The deliverable 7.5, Data Collection and Management Guideline Report, was submitted by Future Analytics Consulting (FAC) in October 2019. Following, the executive summary of the deliverable:
“The Monitoring and Evaluation is intended to create practical recommendations and guideline reports which detail, analyse and interpret the aggregated KPI monitoring data, and deliver technical recommendations related to the ICT, energy, community, mobility, environmental and regulatory interventions implemented in the project. During this early stage of the project very little project monitoring data is available to analyse and derive insights from, and therefore this deliverable provides guidelines to which future annual iterations of this report will be structured.
The implementation of project interventions and initiatives generate data that is captured by project partners. Through the KPI framework developed for the project, partners are able to capture data that would suit the requirements in the calculation of the KPI. The consistent capturing and sharing of data to the MERT enables accurate analysis and the derivation of insights based on the actual data. In addition, feedback will be sourced directly from the partners regarding their experience of sharing data and making use of the various ICT systems used in the M&E process. Initial engagement with KPI and data owners has highlighted that only a limited number of partners will initially be able to share data through the automated process using API connections between partner and MERT servers. As such, the partners will be using the manual data upload process through the individual interface of each KPI in the MERT. This might cause additional workload for partners until the automated process has been enabled. The way data is shared is not only dependent on the type of data available, but also on when the data is available. There is however still uncertainty with partners on these issues.
The insights derived from project data are based on the analysis of the monitoring data, compared to the baseline situation and the expected and targeted impact for the indicator. The comparison of these points make it possible to assess and track the indicators’ performance over time to identify trends, track growth, and highlight significant changes, from which quantitative and qualitative insights can be formulated. The analysis applied to and insights drawn from the data are then used to formulate recommendations on topics such as data monitoring, data modelling, evaluation of the expected impact, projected performance of the indicator, and technical points regarding the implementation of a particular indicator.
To get a better understanding of the captured data it is important to have partners’ feedback and input that describes the data or results achieved. Partners will be able to submit documents to a repository in the MERT that supports the captured data displayed in the KPI interface. The monitoring data will be used together with the additional information provided by the project partners and the intervention results documented in formal project deliverables, to derive insight and inform recommendations. As data analysis using online ICT systems and tools such as the MERT and SRT will continue throughout and beyond the project lifecycle, it is important to consider the best possible way of integration and interoperability between these systems. Seamless interoperability will ensure efficient use of the available systems, and will ensure that users have the maximum data and functionalities at their disposal to perform tasks for the project and other external uses. In support of this ideal, the MERT will be reviewed periodically to determine whether all functionalities are still fit for purpose. In addition, other tools such as the Decision Support Tool (DST) and the SRT will be reviewed alongside the MERT to determine the level of possible interoperability and ease of use for the systems. The review of the ICT systems and interoperability will also be supported by the work done in Task 1.2 regarding the standards and best practice applied in the development and refinement of ICT systems.
The ongoing sharing and analysis of data, engagement with partners, and use of data management and modelling tools will result in suggestions for improvement in efficiency of execution and processes being generated. The development of recommendations are therefore not only based on data, but also the coherent insight and additional validating information informed by it.”
