KnowledgePoint’s Pilots: preparing for take-off

KnowledgePoint’s HIF project is split into two main phases: a development phase and an implementation phase. The current phase is the development phase, and the principle component of this is the piloting process.NEW_LINENEW_LINEAll development projects will come to a point where the innovation needs to move from the lab to the outside world. Piloting is a critical activity that must show as quickly as possible what is working and what is not.NEW_LINENEW_LINEThis can be difficult to plan as a single organisation, so how should we approach this as a consortium? Our answer has been to carry out an internal competitive process, where participating organisations separately propose funded pilot studies, whilst bringing in external perspectives to moderate the process and give fresh insights.NEW_LINENEW_LINEThe processNEW_LINENEW_LINEThe KnowledgePoint platform has been developed to the proof-of-concept-level. In this current development phase, it is necessary to ensure that the platform and processes are ready for the demands facing humanitarian and development actors.NEW_LINENEW_LINEThe core of the development methodology is a phase of thematic piloting providing data-driven feedback into process and software development (more on this in a future blog).NEW_LINENEW_LINEKey outcomes of the process are (i) to capture learning on platform successes and failures, (ii) to build awareness among partner organisations and communities, and (iii) to deliver core system improvements.NEW_LINENEW_LINEA fund was allocated for which partners submitted proposals. The fund is exclusively for conducting pilot studies. Of the five organisations that currently comprise KnowledgePoint, four organisations submitted proposals to pilot KnowledgePoint.NEW_LINENEW_LINEIn order to assess the proposals and provide actionable feedback, plans were presented to a Review Panel. As major stakeholders. and people who must have seen every approach to innovation in the sector, the HIF were invited to join the Panel, and we had fantastic and extremely helpful feedback from Kim Skriven. We were also fortunate to have Becky Thorn, who has great experience “crossing the humanitarian–technology divide” and provided great insights for the team.NEW_LINENEW_LINEThe findingsNEW_LINENEW_LINEThe panel discussed the overall range and interlinking of pilot studies. Recommendations were made that pilots were selected or adapted to avoid duplication and encourage diversity.NEW_LINENEW_LINEThere were a number of individual clarifications and amendments suggested for the individual proposals, but interestingly the focus of the review – the biggest area requiring attention – was on how the proposals fitted together as a whole. The general recommendations may be of interest to other HIF projects carrying out pilot work. I should emphasise that these are recommendations on top of the content in the proposals – i.e. this is not an exhaustive list of what should be in a pilot but rather some additional points that were suggested for our group. These recommendations included:NEW_LINENEW_LINE• Develop a framework to support more frequent reporting (once every one or two months at most, preferably quicker), providing shorter but more relevant and actionable reportsNEW_LINENEW_LINE• Explore more intense involvement of pilot participants for shorter periods, rather than low level involvement for longer periods (i.e. a participant giving 5% over 100 days might never really engage, whereas someone giving 50% over 10 days will get more in to the project)NEW_LINENEW_LINE• Invest in engaging people in the initial phase of the process, including support and awareness raisingNEW_LINENEW_LINE• Ensure that reporting provides actionable recommendations that can feed quickly in to the development of software and processes.NEW_LINENEW_LINE• Aim to integrate pilots with existing networks as far as possibleNEW_LINENEW_LINE• Potential start dates to ensure pilot studies are staggered, and sufficient supporting resources are available to solve issues, otherwise you will be dealing with the same issues in each location.NEW_LINENEW_LINEAll of the core KnowledgePoint group reported that the external panel members provided great perspectives on the development, to the extent that it is hoped we can find further opportunities for ‘external’ participants to support ‘internal’ decision-making.NEW_LINENEW_LINEWhat next?NEW_LINENEW_LINEWith the broad pilot proposals in place, the organisations are now set on finalising plans. This includes the planning of phases in terms of project structure, but also – and essentially – ensuring that leaders who will be carrying out the pilot processes are well supported by the core KnowledgePoint team.NEW_LINENEW_LINEWe hope to bring you news soon of the start dates of the first pilots