Digitalization of waste management in Conakry (Guinea) with DHIS2
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About the author
Thomas Warichet, is an experienced DHIS2 expert and product owner at Bluesquare. For more than five years, he has utilized his expertise in designing and developing interconnected and interoperable DHIS2 platforms with other tools or platforms. This includes projects involving performance-based financing and monitoring and evaluation programs. He served as the technical manager for the program of digitization of waste management in Conakry, SANITA-Clean Cities.
Summary
In order to tackle the public health issues related to waste management in Conakry, Bluesquare have implemented a DHIS2-based platform along with tools from the Bluesquare’s DHIS2 Suite, for the SANITA-Clean Cities program. This blog post outlines the deployment stages, key features, benefits, and lessons learned from this implementation. It also showcases how data systems can support strategic purchasing, visualization, dissemination, and data utilization.
A Waste Management Platform to Address a Major Public Health Challenge
Waste management is a critical concern for public health, environmental protection, and biodiversity in Guinea, particularly in Conakry. To tackle the various issues plaguing the waste management system in the capital city, such as environmental pollution and overflowing landfills, the Urban Development and Sanitation Program (SANITA) – Clean Cities in Guinea has been established.This program is funded by the European Union and implemented by the Belgian development agency, Enabel, with the National Agency for Sanitation and Public Health (ANASP, for the French acronym) as the main beneficiary.
As part of this program, Bluesquare was chosen by Enabel, in 2020 to digitalize the waste management cycle in Conakry and its surrounding areas in implementing a DHIS2-based platform to enhance the monitoring and management of waste collection, sorting, and recycling in those areas. The platform consists of a DHIS2 Tracker, a DHIS2 Android mobile application, DHIS2 dashboards, and additional Bluesquare-developed tools compatible with DHIS2, such as the Feedback Loop app for sending automatic reporting and DataViz a public portal for data visualization.
Setting up the platform
The analysis phase
We started with an analysis of the waste management system in Conakry, as well as in the surrounding towns of Coyah, Dubréka, and Kindia. In these towns, waste is collected by independent operators who transport it to sorting facilities called Zones Tri/Transfert (ZTT). Subsequently, the waste is transported by trucks to landfill or recovery sites. By identifying these various actors, input and output flows and consulting with the relevant stakeholders, we were able to develop a tailored DHIS2 platform to meet their specific needs.
The deployment of the digital tools
- This platform comprises five main tools, including tools from Bluesquare’s DHIS2 suite, to facilitate its management and usage:
- DHIS2 Tracker: This tool enables the tracking of incoming and outgoing waste flows and volumes, from households to landfills, including intermediate stages.
- DHIS2 Mobile App: Designed for offline data collection using tablets. The collected data is pushed to the DHIS2 platform once a day.
- DHIS2 Dashboards: These dashboards are accessible to project managers and administrators, providing a visual representation of key waste management data and enabling tracking of data collection in the field.
- DataViz: A Bluesquare DHIS2 tool that allows the display of key DHIS2 data on a public platform to present the project’s accomplishments.
- Feedback Loop: A Bluesquare DHIS2 tool that enables the delivery of customized weekly reports in PDF format via email to individuals who do not have access to the platform.
The Benefits of the DHIS2 Platform
This platform effectively monitors the performance of the waste grouping, transfer, and landfill system. It assists in anticipating and managing transfer and landfill issues by providing a comprehensive monitoring system for incoming and outgoing flows from consolidation points, ZTTs, and waste inflows to the landfill, transported by transfer operators.
Moreover, the platform provides valuable insights into the proportion of recoverable materials within the overall volume of processed waste.
Additionally, it significantly streamlines the payment process for transfer operators, as volumes and waste types collected are automatically calculated (which also opens up opportunities for budgeting and planning payments to be made by the city to operators), enhancing transparency within the waste management and sorting chain.Furthermore, through the utilization of Feedback Loop, the platform has improved communication channels and successfully engaged a wider range of stakeholders who receive personalized reports.
Lessons Learned
Let’s reflect on the key factors that contributed to the success of this project.
An in-depth analysis phase
At Bluesquare, we attach great importance to this crucial stage in project success. During the SANITA program, this phase provided valuable insights into the organization of the non-digitized system, the type and flow of collected data, and allowed us to establish relationships with the stakeholders to better comprehend their needs. We believe that this stage significantly facilitated their involvement in subsequent project phases.
The involvement and pragmatism of project stakeholders
During the data collection phase, stakeholders actively and efficiently contributed high-quality data. Their strong engagement greatly facilitated data integration and enabled prompt implementation with visualization tables.
In terms of pragmatism, the ANSP initially chose to collect data in DHIS2 before considering interoperability with other tools. This decision aimed to prioritize the primary objective of extending national coverage.
Tools to enhance data utilization
With engagement tools like Feedback Loop, new avenues for sharing data with various stakeholders, such as district teams, healthcare professionals, and patients, can be explored. These tools create dynamic spaces for information exchange and engagement, specifically designed to support decision-making processes.
Empowering autonomous stakeholders and establishing a sustainable system
From the project’s inception, the platform was designed with the intention of gradually expanding its coverage nationwide, aligning with the government’s ten-year plan. It was crucial for ANASP administrators to assume complete control over the platform. Through comprehensive training sessions and ongoing support, the ANASP has achieved autonomy in managing the platform and hosting it on a national infrastructure. This support and capacity-strengthening is an integral part of our approach, enabling the teams we support to fully use the data systems we’ve built.
