1. Mobile phones in
project monitoring

2. CONTENTS
WHAT: Brief intro to mobile phone
monitoring
WHY: Benefits
WHY NOT: Challenges
“HOW”: Reference material to get
you started
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3. NB! This is not a training on how to
design and conduct mobile phone
monitoring, but instead an
introductory speech about what
mobile monitoring is about.
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4. Material derived from conducting
post-return survey to returned
internally displaced people in
Somaliland and Puntland using
mobiles as part of project 11497
(May 2014 – March 2015).
Post-return survey was filled by 2
local partners (CLHE and HACP).
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5. 5
Watch introduction to mobile
monitoring from this link:
https://www.youtube.com/w
atch?v=-Wi5W6A19vc

6. WHAT: BRIEF INTRO TO MOBILE PHONE
MONITORING
“Replacing paper formats used in
project monitoring with electronic
forms”
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7. 7
1. Design the monitoring format in Word

8. 8
2.Transfer the format into electronic version

9. 3. Upload the electronic form into
mobile phone and use the mobile
phone instead of paper format when
conducting monitoring
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10. 10

11. 4. Analyse the gathered data and use it to
inform you when taking project-related
decisions
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12. EXAMPLE:
What to do with money saved from
food item expenses?
Project team used information
from post-return survey to identify
that cash is needed for
beneficaries to have better access
to water.
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13. 13
Q 19 d) How do you compare your access to
water situation in IDP camp with your situation
now?
Percentage of IDPs answering “better now”
Round 1: 58
Round 2: 27
Q 20) Space for comments from the returnees
Percentage of beneficiaries requesting money to
purchase water or wheelbarrow
Round 1: 6
Round 2: 24

14. Checking whether the cash distribution made a
difference:
Q 19 d) How do you compare your access to
water situation in IDP camp with your situation
now?
Percentage of IDPs answering “better now”
Round 1 58
Round 2 27
Round 3 75
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15. Q 20) Space for comments from the returnees
Percentage of beneficiaries requesting money to
purchase water or a wheelbarrow
Round 1: 6
Round 2: 24
Round 3: 3
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16. 16

17. WHY: BENEFITS
1) Reduces occurrence of unanswered questions
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18. 18

19. 2) Reduces data entry errors
- With validation criteria
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20. With skip logic
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21. 3) Supports remote monitoring as
- Format can include GPS tag, beneficiary photo &
date
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22. - PM can easily see how many monitoring
formats are completed and when
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23. 4) Saves time in the analysis phase:
- Web application does basic analysis
- Data available in excel format; easy to export
into statistical software for further processing.
Thus, good for large quantitative surveys with
mainly closed questions
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24. 24

25. 25
5) Relatively cheap: 1 smart phone costs
circa 60USD
6) Easy to fill the survey even if standing
7) Don’t need internet in the field:
possible to capture data in offline mode
and upload it to a server when internet
available

26. WHY NOT: CHELLENGES
1) Attitudinal resistance among staff
2) Technical difficulties
- low battery
- GPS not working or takes long time to locate
- Application not working/ other technical diff.
3) Training on how to use the app needed
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27. 4) Needs staff time to familiarize with free
software (such as KOBO) or financial
investment if outsourcing the service (such as
Mfield)
5) Electronic devices tend to attract more
attention and suspicion (noteworthy in volatile
environments like Somalia)
6) Can cause that less qualitative data is entered
in open-ended questions when compared to
paper-based questionnaires
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28. HOW: REFERENCE MATERIAL TO GET
YOU STARTED
- http://www.kobotoolbox.org/
- USAID: ”Integrating mobiles into development
projects”
- INTRAC: ”New technologies in monitoring and
evaluation: can we push the boundaries?”
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29. Thank you.
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