Akvo Really Simple Reporting (RSR)
Akvo is working on a powerful, yet simple to use, SMS capable reporting and monitoring service, which we want you to use. So tell us what you think about the design!
Sharada Prasad of Arghyam and I had extensive discussions about different open source software platforms and their relative merits, when travelling back from a field visit to the rainwater harvesting and ecological sanitation project at Kongarahalli outside Bangalore, India, a couple of weeks ago.
Akvo really strikes a chord with everyone I talk to, in how we propose open collaboration methods and knowledge sharing to meet the Millennium Development Goals for water and sanitation. And now people like Kerstin Danert of Rural Water Supply Network in Uganda, and Merel Hoogmoed of Acacia Institute in the Netherlands are doing great work contributing information to the Akvopedia and refining the content.
Others, like Gert de Bruijne, WASTE, and Sharada Prasad, Arghyam, are helping us refine the specifications for the reporting and monitoring system, which I have been talking about earlier. We have written a first draft of a document describing this new system, which we are calling Akvo Really Simple Reporting, Here is an excerpt from the document:
During the last couple of months after discussions with NGOs, banks, funds and development organizations in the water and sanitation sector working with meeting Millennium Development Goals, it has become clear that sophisticated project prospecting, project reporting and monitoring tools are needed to be able to effectively scale up implementation efforts to handle many thousands of projects in parallel. Akvo will be developing these tools as Open Source software tools and will also be running an online service which anyone can use, without having to install and maintain these tools on their own servers.
You can download the draft here (PDF, 404 kbyte). Tell me what you think!
Thomas Bjelkeman is the founder of Akvo.
[...] 2. Focus on building out the core system, particularly its functionality in the area of what I call “projects and funds match-making” or you may have heard it described by me as the Prospecting, Match-making, Reporting and Monitoring system. More about that in a later blog. [...]
[...] XHTML ← Akvo Really Simple Reporting (RSR) [...]
[...] on the market. Transparent communication, open development roadmaps and an evolving process of Really Simple Reporting are our trump cards here. But the improvements over existing approaches can begin from day one. [...]
[...] us define what RSR needs to deliver to support project matchmaking and reporting, expanding on our initial framework. We hope to have a very rough cut of Akvo RSR running by the end of April and will be sharing [...]
[...] month of March and April Akvo has rasied the funds to be able to operate for six months and build Akvo RSR, set-up partnerships, develop the Akvopedia and launch the new products at Stockholm World Water [...]
[...] – During the month of May Akvo has been focusing on development of Akvo Really Simple Reporting (RSR) and get the Akvopedia team started. Several of the team was away sick (including food poisoning, a [...]
[...] Akvo is promoting “Really Simple Reporting (RSR)” which is intended to simplify reporting. [...]
[...] Akvo blog » Blog Archive » Akvo Really Simple Reporting (RSR) – "it has become clear that sophisticated project prospecting, project reporting and monitoring tools are needed to be able to effectively scale up implementation efforts to handle many thousands of projects in parallel. Akvo will be developing these tools as Open Source software tools and will also be running an online service which anyone can use, without having to install and maintain these tools on their own servers." [...]