학술논문

Integrating ODK Scan into the community health worker supply chain in Mozambique
Document Type
Conference
Source
Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development: Full Papers - Volume 1. :228-237
Subject
DEV
HCI4D
ICTD
OMR
cell phone
computer vision
computing for development
data entry
paper forms
smartphone
Language
English
Abstract
We describe our experiences integrating ODK Scan into the community health worker (CHW) supply chain in Mozambique. ODK Scan is a mobile application that uses computer vision techniques to digitize data from paper forms. The application automatically classifies machine-readable data types, like bubbles and checkboxes, and assists users with the manual entry of handwritten text and numbers. We designed an intervention that uses paper forms in conjunction with ODK Scan to monitor CHW usage of essential health commodities, finding that the application is capable of providing supervisors and stakeholders with important information regarding health commodity availability in the field. Specifically, we (1) detail our experiences integrating ODK Scan into the health worker supply chain in Mozambique, with particular emphasis on the critical (and often under-reported) role of practitioners; (2) evaluate the impact of the technology at multiple levels of the information hierarchy, providing quantitative and qualitative data that exposes the benefits, challenges and limitations of the technology; and (3) share lessons learned and provide actionable guidance to researchers and practitioners interested in ODK Scan or other systems that bridge the gap between paper-based and digital data collection.

Online Access