#emergencydatascience Dec 4-5, 2018 | York University

1. WASH Data
Portal
Challenge
Implementing a system for heightening data discovery
among decision makers
December 2018
Ben Harvey, UNHCR
Max Malynowsky, REACH

2. Goal: Promote collection & use of more & better data
- Provide contributors with limited internet and capacity a structured
format to store data online
- Strengthen existing data review process to produce higher quality
outputs
- Promote publishing of data from sources who have not yet been
actively sharing in a systematic way
- Familiarize decision makers with all relevant WASH information and
minimizing the chance that outdated information is used in planning
- Integrate with existing data distribution networks to spread content
to the widest audience outside of the South Sudan WASH cluster

3. Challenge: Data quality
Drinking from the data firehose
Carefully sipping from the
data trickle
through a thorough filter
Communication before automation
- All data in South Sudan has big limitations that need to be understood and contextualized
- Before adding new data sources to a system, lots of training and reviews must occur

4. Challenge: Adequate internet & Offline accessibility
Internet SouthSudanTM
Connect 60+ devices Unknown
Monthly usage
4 Mbps***
Download speed: up to
$1,000+/mo***

5. Background: Storing WASH data in South Sudan
- Google Drive: primary service used by information management
officers for storing data. Data can be deleted or moved by accident.
- HR.info: OCHA resource provided globally for better organizing
data. Primarily used for linking to files in the Google Drive.
- ReliefWeb & HDX: OCHA resources provided as a common
platform for documents and datasets. Used in the past for WASH
data, but information is now outdated.

6. Background: Using WASH data in South Sudan
Humanitarian Needs Overview / Response Plan 2019

7. Background: Using WASH data in South Sudan
People in Need 2019

8. Outsourced
to external
contractor
Solutions: Different Approaches
Commercial
off-the-shelf
Open source
off-the-shelf
Modular
application
using toolkits
+

9. - Easy to install
- Capacity to maintain
- Free non-profit license
- Already in use by REACH as
an internal wiki
Solutions: Commercial off-the-shelf
Pros
- Although excellent as a
knowledge repository, not
designed for document
management workflows
- Additional non-profit licenses
may be difficult to obtain
- Servers can be costly to
operate due to requirements
Cons

10. - Easy to install
- Capacity to maintain
- Free open source license
- Planned for use by REACH
as a resource centre
Solutions: Open source off-the-shelf
Pros
- Although excellent as a
blogging platform, requires
extensive modifications for
document management
workflows
- Popular plugin are frequently
commercial and require
annual subscriptions
Cons

11. - Does not require
development time from
REACH staff
Solutions: Outsourced to external contractor
Pros
- Difficult to install due to
specialized requirements and
lack of documentation
- Difficult to maintain due to
use of in-house frameworks
instead of public ones
- Extremely internet intensive,
up to 1 ½ hours for first page
load in South Sudan
Cons

12. - Only approach that can be
optimized for low-bandwidth
- Separate application can be
used for offline visualizations
- Uses publicly available
toolkits with good
documentation
- Starter kits available that can
be modified to fit the exact
need
Solutions: Modular application using toolkits
Pros
- Requires some development
capacity to make feature
changes to application
Cons

13. THANK YOU
FOR YOUR
ATTENTION