The Boma Project

Prosperity with Dignity

  • Home
  • Our Work
    • What We Do
    • Where We Work
    • Why Grants and Not Loans?
    • Who We Are
      • The BOMA Story
      • Our Team in Kenya
      • Our Team in the U.S.
      • BOMA Board of Directors
      • Our Partners
    • Jobs at Boma
  • Impact
    • Impact Reports
  • News
  • From the Field
    • Video Gallery
    • Field Blog
  • Donate
    • Donate to BOMA
    • Our Partners

BOMA Goes Digital

Posted on 08.14.14 by The BOMA Project

15613293081_69a8becfaf_z

BOMA mentor Boniface Lelikoo uses a wireless tablet to upload business performance data in the field.

When BOMA’s Village Mentors gathered in South Horr in July for a five-day training workshop, high on the agenda was the distribution of brand-new tablets. After extensive training, Mentors are now using the wireless devices to collect important data on BOMA businesses and savings groups in the field.

The tablets use TaroWorks, a suite of mobile technology tools that are integrated with our cloud-based, customized Salesforce.com database. It’s a big leap forward from the paper surveys we’ve been using since 2009!

The tablets will transform our ability to support our 28 full-time Mentors, businesses and savings groups in several key ways:

  • When visiting each business and savings group, Mentors will gather data that will synch to our Salesforce database in real-time—daily for Mentors who live in areas with a strong Internet connection, and weekly for Mentors who live in more-remote villages.
  • We’ll identify under-performing businesses and savings groups and send auto-generated SMS alerts to Mentors and Field Officers. They’ll respond with targeted field visits and training.
  • With a built-in mapping tool, the tablets will also allow us to confirm that Mentors are visiting their assigned groups.
  • We’ll also use this geo-spatial data to analyze the number of businesses in each village and their performance relative to nearby towns and markets, surrounding BOMA businesses and non-BOMA businesses. This will help us to understand the “saturation level” in each location, so we can decide whether to launch more business there.

Since 90 percent of the villages where we work lack electricity, the tablets will be powered by solar chargers.  We’re grateful to Boeing International for the grant that allowed us to buy the tablets.

Share

Categories: BOMA Village Mentors, REAP (Rural Entrepreneur Access Project), Rural Entrepreneur Access Project (REAP), The BOMA Project

Comments

  1. Eliud Lelerai says

    September 29, 2015 at 1:24 pm

    This is excellent. Being a statistician and an M&E expert i really appreciate the value of this innovation in tracking performance of the program like BOMA. I have to commend BOMA for this.

Your support will help a family.Donate Here

Follow BOMA Online

Link to my Facebook Page
Link to my Flickr Page
Link to my Rss Page
Link to my Twitter Page
Link to my Youtube Page

News from Boma

  • Reflections for Father’s Day June 16, 2018
  • The Data Dilemma: Making Measurement Matter June 1, 2018
  • Peery Family Foundation Commits $1 Million to the BOMA Project May 7, 2018
  • Making a Difference for Mothers May 3, 2018
  • We Can’t Afford to Wait: The Global Cost of Poor Maternal and Newborn Health and Nutrition April 24, 2018

Our Archives

MAKE DONATION

BOMA in the news

 

imagesL06K25RG  
WSJ  

CGAP Blog

 
 Huff Post  
Salon-logo  
AP  
Business Daily Africa

Business Daily Africa

 

 
 

rutland herald

 
Full Tony Loyd  

 

U.S. Office:
P. O. Box 1865
Manchester Center, VT 05255 USA
802.231.2542

Kenya Main Office:
P.O. Box 3039
Nanyuki 10400 Kenya
+254 (0)20 800 9959

  • Donate to BOMA
  • Our Partners
  • For The Press
  • Jobs at Boma
  • Contact Us
  • Policies

The BOMA Project, All Rights Reserved