Introducing EcoTrack (Dr Rafaella Bellanca – Claverton member , from EcoTrack writes:)
Project monitoring is often haphazard and time-consuming. Furthermore, results from monitoring do not always lead to improvement and learning. Now EcoTrack makes project results transparent and easy to use.
EcoTrack is a new monitoring system for sustainable energy and household energy projects. It is highly reliable, networked, and results-based. Eco, a private company based in the UK, has developed EcoTrack to systematize the monitoring process, provide timely data, and enhance reporting to funders and other project stakeholders. EcoTrack allows users to track the progress of activities, outputs, outcomes and objectives against performance indicators. It therefore improves the quality of both monitoring and management.
What EcoTrack does
EcoTrack is a software platform that allows M&E staff, monitoring coordinators and officers, project directors, donors, sponsors and other stakeholders to design, monitor, analyse and report on projects. With EcoTrack, users can:
• Define projects, management structures and portfolios of projects
• Create tasks and monitoring schedules
• Manage tasks and deadlines
• Check and control quality
• Manage qualitative and quantitative data and synchronize international teams
• Rapidly report real-time project progress and benchmark performance
EcoTrack uses online and offline systems to bring project teams together:
How we work
EcoTrack is a software service of Eco Ltd. Eco works under contract and can provide monitoring support when needed or more comprehensive support for designing and defining relevant indicators, developing data collection requirements, and providing analysis of results.
The EcoTrack approach of customizing monitoring software has already been tested in the ProBEC initiative, a multi-site biomass household energy project. The system was designed to track individual outputs from multiple interventions in 7 countries against a set of performance indicators. Project managers now use the system to provide clear and timely reports covering the socioeconomic and environmental indicators that are important to funders.
Eco provides:
• Data storage and processing structures: EcoTrack has a well-designed system for storing raw data and encoding algorithms. Its modular construction makes it “future-proof” and minimizes costs and time for modifications and upgrades. The system is easy to customize, and additional modules are relatively easy to add. The system’s open design can link to data input from proprietary software (GIS systems, statistical packages) without requiring major design changes.
• User-friendly interfaces: EcoTrack has different interfaces for various categories of user; project managers can compare data across projects, and sites can also support public access to the data. EcoTrack makes it easy to input data and learn from it.
• Off-line data entry: EcoTrack provides offline data entry with rapid synchronization – an advantage where Internet access is difficult and/or expensive.
• Data quality safeguards: EcoTrack offers customized data protocols for generating raw data (surveys, physical measurement, direct observation). Special attention is given to the development of rigorous indicators and identifying suspect data. The system can handle both quantitative and qualitative data, with strong user protocols for both types of data.
• Customized reporting: EcoTrack offers reporting tools and templates that can generate forms and reports tailored to the standards of specific investors, donors, or standards organizations. The system can also be used as a project management tool that provides updates on the achievement of project milestones.
• Training and Support: Training materials and system documentation can accommodate changes in the project as necessary and provide support for new project staff.
We don’t just monitor data, we understand it
Eco has the advantage of a team specialising in IT design and technology and along with extensive knowledge of carbon emission analysis, indoor air pollution, sustainable energy and development projects, data surveys and physical measurements. You can trust that we truly understand what information is needed to give meaningful indicators and an accurate measure of performance.
For more information please visit our website: http://ecoharmony.com/EcoTrack
For any enquires contact Dr Raffaella Bellanca: raffaella at ecoharmony dot com