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What can we do for you?

Posted by: Gitahi Ng'ang'a on

In the last post I talked about why we do what we do. I talked about my inspiration to help create yet another mobile data collection platform despite the existence of similar solutions in the market. Today, I would like to talk specifically about what we can do for you and your organization.

Africa is awash with governments and NGOs bravely combating the myriad problems facing it. From disease and poverty to illiteracy and poor sanitation, these entities spare no effort in confronting some of the world’s most daunting challenges. Selfless government and aid workers toil everyday to rid the continent of these afflictions.

Tedious, inefficient and logistically complicated

Many of these organizations recognize the need for reliable information when planning for new projects or assessing the impact of existing ones. Unfortunately, the data they need to make good decisions is often ensconced in remote areas with poor physical and communication infrastructure. This makes information gathering tedious, inefficient and logistically complicated. In turn, the quality of data is compromised, leading to sub-optimal decisions and, ultimately, inferior interventions.

pile-of-paper
Fig 1. A pile of paper questionnaires

At Hoji, we believe that we can solve this problem. We can help you collect the data you need efficiently, securely and at a much higher level of quality. Accurate and timely data means better decisions, optimum interventions and in the end, improved livelihoods for the people you serve.

Easy questionnaire digitization

Hoji gives you the means to quickly turn your data collection instruments into digital forms. The process is simple and requires no programming knowledge at all. We provide a simple point and click user interface for setting up even the most complex of questionnaires. If you do not have the time or people to do it within your organization, we’re always on hand to help.

During the digitization process, you can implement different kinds of measures to ensure data quality. For example, you can mark certain variables as “required”, meaning they must be filled. You may also constrain numeric responses between preset values, such as 15 and 49 for the age of women of childbearing age. Additionally, you can implement “skip patterns” to prevent illogical responses, like men reporting to be pregnant. Used wisely, these features can literally eliminate the need to spend time and money on data cleaning.

Instant deployment

Once digitized, Hoji enables you to instantly deploy your data collection instruments to hundreds, or even thousands of mobile devices for data collection. This effectively eliminates all printing, storage and distribution costs. If you need to make any last minute changes after deployment, it takes only one click of a button to get all of your devices up to date again. No recalls, no steep transportation costs, no wastage. Just happiness.


Fig 2. Data collection on the Hoji mobile app

Enumerators are ready to go as soon as you deploy the digital questionnaires to their mobile devices. They are able to collect data directly on their phones or tablets, regardless of whether they are online or offline. When online, the data they collect is instantly transmitted to your account on our server for review, analysis and quality assurance. Otherwise, it is securely stored on the mobile device for later transmission.

Immediate visualizations, summary statistics and maps

Upon transmission to the server, you can start consuming your data straight away.


Fig 3. Dashboards and maps on the Hoji web application

Think about not having to sit in your office twiddling your thumbs and worrying about what is going on in the field. Think about not having to wait for weeks or months while questionnaires get shipped and the data gets transcribed, cleaned and analyzed. With Hoji, you start seeing rich visualizations, summary statistics and maps from the get go. And of course, we still make all your data available to you for download in case you’d like to archive it or analyze it further.

These are the things we can do for you. This is how we can save you time and money. This is how we can improve the quality and timeliness of your decisions. Together, we can make the world a better place.

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