Agenda – Washington, DC

The DC conference will be limited to 250 thought leaders and decision makers who are using (or want to) technology to increase M&E impact in development. The following agenda is nearly final and will be adjusted as topics, sessions and facilitators are confirmed.

Thursday, September 25th

8:30-9am: Registration

Light Breakfast and Registration
Wake up, grab coffee and treats, and find your friends and your seat before the event begins

9-10am: Opening Session

The Current State of Technology, Monitoring, and Evaluation:
Keynote: Kenneth M. Chomitz, World Bank
Panel Discussion: Kerry Bruce Pact; Maliha Khan, Oxfam America; Linda Raftree, Kurante; Kenneth M. Chomitz, World Bank
Organizations and individual evaluators are experimenting with new technologies and are hungry for learning, sharing and doing, but the field is currently somewhat fragmented. We will start the conference by asking:
- How can we work together to advance our profession?
- What are our greatest concerns and challenges? How can we support early adopters to change institutions and at a broader scale?
- What incentives are needed to promote wider experimentation and documentation?
- Where are the updated standards and guidelines for these emerging practices?
- How can we get beyond good practice and lessons learned documents to real leadership?
Our overarching goal is to push for a cutting edge, coherent, coordinated sector-wide agenda around ICT-enabled M&E.

10-10:30am: Inspiring Lightning Talks

Gamification of NGO Performance Management: Britt Lake, Global Giving
NGOs around the world struggle to conduct M&E that improves their organizational and programmatic effectiveness. Enter GlobalGiving’s “Effectiveness Dashboard” that links effective M&E with financial incentives to encourage nonprofits to continuously improve their social impact.
Learnings from a Big Data Approach to Global mHealth: Neal Lesh, Dimagi
mHealth systems for frontline workers are amassing huge amounts of data on use and adoption of mobile technology. We will present preliminary analysis on over 175 CommCare projects to better understand important trends in mHealth systems.
Building a Better Baseline: Marissa Drouillard, Caribou Digital
In designing complex log-frames and reporting processes mired in bureaucracy, have we lost our humanity? How can we bring empathy into M&E frameworks, making them more intuitive with stronger connections to impact and beneficiaries?
To Pay or Not to Pay? Respondent Incentives in M&E Processes: Jacob Korenblum, Souktel
How can we get communities excited about M&E polls? Many see incentives as the “silver bullet” answer; but they are a double-edged sword from our experiences across Africa and Asia.
How Can ICT Improve Climate Change Resilience? Loretta Ishida, Lutheran World Relief
How would you measure coffee farmers’ resilience to climate change? Could smartphone enhanced extension provision be the solution? Learn the secrets from Lutheran World Relief collaboration with Gumutindo Coffee Cooperative and researchers from the University of Manchester.
9 Principles for Better ICT in M&E: Merrick Schaefer, USAID
Multiple major donors have signed on to the Principles for Digital Development, tanslating the Greentree Consensus into practical action. What does it mean for ICT interventions in M&E?

10:30-11am: Morning Break

Reconnect with your friends and peers in M&E and technology and reflect on the morning’s inspirations and ideas.

11am-12pm: Morning Plenary

Building Real Feedback Loops: How can we foster, expand, and manage community led development? Wayan Vota, FHI 360; Erica Hagen, GroundTruth Initiative; Britt Lake, Global Giving; Steve Davenport, World Bank; Tom Rausch, Good World Solutions
Current M&E practices are one-directional – data flows up to decision makers who are far removed from the impact of their decisions. How can we complete the feedback loop? What can we do to ensure communities are engaged directly in monitoring development progress? Where can they provide input and direct future activities?

12-1pm: Learning Lunch Tables

M&E Tech in Rule of Law Programs: Jennifer Tsai, American Bar Association
Measuring Innovative Solutions in Crisis Situations: Desi Matel-Anderson: Global Disaster Innovation Group
The Disruptive Power of Voice: Kevin Schuster, VotoMobile
Use of GIS Mapping in Evaluation Design: Christine Fu, World Vision
Use of ICT in Public Health Surveillance Evaluations: Donna Medeiros, Futures Group
Leveraging Data for Financial Inclusion: Rishabh Khosla Accion International
Missing a Topic? Start your own learning lunch table to continue discussions important to you.

1-2:30pm Mid-Day Breakout Sessions

Demystifying data: How can we use survey, transactional, and user generated data in M&E? Adam Wills, GSMA; Rob Baker, Ushahidi; Neal Lesh. Dimagi; Delia Welsh, Innovations for Poverty Action
We have so much data, we now call it Big Data, but what to do with it? How can we use different types of data to better understand development activities? What is the role of transactional data from mobile operators, system data from development practitioners, and crowdsourced data from the communities themselves?
Using ICTs for M&E: emerging opportunities and a new set of challenges: Linda Raftree, Kurante; Michael Bamberger, Independent
The Rockefeller Foundation has commissioned a review of the emerging opportunities and challenges with tech-enabled M&E. Join the authors of the review to examine the paper’s findings and discuss possibilities and think through ways to overcome some of the challenges.
What is “Real-Time” Data, Why Do We need It, And How Can We Use It Even If We Had It? Jacob Korenblum, Souktel; Henry Jewell, Akvo Foundation; Shyamadas Banerji, Independent; Rachel Jean-Baptiste PhD, Oxford Epidemiology Services; Ornanong Maneerattana, World Resources Institute; John Feighery, mWater
We often claim to want “real-time” data, but what does that mean? How can we be sure of its quality? Do we even have the systems and organizational culture to make real-time decisions based on it? And finally, what tools could we use to be more “real-time” in our existing processes?
Including Design Thinking in Creating and Adapting Evaluation Processes: Robert Fabricant, Dalberg; Vanessa Corlazzoli, Search for Common Ground
Design Thinking focuses on empathy, creativity, and rationality in finding and applying solutions to complex problems. This interactive discussion will explore the overlap and opportunities in using this new approach to existing M&E issues
Learning is the other E in ICT4E, So What Have We Learned? Tony Bloome, USAID; Ayan Kishore, Creative Associates; Tania Lee, International Rescue Committee; Samuel Suraphel, Mansa Colabs
How can we show the impact of technology on learning outcomes, when education is by its nature, so qualitative and relative? This interactive session will explore evaluations of technology-supported educational interventions, focusing on case studies with small groups to find better ways to measure the impact of ICT4E.

2:30-3pm Afternoon Break

Reflect on the previous session and choose your next experience

3-4:30pm: Afternoon Breakout Sessions

How to Achieve Organizational Buy-In for ICT and M&E? Kerry Bruce, Pact; Jacqueline Deelstra, Creative Associates; Neeran Saraf, Independent; Ragini Dutt, Jhpiego
Do you feel like Sisyphus? Lack of organizational buy-in for M&E solutions involving technology getting you down? What are the barriers you encounter, but more importantly how do you to successfully overcome these bottlenecks and adopt new technologies? Join a lively discussion on the current status of buy-in, implementation, and data use.
Whose Data? Whose Privacy? Laura Walker Hudson, SIMLab; Josh Woodard, FHI 360; Tania Lee, IRC; Jennifer Schulte, Independent; Linda Raftree, Kurante;
How can we ensure ethical standards and mitigate privacy risks when using ICTs for M&E? We will explore the emerging challenges and ethical considerations that arise as we move towards M&E data becoming fully digital, with a focus on potential privacy and security risks and tools that engage program participants in greater control of their own data.
Transactional Data: What Can We Learn From Mobile Operators Use of Data to Deliver Better Services? Adam Wills, GSMA; Caroline Sheldon, GSMA; Alex Smith, GSMA
Explore how data can influence M&E approaches using examples from how private-sector mobile network operators use transactional data to better understand and serve their customers
How Is the Data revolution Changing Health System Monitoring? Donna Medeiros, Futures Group; Jessi Hanson, VaxTrac; Clara Burgert ICF International; Claire Moodie, MSH; Leona Rosenblum, John Snow, Inc
Going beyond mobile data collection, how are new technologies and new data sources giving health practitioners new ways to monitor health interventions, drive country ownership, and evidenced-based decision making? And how can we make sure that all health stakeholders, from the Ministry to communities themselves, can monitor and improve health systems and public health outcomes?
How to Leverage Big Data for Better M&E in Complex Interventions? Emmanuel Letouzé, Data-Pop Alliance; Jack Molyneaux, Millennium Challenge Corporation; Kalev Leetaru, Georgetown University; Terry Leach, Agrepedia; Andrew Means, University of Chicago; Bridget Sheerin, Thoughtworks
We’ve all heard the term “Big Data”, but how to use it in M&E is still a big mystery. We’ll explore what Big Data is, how it might apply to development, and if so, how we can start to experiment with it to realize its promise

4:30-5pm: M&E Solutions Lightning Talks

How Can Mobile Help the Underserved? Hannah Metcalfe, GSMA
We believe that mobile is the transformative technology that enables us to put relevant, impactful services into the hands of underserved people, and we will showcase GSMA M4D Impact market intelligence and research services.
A Better Way to Manage International Aid: Herb Caudill, DevResults
DevResults is a web application specifically designed to empower international development, grant-making, humanitarian assistance, and disaster relief programs, with tools for managing M&E data, mapping, project management, and collaboration.
Janani is Better Citizen Engagement: Usha Venkatachallam, AppropriateIT
Janani is citizen engagement platform ideal for crowdsourced assessments of publicly funded projects, monitoring of service delivery to citizens, improving accountability in governance, or increasing participation for programs. Janani’s real-time visual mapping helps resolve issues and respond back to citizens, thus closing the feedback loop and enabling engagement.
Next Generation Education Monitoring: John Toner, Community Systems Foundation
Introducing OpenEMIS, the open source Education Management Information System (EMIS) designed to collect and report data on schools, students, teachers and staff with rapid, cloud-based, secure, and adaptable technology available to all.
Flexibility vs. Consistency. The symbiotic relationship between successful M&E and good software: Thomas Slavin, Synisys
The fundamental law of data is “garbage in, garbage out”. The data that is relied on for evidence-based decisions must be correct, and data quality starts at the source, yet data sources are highly variable and flexible software is essential in finding a successful balance between flexibility and consistency in any Results Hierarchy.

5-5:30pm: M&E Solutions Hands-On Demos

What Impact is Mobile Having in the Developing World? Hannah Metcalfe, GSMA
Mobile is the leading infrastructure in emerging markets. Come learn more about mobile enabled products and services you can leverage for development programs around world using our interactive map.
DevResults: Herb Caudill, DevResults
Explore the DevResults solution, including its functionality and relevance to your M&E needs, and learn why its used in 18 countries to manage over $2 billion in foreign assistance.
Janani: Usha Venkatachallam, AppropriateIT
Tour the Janani real-time visual mapping and crowdsourced assessment capacity to increase participation in your development programs.
OpenEMIS: John Toner, Community Systems Foundation
See how OpenEMIS can handle both individual and aggregated (census) datasets for pupils, teachers and non-teaching staff, and be easily and quickly adapted to visualize the data needs of information producers and users at national and sub-national levels.
BetterData: Alex Hughes, Kwantu
Find out how BetterData can help you save time and better communicate the impact of your work. Used by NGOs, Government and large development programmes, BetterData takes a different approach to many M&E systems. BetterData is developed by Kwantu, a Cape Town based social enterprise that specialises in M&E systems
Navigating the Startup Space: Marissa Drouillard, Caribou Digital
Mired in complex log-frames and reporting processes? Learn about a fresh new approach to establishing a baseline and indicators for M&E on entrepreneurship and economic development initiatives.
Synergy Indicata: Thomas Slavin, Synisys
Experience how Indicata can help you to easily capture, track, manage and report on development interventions using sound performance indicator data, and deliver more impact to those in need via a web-based software platform which streamlines results-based management and M&E.
Want to share your solution with 250 M&E thought leaders? Apply today!

5:30-7:30pm: Conference Reception

M&E Tech Working Group Launch: Fredrik Winsnes, NetHope
Please RSVP now to join us as we launch a new NetHope Working Group, sponsored by the Health Communication Capacity Collaborative, focused on M&E and ICTs in international development. The group is dedicated to sharing innovations in M&E across sectors and developing shared solutions to some of our toughest challenges.

Friday, September 26th

8:30-9am: Registration

Light Breakfast and Registration
Wake up, grab coffee and treats, and find your friends and your seat before the event begins

9-10am: Session Opening

Keynote: The Future of Technology, Monitoring, and Evaluation: Corina Gardner, GSMA Mobile for Development Impact
Mobiles are everywhere, powering many development programs. But how can we use them more effectively? GSMA Mobile for Development Impact has launched a suite of resources and programs across the development spectrum, from agriculture, to access to energy, to gender, and money, and more since its inception in 2007, and we too are learning how to better monitor and evaluate our own programming, using technology

10-10:30am: Inspiring Lightning Talks

Smartphone M&E Will Change Everything: Wayan Vota, FHI 360
Today, we can only approximate the impact of development communications, but with smartphone adoption growing rapidly and apps becoming central to how people interaction, we will soon know just how (in)effective our efforts are
What is the One Thing NGOs Could do to Improve M&E & Feedback? Kevin Schuster, VotoMobile
It would take 10 minutes to set up and be useful throughout the entire project lifecycle. It could revolutionize where you target your interventions. Its proven and been used by millions of organizations world wide. What could it be?
How Remote Sensing Technologies are Changing M&E: Guillaume Kroll, Center for Effective Global Action
New measurement tools like low-cost sensors or high-resolution satellite imagery have the potential to improve data accuracy, timeliness, and independence. The Center for Effective Global Action is developing a new toolkit to help NGOs build right-fit systems of data collection in partnership with Google and Innovations for Poverty Action.
How to Use APIs for Real-Time M&E: Norman Shamas, Creative Associates
APIs can be leveraged to streamline monitoring and evaluation efforts of government ministries and development donors, giving all development actors a more thorough view of development intervention efficacy.
Surprise! Mobile Data Collection Isn’t Ready for Prime Time: William Bell, International Broadcasting Bureau
Mobile surveys offer huge benefits in terms of cost and speed. But can they deliver the data quality that our stakeholders need? Comparisons of mobile and face to face survey results raises questions.
How Qualitative Beats Quantitative in Haiti’s Agriculture Sector: Jaclyn Carlsen, DAI

10:30-11am Morning Break

Reconnect with your friends and peers in M&E and technology and reflect on the morning’s inspirations and ideas.

11am-12:30pm: Morning Breakout Sessions

How to Fund M&E? Make ICT4D Friends and Influence Non-Techies! Jaclyn Carlsen, DAI; Patricia Mechael, UN Foundation; Eric Couper, Abt Associates; Robert Salerno, DAI; Donna Medeiros, Futures Group
The world of tech and the world of M&E have a lot in common, yet there remains a huge gap between those who do tech and those who make M&E funding decisions. A panel of technologists and M&E specialists will debate on how to get M&E tech funded during program design.
How Can We Use Mixed-Methodologies in M&E? Kerry Bruce, Pact; Jennifer Crall, IRI; Thomas Rausch, Good World Solutions; Veronica Yow, Text to Change; Guillaume Kroll, Center for Effective Global Action; Eugenia Boutylkova, Impact, under Construction
Which methods to use? How to use technology in quantitative and qualitative M&E work and better yet – how to combine the two!? Join us at a World Café session where we talk about mixed methodologies in M&E and the intersection with technology.
What’s Next in Visualizing Data for Better Decision Making? Kendra Keith TechChange; Taryn Davis, Development Gateway; Ann Emery, Independent; Taylor Corbett, Datalogy Labs
Don’t be content with boring bar charts and line diagrams – liberate your data and make it beautiful, engaging, and worth the effort you spent collecting and analyzing it. In this session, learn about new ways data can be visualized and get hands-on help with social network analysis, GIS, and good old Excel to make data insightful for stakeholders.
What to Expect When You’re Expecting ICT in Your M&E Rahel Dette, Global Public Policy Institute; Delia Welsh, Innovations for Poverty Action; Tetyana Zelenska, Innovations for Poverty Action
There is no secret to choosing the right technology for M&E – its messy and painful every time, even when it turns out tech shouldn’t be used. This breakout session will take a highly interactive approach to generate hands-on practical advice for integrating new or different ICTs in M&E.
How Can We Leverage Open Data to Enhance Results? Katherine Townsend, USAID; Chantale Wong, Independent; Nancy McGuire Choi, Development Gateway; Rob Baker, Ushahidi; Susan Stout, Georgetown University
What should M&E look like in a world of Open Data? Key thought leaders will discuss the future of monitoring, evaluation and results-based management in the context of the overall Open Data movement and specific initiatives by governments
Developing Relevant M&E Frameworks for ICT4D and M4D Programs: Laura Walker Hudson, SIMLab; Linda Raftree, Kurante;
A participatory exploration of relevant frameworks for better understanding and measuring the impact of ICT4D and M4D programs and initiatives and the specific contribution of ICTs to program impact. Learn what methods and approaches can help to better isolate and understand the impact of using technology in different kinds of programs.

12:30-1:30pm: Learning Lunch Tables

Measuring Mobile Tech Entrepreneurship: Maja Andjelkovic, World Bank
Leveraging Tech for Better Data Management: Charles Guedenet, IREX
Utilizing and Maintaining EMR Systems: Saira Qureshi, Center on Globalization and Sustainable Development
Examples of Real-Time Global Data Management: Christine Fu, World Vision
Getting Decision Makers to Use Data: Tom Rausch, Good World Solutions
Measuring & Evaluating the Use of ICTs: Emily Tomkys, Oxfam GB
Outcome-based Budgeting Rudolph P. Saint Jean, Synergy International Systems
Measuring Business Value of ICT4D Programs: Julie Pohlig, Vital Wave Consulting
M&E with Drones: Joel Coulter, KSI Video

1:30-3pm: Mid-Day Breakout Sessions

NetHope Working Group Kickoff: Fredrik Winsnes, NetHope
Let’s kick off the NetHope Working Group sponsored by HC3 by brainstorming topics and speakers! We will share a few ideas by spotlighting innovative M&E practices in international development, and seek your input on who and what would be the most helpful to your work in development.
How to Use SMS and IVR for Better, Faster, and Cheaper Mobile Data Collection: Laura Walker Hudson, SIMLab; Kevin Schuster, VotoMobile; William Bell, International Broadcasting Bureau; Amy Sweeney, GeoPoll
Everyone is using mobiles for data collection, but that still often means face-to-face survey activity. Remote data collection via SMS text messaging and automatic IVR systems offer gains in productivity and efficiencies across multiple survey formats, from formal research to quick pooling. Through hands-on case study analysis, learn how and when SMS and IVR can be a go-to M&E tool.
The Role of Gender in M&E: Nicholas Demeter, Cardno; Andrea Bertone, FHI 360
The Gender 360 Summit identified challenges facing Gender, M&E, and ICT and this session will define clear next steps for action, coordinated with the Gender M&E and ICT Working Group.
What Can We Learn From GIS Data? Joshua Powell, Development Gateway; Nathan Heard; State Department
Do you use maps to track, manage or plan projects? Learn how GIS technology be used to capture and understand more information from an expert panel of donors, implementers and policymakers discussing current trends in GIS for M&E, and future possibilities for decision-making.
How DHIS2 is Changing Country Ownership of M&E: Donna Medeiros, Futures Group; Anupa Deshpande, MSH
An interactive discussion of DHIS2 MER implementation for PEPFAR countries to monitor and evaluate health program activities via indicators and dashboards, with a focus on how DHIS2 integrates into and existing country/national level DHIS implementations.
How to Excel at Using Excel for M&E Data: Herb Caudill, DevResults
Excel is not database software, but it can be an appropriate technology we can all use to manage data. This will be a super-practical, hands-on workshop on making the most of Excel for managing data, focused on the development context and all that entails: Indicators, results frameworks, disaggregation, geodata, etc. Bring your laptop – we’ll be working with a real dataset

3-4pm: Closing Keynote

The Future of M&E: Paula Lytle, World Bank
We’ll end M&E Tech DC with a glimpse into the future – where technology, monitoring, and evaluation is headed based on our two days of exploration and the larger trends shaping the overall discipline.