Development starts at last

Last month we wrote that software development doesn’t happen overnight, a line that continues to ring true as the project develops. Despite the slow start however, we seem to be off to a good start at last.

Following the development of software user stories, a project plan outlining the 5 stages (or iterations) of development has been created around each story. This outlines which parts of the software will be developed within each of the iterations. Following this we received the first mock-up of the new software. This comprised a few screens to demonstrate what the new software might look and feel like. The mock up enabled a two way discussion to ensure that the developers have a good understanding of what we are looking for. It’s far from perfect but it’s a very good start. There was limited functionality attached, but it proved a useful starting point for the planning for iteration 1 which is due in November. We hope to be able to share a few screen shots by then as part of this blog, and look forward to reporting on the first stage of testing.

We continue to work in parallel to the actual software development, on the additional components and revision of existing components that will be integrated into the new software. We have been collecting various stock tools and are in the final stages of reviewing them to propose a model for the developers to work with, to develop the first model ready for user acceptance testing by all partners. Likewise, we have been reviewing different reporting tools and formats for; blanket supplementary feeding and community mobilisation; and are in the final stages of suggesting formats for the developers to work with, ready for testing by all partners.

Following on from our meetings in Pakistan in September, we made a list of recommendations for the national system to ensure harmonisation with the MRP indicators and reporting categories. We were really pleased to find out in October that the large majority of these recommendations have been accepted by the technical working group and will be integrated into the national reporting system. This is a huge achievement and provides an excellent example of how the MRP can be used by national systems to ensure best practice and unbiased reporting.

Finally, in October we attended the conference “What we Know Now: A Decade of Community Based Treatment of Severe Acute Malnutrition”. We presented in a session on nutrition information systems alongside representatives from the CMAM forum, World Vision and Unicef. The presentation consisted of information on the background of the project, findings from the preliminary analyses, lessons learnt and next steps.  For more details or to obtain a copy of the presentation, please contact Susan Fuller at [email protected].