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS). If you are not familiar with the OCDS you can read about it in our colleague’s blog post here. The idea behind #Budeshi is not just “opening it” but opening it to fix it. It is with this understanding we mobilize our procurement monitors to the field with one aim: to match data to reality and with feedback from each monitoring exercise it became clearer that with access to information, service delivery could greatly improve.
#Budeshi was birthed in 2015, and provided users the opportunity to view projects from various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), compare budgeted amount against contracted amount, view contractors carrying out various projects and search for projects based on location, state and year of contract implementation. As we receive feedback from users and expand the available procurement data, we are committed to making the platform more useful to all users. This has led us to interacting with different users and working with them to picture different scenarios of what type of data a user would need and the visuals that best illustrate that need, At this point we began to understand that the benefits of putting out real data for people to engage with were limitless.
After a couple of brainstorming internal and external brainstorming sessions , we set out on a mission to extend the boundaries of #Budeshi “technically”. Now the real work began, we had to roll up their sleeves and dig right into it, and after months of hard work and interacting with end users along the entire building process the second version of #Budeshi has been birthed, Now let’s get right into the new features of #Budeshi 2.0.
TABULAR DATA AND BULK DOWNLOADS: We understand that data displayed in tables may not be the prettiest, but it still remains one of the most efficient ways of displaying data, so we introduced easy controls to filter out data by searching and also sorting by any column giving users more interactivity with data. This view is specifically designed for the likes of reporters, journalists, and researchers who would often want to analyze available data. Users can also export/ download in formats that suit their respective needs. #Budeshi 2.0 extends the comparison feature by decoupling the data sets and making it possible for users to compare budget and contract amount data across different states, years, MDAs and even project type. E.g Users can now search for projects with a particular keyword say “Primary Health” and make comparisons within projects that pertains to primary health.
CARD DISPLAY: #Budeshi 2.0 overview tab displays an array of data cards showing the title, state, year and procuring entity of the project, the overview tab is targeted at users who just want a basic feel of procurement data available on the platform, may be out of their curiosity with no intention of using it for further analysis.
DEDICATED VISUAL TAB: Data is more relatable when visualized with charts. This gives the ability to spot patterns in data and identify the key facts that can help in better policy and decision making. #Budeshi 2.0 has a dedicated tab for displaying charts. Users have the ability to choose different chart types as well as different chart parameters such as state, year and MDA. The user can also export charts in various formats that can be embedded in other websites and publications. Another interesting feature of #Budeshi 2.0 charts is that it can be used to visualize specific datasets by defining the parameters in the project finder. An example will be to use the projects finder to load datasets pertaining a particular MDA and then to use the charts tab to view number of projects by state and year for all contracts that has been awarded by that MDA.
PPDC VERIFIED: Remember when we talked about sending our procurement monitors to visit projects? Yes! #Budeshi 2.0 extends its features to provide feedback from procurement monitoring and citizens engagement by showing reports as well as pictures from projects sites that have been visited. As procurement monitors it is very important that we give feedback of our work to the public and this is one of the various ways that we do that.
FINDING NEEDLES IN A HAYSTACK: A project can be categorized under different labels so it is important that a user is able to view or find a project using different parameters. #Budeshi 2.0 provides a project finder that can be used to narrow down data either by one or more states, years, MDAs, contractors and title. The project finder can be used in collaboration with other features of #Budeshi 2.0 to do more analysis and comparisons with datasets on #Budeshi.
HOW TO USE TIPS: Does it seem too complicated? Then go to the How to use tips! we have this feature on every tab, it gives a walkthrough of #Budeshi 2.0, what you can do with the platform and how to do them. This feature is very important for first time users or users that are looking to get the best out of the platform. Go on! Get familiar!
For those of us that have not been on #Budeshi, this is a call for us to check it out and experience interaction with procurement data like never before. For those that have been on #Budeshi, go check it out again, it’s a brand new experience!
Please lets know what you think! Send us your feedback on twitter @ppmonitorNG or by email ppdc@procurementmonitor.org. Lets #OpenItToFixIt.
