The Importance of Innovation in Data Collection in the Development Sector

Data collection by NGOs and researchers in the development sector has seen a range of innovations in both methodology and approach over the past few decades. Is it ready for another innovative move forward?

Data collection by electronic means has largely — but not entirely — replaced pen-and-paper style data collection in the sector. Yet researchers and M&E practitioners continue to bemoan the lack of progress of innovation in the sector.

Innovation designed to make data collection easier, faster, and more affordable, and that helps organisations process, analyse, and deploy the data in timely and more effective ways will breed enormous benefits for the sector’s impact.

While surveys in the developed world have largely gone electronic, online, and self-completed, there has been a reluctance on behalf of NGOs to have beneficiaries self-complete surveys.

While the same level of self-completion by stakeholders is more difficult in emerging economies, it is not impossible and is becoming more and more feasible as mobile phone, smartphone, and internet access penetration continue to expand.

There is also growing frustration with the ability for organisations to deploy their findings in their interventions. Often the data is collected too late to change interventions, or is difficult to leverage fully as it needs to jump among software platforms for collection, cleaning, and analysis, respectively.

Innovation is at the heart of Havuta’s goal to make data collection and analysis simpler, faster, more nimble, more affordable — and critically, all conducted on the same platform.

Havuta is also the first data company to leverage the power of blockchain technology in data collection. We use blockchain technology to do two things: to record results onto a public ledger (in hashed form) to generate immutable proof-of-impact. That allows effective organisations to verify to their donors that they are having the impact they intend and receive continued flows of funding.

We also use blockchain technology to distribute small rewards for survey completion in the form of tokens, which can be converted into mobile phone credits, microtransfers, and other rewards.

That helps organisations cut down on the cost of distributing survey completion rewards — incentives that are being acknowledged as increasingly important and conducive to responsive participants.

Data collection and analysis will also be challenging in the development sector. Havuta deploys innovation to make it easier, faster, and more affordable — and to help organisations verify their impact.

Innovation drives efficiencies in all areas of endeavor. Without it, the economic pie will shrink. Havuta is determined to bring the fruits of innovation to data collection in the development sector.

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