Search

Search Results

• 1. [Article] Improving Global Impact: How the Integration of Remotely Reporting Sensors in Water Projects may Demonstrate and Enhance Positive Change

  This article argues that improved feedback on the actual impact of development programs may ensure the success of poverty reduction interventions such as water filters, water pumps, latrines, and cooks...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Improving Global Impact: How the Integration of Remotely Reporting Sensors in Water Projects may Demonstrate and Enhance Positive Change Author: Thomas, Evan A. Year: 2013 This article argues that improved feedback on the actual impact of development programs may ensure the success of poverty reduction interventions such as water filters, water pumps, latrines, and cookstoves. Title: Improving Global Impact: How the Integration of Remotely Reporting Sensors in Water Projects may Demonstrate and Enhance Positive Change Author: Thomas, Evan A. Year: 2013 This article argues that improved feedback on the actual impact of development programs may ensure the success of poverty reduction interventions such as water filters, water pumps, latrines, and cookstoves. Close

• 2. [Article] Making Gains in Rwanda: It Will Take New Business Models, not Small Donations, to Provide Meaningful Development

  Nearly a billion people in the world drink dirty water. Two billion don't have a sanitary toilet. Three billion use campfires every day. Governments and charities spend billions of dollars every year to ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Making Gains in Rwanda: It Will Take New Business Models, not Small Donations, to Provide Meaningful Development Author: Thomas, Evan A. Year: 2015 Nearly a billion people in the world drink dirty water. Two billion don't have a sanitary toilet. Three billion use campfires every day. Governments and charities spend billions of dollars every year to address these problems. And there are big successes in some places, but more innovation is needed. Title: Making Gains in Rwanda: It Will Take New Business Models, not Small Donations, to Provide Meaningful Development Author: Thomas, Evan A. Year: 2015 Nearly a billion people in the world drink dirty water. Two billion don't have a sanitary toilet. Three billion use campfires every day. Governments and charities spend billions of dollars every year to address these problems. And there are big successes in some places, but more innovation is needed. Close

• 3. [Article] A Proposed Integrated Data Collection, Analysis and Sharing Platform for Impact Evaluation

  Global poverty reduction efforts value monitoring and evaluation, but often struggle to translate lessons learned from one intervention into practical application in another intervention. Commonly, data ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: A Proposed Integrated Data Collection, Analysis and Sharing Platform for Impact Evaluation Author: Kipt, Andreas, Brunette, Waylon, Kellerstrass, Jordon, Podolsky, Matthew, Rosa, Javier, Sundt, Mitchell, Wilson, Daniel, Borriello, Gaetano, Brewer, Eric, Thomas, Evan A. Year: 2015 Global poverty reduction efforts value monitoring and evaluation, but often struggle to translate lessons learned from one intervention into practical application in another intervention. Commonly, data is not easily or often shared between interventions and summary data collected as part of an impact evaluation is often not available until after the intervention is complete. Equally limiting, the workflows that lead to research results are rarely published in a reproducible, reusable, and easy-to-understand fashion for others. Information and communication technologies widely used in commercial and government pro- grams are growing in relevance for international global development professionals and offer a potential towards better data and workflow sharing. However, the technical and custom nature of many data management systems limits their accessibility to non-ICT professionals. The authors propose an end-to- end data collection, management, and dissemination platform designed for use by global development program managers and researchers. The system leverages smartphones, cellular based sensors, and cloud storage and computing to lower the entry barrier to impact evaluation. Title: A Proposed Integrated Data Collection, Analysis and Sharing Platform for Impact Evaluation Author: Kipt, Andreas, Brunette, Waylon, Kellerstrass, Jordon, Podolsky, Matthew, Rosa, Javier, Sundt, Mitchell, Wilson, Daniel, Borriello, Gaetano, Brewer, Eric, Thomas, Evan A. Year: 2015 Global poverty reduction efforts value monitoring and evaluation, but often struggle to translate lessons learned from one intervention into practical application in another intervention. Commonly, data is not easily or often shared between interventions and summary data collected as part of an impact evaluation is often not available until after the intervention is complete. Equally limiting, the workflows that lead to research results are rarely published in a reproducible, reusable, and easy-to-understand fashion for others. Information and communication technologies widely used in commercial and government pro- grams are growing in relevance for international global development professionals and offer a potential towards better data and workflow sharing. However, the technical and custom nature of many data management systems limits their accessibility to non-ICT professionals. The authors propose an end-to- end data collection, management, and dissemination platform designed for use by global development program managers and researchers. The system leverages smartphones, cellular based sensors, and cloud storage and computing to lower the entry barrier to impact evaluation. Close

• 4. [Article] Evaluating Cellular Instrumentation on Rural Handpumps to Improve Service Delivery—A Longitudinal Study in Rural Rwanda

  In rural sub-Saharan Africa, where handpumps are common, 10–67% are nonfunctional at any one time, and many never get repaired. Increased reliability requires improved monitoring and responsiveness of ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Evaluating Cellular Instrumentation on Rural Handpumps to Improve Service Delivery—A Longitudinal Study in Rural Rwanda Author: Nagel, Corey, Beach, Jack, Iribagiza, Chantal, Thomas, Evan A. Year: 2015 In rural sub-Saharan Africa, where handpumps are common, 10–67% are nonfunctional at any one time, and many never get repaired. Increased reliability requires improved monitoring and responsiveness of maintenance providers. In 2014, 181 cellular enabled water pump use sensors were installed in three provinces of Rwanda. In three arms, the nominal maintenance model was compared against a “best practice” circuit rider model, and an “ambulance” service model. In only the ambulance model was the sensor data available to the implementer, and used to dispatch technicians. The study ran for seven months in 2014–2015. In the study period, the nominal maintenance group had a median time to successful repair of approximately 152 days, with a mean per-pump functionality of about 68%. In the circuit rider group, the median time to successful repair was nearly 57 days, with a per-pump functionality mean of nearly 73%. In the ambulance service group, the successful repair interval was nearly 21 days with a functionality mean of nearly 91%. An indicative cost analysis suggests that the cost per functional pump per year is approximately similar between the three models. However, the benefits of reliable water service may justify greater focus on servicing models over installation models. Title: Evaluating Cellular Instrumentation on Rural Handpumps to Improve Service Delivery—A Longitudinal Study in Rural Rwanda Author: Nagel, Corey, Beach, Jack, Iribagiza, Chantal, Thomas, Evan A. Year: 2015 In rural sub-Saharan Africa, where handpumps are common, 10–67% are nonfunctional at any one time, and many never get repaired. Increased reliability requires improved monitoring and responsiveness of maintenance providers. In 2014, 181 cellular enabled water pump use sensors were installed in three provinces of Rwanda. In three arms, the nominal maintenance model was compared against a “best practice” circuit rider model, and an “ambulance” service model. In only the ambulance model was the sensor data available to the implementer, and used to dispatch technicians. The study ran for seven months in 2014–2015. In the study period, the nominal maintenance group had a median time to successful repair of approximately 152 days, with a mean per-pump functionality of about 68%. In the circuit rider group, the median time to successful repair was nearly 57 days, with a per-pump functionality mean of nearly 73%. In the ambulance service group, the successful repair interval was nearly 21 days with a functionality mean of nearly 91%. An indicative cost analysis suggests that the cost per functional pump per year is approximately similar between the three models. However, the benefits of reliable water service may justify greater focus on servicing models over installation models. Close

• 5. [Article] Assessing the Impact of Water Filters and Improved Cook Stoves on Drinking Water Quality and Household Air Pollution: A Randomised Controlled Trial in Rwanda

  Diarrhea and respiratory infections remain the biggest killers of children under 5 years in developing countries. We conducted a 5-month household randomised controlled trial among 566 households in rural ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Assessing the Impact of Water Filters and Improved Cook Stoves on Drinking Water Quality and Household Air Pollution: A Randomised Controlled Trial in Rwanda Author: Rosa, Ghislaine, Majorin, Fiona, Boisson, Sophie, Barstow, Christina, Johnson, Michael, Kirby, Miles, Ngabo, Fidele, Thomas, Evan A., Clasen, Thomas Year: 2014 Diarrhea and respiratory infections remain the biggest killers of children under 5 years in developing countries. We conducted a 5-month household randomised controlled trial among 566 households in rural Rwanda to assess uptake, compliance and impact on environmental exposures of a combined intervention delivering high-performance water filters and improved stoves for free. Compliance was measured monthly by self-report and spot-check observations. Semicontinuous 24-h PM2.5 monitoring of the cooking area was conducted in a random subsample of 121 households to assess household air pollution, while samples of drinking water from all households were collected monthly to assess the levels of thermotolerant coliforms. Adoption was generally high, with most householders reporting the filters as their primary source of drinking water and the intervention stoves as their primary cooking stove. However, some householders continued to drink untreated water and most continued to cook on traditional stoves. The intervention was associated with a 97.5% reduction in mean fecal indicator bacteria (Williams means 0.5 vs. 20.2 TTC/100 mL, p,0.001) and a median reduction of 48% of 24-h PM2.5 concentrations in the cooking area (p = 0.005). Further studies to increase compliance should be undertaken to better inform large-scale interventions. Title: Assessing the Impact of Water Filters and Improved Cook Stoves on Drinking Water Quality and Household Air Pollution: A Randomised Controlled Trial in Rwanda Author: Rosa, Ghislaine, Majorin, Fiona, Boisson, Sophie, Barstow, Christina, Johnson, Michael, Kirby, Miles, Ngabo, Fidele, Thomas, Evan A., Clasen, Thomas Year: 2014 Diarrhea and respiratory infections remain the biggest killers of children under 5 years in developing countries. We conducted a 5-month household randomised controlled trial among 566 households in rural Rwanda to assess uptake, compliance and impact on environmental exposures of a combined intervention delivering high-performance water filters and improved stoves for free. Compliance was measured monthly by self-report and spot-check observations. Semicontinuous 24-h PM2.5 monitoring of the cooking area was conducted in a random subsample of 121 households to assess household air pollution, while samples of drinking water from all households were collected monthly to assess the levels of thermotolerant coliforms. Adoption was generally high, with most householders reporting the filters as their primary source of drinking water and the intervention stoves as their primary cooking stove. However, some householders continued to drink untreated water and most continued to cook on traditional stoves. The intervention was associated with a 97.5% reduction in mean fecal indicator bacteria (Williams means 0.5 vs. 20.2 TTC/100 mL, p,0.001) and a median reduction of 48% of 24-h PM2.5 concentrations in the cooking area (p = 0.005). Further studies to increase compliance should be undertaken to better inform large-scale interventions. Close