0:00:00 Introduction and previous webinars

I want to start by acknowledging my colleague, Firas. Some of you may have watched the webinars he hosted last week and back in June. This session is the third part of that series. In the previous webinars, Firas did an excellent job explaining the key concepts of monitoring and evaluation for the conservation sector. He specifically focused on the Conservation Measures Partnership (CMP) Open Standards framework and how it can structure a data model for a monitoring information management system. I recommend checking out those sessions; we will share the links afterward. This webinar builds on those topics, providing a practical overview of ActivityInfo features that support monitoring information systems.

While Firas's example last week focused on protected area management, today's use case will center on ecosystem-based adaptation programming. We aim to demonstrate various use cases and how ActivityInfo can support them. Whether you are working in protected area management or adaptation programming, the core principle remains the same: ActivityInfo allows you to manage diverse types of data—both ecological and social—in a single relational system, rather than scattering it across spreadsheets or other tools.

00:00:01 The conservation monitoring challenge

Let's begin with a hypothetical challenge. Imagine I am an M&E manager working for a large conservation organization. We have just secured a significant grant to support a long-term coastal resilience and mangrove restoration program in Mozambique. This program will span several years. The donor requires us to actively monitor the program's activities and capture both ecological observations and information about the surrounding community. They understand that realizing ecological and social impacts will take time, but they want us to collect data throughout the program to enable longitudinal analysis later.

As the M&E manager, my task is to design and implement a system that tracks project activities, ecological observations, and community information. This system must be tailored to support multiple types of users within the organization.

00:02:05 Four user personas

In this demonstration, we will examine the system from the perspective of four fictional users. The first is the M&E manager, who is responsible for designing the system and managing all incoming information flows. Next, we will look at the field officer, who collects data in the field, likely in an offline environment. We will also consider the program manager, who relies on the system's information to share operational updates. Finally, we will explore the needs of the communications team. While they do less data management, they require information from the system to generate reports and support storytelling and advocacy efforts.

These different users are responsible for various stages of the data lifecycle, from collection to dissemination. The M&E manager supports all these functions by designing, managing, and ensuring the system runs properly. ActivityInfo enables the management of all data types—ecological or social—in one system throughout this entire cycle.

00:03:13 M&E manager: Designing the system

In this phase of the demo, I will show how the M&E manager can use the form designer to build an information management system from a conceptual data model. Firas touched on this last week when he discussed turning results chains into a data model for ActivityInfo. I will highlight the different field types used to enforce data validation and illustrate how ActivityInfo handles related data. The relational data model is central to our platform and a major differentiator from spreadsheets or flat data systems. Lastly, I will demonstrate how to create a collection link for surveys, specifically using a multilingual form, which I will share with you to try out.

00:04:49 Building a simple data model

Let's start with a simple data model for this form designer demo. We will see a more comprehensive model later. I want to highlight the concept of related forms. I will create a reference form to capture information about organizations, which is the blue box in the top left of our diagram. Then, I will create two master data forms: one for program sites and another for ecosystem-based adaptation interventions. Finally, we will capture field report information in a transactional form, shown in yellow.

Jumping into ActivityInfo, I will add a new database called "Conservation Demo." When creating a new database, best practice is to create a folder for reference information. This folder houses reference forms for relatively static, standard data. Here, I will create a reference form for organizations. A form is where we manage datasets and design the data structure. You can choose from various field types, such as text, quantity, dates, and categorical data with single or multiple selections. Selecting the correct data type is your first line of defense for data validation and improving data quality.

I will add a text field for the organization's name and set it as a key field. This enforces uniqueness within the dataset, preventing duplicate entries. To add data, I will use the interactive table editing function, which provides an Excel-like experience. I can add multiple rows, navigate to records, and type in names. Unlike Excel, the field types and validation settings apply here. Since the name field is a key field, entering duplicate values will show them as invalid. Once updated to unique values, they turn blue, indicating they are valid and can be submitted to the database.

Next, I will add our main master data form for sites. I will include a key text field for the site name and a geographic field to capture the site's location. Then, I will create our first relationship using a subform, which establishes a one-to-many relationship between a record and another dataset—in this case, interventions. Inside the interventions subform, I will add a key name field and a reference field linking back to the organizations reference form. This populates a dropdown with the list of organizations we created earlier.

I will add one more relationship: a subform for field reports under interventions, allowing multiple reports per intervention. In this subform, I will add a unique date field, ensuring only one report per intervention per day. I will also add a quantity field with a validation rule, restricting the value to a score between one and five. Any value outside this range will be invalid.

After saving these forms, I will return to the sites form and use the importer tool. This is ideal for moving legacy data from spreadsheets into ActivityInfo. You can simply copy and paste your data. The interface allows you to match spreadsheet columns to your form fields and reviews the records to identify new entries, updates, or duplicates. Once imported, I can add data for specific interventions using the traditional form interface, selecting an organization, adding a report for today, and testing the validation rule to ensure it only accepts values between one and five.

00:06:09 Exploring a complex data model

ActivityInfo can also accommodate more complex data models. Beyond the simple sites, interventions, field reports, and organizations structure we just built, you can add other master data forms, such as monitoring plots and related observations. We also have a community survey form, site assessments for pre-work evaluations, and reference data for program indicators. There is even an operational form for monitoring plans.

Let's look at this built-out database in ActivityInfo. Instead of just a reference folder, we have multiple folders housing different resources, including definitions, organizations, community surveys, and reports and dashboards. Focusing on the sites form, you will notice it captures the site name in both English and Portuguese, supporting multilingual data collection. This is crucial for working in Mozambique. We also capture location, hectares, and area boundaries. Currently, the area boundary uses coordinate pairs, but we are soon releasing a feature to support lines and polygons, which is highly requested in the conservation community.

Drilling down into the field reports subform, I will open the form settings to show more complex field types. We have a date field, a single selection for the activity type, and a quantity field for hectares addressed. This quantity field has a relevance rule: it only appears if the activity type is protection work, channel construction, or site preparation. If it's just a check-up visit, the field remains hidden, streamlining data entry. We also use multi-line text fields for qualitative narratives and an attachment field for uploading files, taking pictures, or recording audio.

Lastly, I want to highlight the reviewer-only field. This implements a validation step where an overseer can view a record's status, interrogate its quality, and move it to an approved or needs-attention status. This field is hidden from standard data entry and is only visible to individuals with reviewer permissions.

00:16:46 Multilingual collection links for surveys

Before moving to the field officer persona, I want to demonstrate how to use collection links for surveys. We have a community survey set up for public data collection. To share this with the community, I can easily add a web collection link, generate a QR code for posters, or share the link directly.

When a user opens the link, they see a form similar to Google Forms. However, we can update the language. If I change the language to Portuguese, the entire application, including data fields and dropdown selections, translates to the local language. This feature is excellent for public surveys or internal forms used by enumerators who prefer working in their local language. ActivityInfo currently supports around 60 languages, and we are continually adding more.

00:22:02 Summary of the M&E manager role

To summarize, we explored designing a system starting from a simple data model, highlighting relationships with reference forms, master data forms, and subforms. We demonstrated various field types—text, geographic locations, dates, and quantities—which serve as the first line of defense for data validation. We emphasized the relational model and showed different data entry methods: table editing, the importer for legacy data, and direct form entry. We also covered using collection links for surveys and supporting multilingual data collection.

00:24:13 Field officer: Offline and mobile data collection

Now, let's pivot to the field officer persona. We will see how they collect data in the field using the ActivityInfo mobile application or browser application. Behind the scenes, a custom role restricts the field officer to only see permitted database resources. They can view all site information but can only add and edit reports for their assigned site. This is an example of record-level permissions. Furthermore, the reviewer-only approval status field we configured earlier is hidden from them during data entry.

Switching to the field officer's view in ActivityInfo, the interface is simplified, showing only one folder. I can use the "download for offline use" function, which creates a local copy of the permitted forms and reports. Even in the browser, I can work completely offline. Using developer tools to simulate an offline environment, a red banner appears indicating I am offline. I can still navigate the downloaded database.

In the sites form, everything is grayed out, meaning I can view but not edit the information. However, because I am assigned to the Midwest area site, I can navigate to its interventions and down to the field reports. Here, the text turns black, indicating I can add records. I can add a field report, select the activity type, and fill in the relevant fields. I can enter GPS coordinates manually or pull them from my device's GPS. I can also upload attachments, including recording audio directly in the form.

After saving the record, the banner shows one pending change while offline. Once I turn off the offline simulation and reconnect, the record synchronizes with the cloud database and becomes available to anyone with access. This process is seamless: take the database offline, work, and it syncs automatically upon reconnection.

I will also briefly illustrate the mobile application view using developer tools. The interface adapts for mobile devices, allowing you to click through and enter data just as easily. The mobile app also fully supports offline data collection. The field officer's role is straightforward: they are not designing or analyzing; they are stewards of the data, responsible for collecting and viewing information in the field.

00:25:52 Program manager: Reporting and data management

The next persona is the program manager. While the M&E manager designs the system and the field officer collects data, the program manager is responsible for reporting on program outputs and ecological and social impacts. To achieve this, they need notifications when new data is submitted, tools to manage and discover relevant records, and the ability to generate information products for various stakeholders.

ActivityInfo offers several features to assist with this. Automations send notifications for new or updated data. Reviewer fields restrict access to validation statuses. Table views make datasets easy to read and discoverable. Pivot tables transform data into reports and dashboards. Finally, the API allows exporting data to advanced statistical frameworks, GIS tools, or BI tools like Power BI or Tableau.

00:32:53 Automations, views, and dashboards

Let's look at the program manager's inbox. I have set up an automation that emails the program manager whenever a new field report is submitted. From the email, they can link directly to the form where the record was added. When managing data across multiple sites and programs globally, you need visibility and validation capabilities. You can filter the view to focus on specific workflows, such as approving records.

I will filter the approval status field to show only "pending" records and save this as a personal view. Now, whenever I open the field reports form, I can select this view to see all records requiring my attention. Using the interactive table view, I can quickly update statuses from pending to approved or needs attention and submit the changes. You can also set up reverse automations to notify field officers when a record is marked as needing attention.

Next, let's turn this data into information by creating a dashboard. I will name it "Program Overview" and add some branding. We add data elements using pivot tables in our report designer, which accesses all datasets in the database. I will create a line graph showing the number of field reports per quarter. Then, I will add a bar chart comparing the hectares addressed by interventions against our target areas, broken down by specific sites.

We can also incorporate social data using the community survey form. I will create a table showing the count of people engaged in local management compared to our expected beneficiaries, again broken down by site. This quickly highlights if we are falling short of our targets. Finally, I will add a simple map showing the locations of our sites. After saving the dashboard, I can publish it and share it privately with stakeholders or publicly via a link.

00:34:55 Exporting data to external tools

If you need to perform advanced geospatial or statistical analysis outside of ActivityInfo, you can easily export your data. From the site form, I can click "Export, Query as GeoJSON" and copy the URL. With just a few clicks, I can drop this URL into Power BI, Tableau, ArcGIS, or QGIS. This creates an active connection, meaning any data updates in ActivityInfo will automatically reflect in your external analyses and products.

00:42:17 Summary of the program manager role

To review the program manager's workflow: we started with an email automation, used reviewer fields and custom table views to focus on pending records for validation, and quickly built a program overview dashboard using pivot tables. We also demonstrated how to export data to other applications using the API tools directly from the user interface.

00:43:18 Communications team: Storytelling and custom apps

The final persona is the communications team. They are responsible for telling the organization's story to stakeholders. While they don't manage data daily, they consume the information generated by the M&E manager, field officer, and program manager.

For recurring questions, reports are an excellent solution. Once configured, data flows into them in real-time, providing the communications team with up-to-date information for donors or the public. For organizations with in-house capacity, ActivityInfo data can flow directly into custom web applications aligned with their brand guidelines. This leverages ActivityInfo's strong data management backend while exposing information through a custom frontend via the API.

00:44:05 Indicator reports and custom web applications

Let's look at an indicator overview report. This simple report assembles data collected in ActivityInfo into tables communicating our program indicators. A communications officer can access this report to get the most accurate, up-to-date numbers. They can also use exploratory tools like slicers to filter data for specific sites.

I also want to show how ActivityInfo data can feed into custom web applications. With the help of Claude, I created a demo webpage summarizing this webinar. As you scroll, you see interactive data visualizations and a map pulling live data directly from an ActivityInfo database. This illustrates the pattern of using a custom frontend connected to ActivityInfo via the API.

00:47:05 AI analysis with MCP server and Claude

Finally, I am excited to introduce our new MCP server feature, which facilitates a secure connection to the Large Language Model (LLM) of your choice for conversation-based analysis. Please consult your IT and data teams to ensure compliance with your AI policies before using this workflow.

This feature uses a paid company account, ensuring your data is not used to train models. It employs a Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) workflow, meaning we provide the ActivityInfo database as the specific context for the LLM to use when answering questions. Combining structured relational databases with an LLM is incredibly powerful and prevents the hallucinations common when asking open-ended questions to AI.

I will enter a prompt asking Claude for interesting trends relevant to donors or communities. Claude accesses the ActivityInfo resources and immediately provides information sourced directly from the database. I can then ask it to generate a draft brief for a donor based on this data. With just two prompts, it generates a wealth of information and links back to the source material, such as the community survey form. While I strongly advocate for human review and editing of AI-generated content, this workflow is excellent for feeding data into standard reporting templates.

00:49:46 Summary of the communications team role

In summary, the communications team focuses on using system information for storytelling and advocacy. They interact with a specific facet of the system but benefit immensely from the data collection, management, and validation features utilized by the other personas.

00:53:16 Key takeaway

If you take one thing away from this webinar, it is that ActivityInfo allows you to move from digitally fragmented systems and spreadsheets to an integrated relational database. You can provide tailored access and tools to different users based on their organizational responsibilities. By combining ecological and social information in one platform, you can generate valuable insights for operations, donor reporting, and public communication.

00:53:57 Q&A session

We have a few minutes for questions.

An anonymous attendee asked about processing audio recordings post-data collection. Currently, the feature allows capturing and playing back audio. We plan to add in-platform transcription in the future, which would save the text in a multi-line field. This pairs well with LLMs, which could review transcriptions and automatically tag records based on specific criteria, such as incidents of poaching.

Ashwani Singh asked if the platform is free and about support for Indian languages. ActivityInfo is a paid platform. Our company, BeDataDriven, is a social enterprise working exclusively with NGOs, governments, and multilateral institutions, and we price our services accordingly for the social impact sector. Regarding Indian languages, I don't have the current list offhand, but we frequently add new languages based on user needs, having recently added Khmer and Kinyarwanda.

Abdifatah mentioned having an account through the Somalia Health Cluster and asked about multiple users within an organization. If you access ActivityInfo through a cluster, your role is defined by them for reporting purposes. However, it is very common for organizations to set up their own separate ActivityInfo instance for internal operational needs, allowing them to manage their own users and databases.

Regarding practicing with the platform, we offer a free trial accessible through our website. We also have a comprehensive self-paced course called "Designing Information Management Systems," which guides you through building a conceptual model and creating a system in ActivityInfo based on your organization's needs.

Thank you all for attending. Please follow us on LinkedIn for updates on future webinars, including upcoming sessions on the MCP server and grants management. If you are interested in exploring ActivityInfo for your organization, please reach out via the contact form on our website.