DDevelopment evelopment RResearch to esearch to EEmpower mpower AAll ll MMongolians ongolians through through IInformation and Communications nformation and Communications TTechnologyechnology

Baasansuren Burmaa PAN All Meeting

Finance and Administration clinic Penang, Malaysia

13 June, 2009

What is the DREAM IT project?What is the DREAM IT project?The “DREAM IT” Mega Mongolia project is a holistic country program that

focuses researchers on the inter-relationships of policy, innovation, and

the socio-economic effects of ICT and how these aspects of ICT are

interdependent in making positive contributions to the country’s

development process.

Objectives:

The main objective of the “DREAM IT” Mega Mongolia project is to contribute to

development solutions in Mongolia by visibly and concertedly informing, influencing, and

impacting on the ICT4D scene in Mongolia through a sustained series of ICT research

project interventions that relate to: Policy research (build evidence and promote dialogue to inform policies) Applied research (pilot ICT innovations to meet specific needs of Mongolian

stakeholders) Socio-economic research (acquire understanding of the socio-economic effects of ICTs

applied on Mongolian communities)

DREAM IT project 2

Project framework and Current subprojectsProject framework and Current subprojects

Two levels:Two levels:

Umbrella level - Coordination - Cooperation- Networking- Research management - Capacity building - Monitoring and evaluation - Communicating for policy/practice influence

Sub-project level - Sector-specific ICT problems and issues (health, education, government, environment and etc.) - Also future subprojects to be developed to address needs and gaps as identified.

DREAM IT project 4

Project team:Project team:

Umbrella level

Project Board: (i) Project Director (ii) CEO of Datacom, (iii) Project Leader (iv) Project Administrator (v) Other 3 Board members

Subproject level

Six subprojects involves: - 30 researchers- 9 ICT consultants (2 international consultants) - 18 sector-specific consultants (psychological counsellor statisticians, economists, lawyer, teachers, business analysts) - 10 technical staff (software developers, architects webmaster) - 18 support staff (data encoding and inputting, research assistants)

DREAM IT project 5

Subprojects:Subprojects:

1) Online psychological service for health professionals - Health Sciences University of Mongolia (January 2009 – June 2010)

2) Blended Technology Education Project (BTEP): Using Technology to Level the Education Playing Field in Mongolia – Education channel TV (January 2009 – December 2009)

3) Curriculum development of University Computing and ICT Education in Mongolia - National University of Mongolia (January 2009 – December 2010)

4) GES Information System to motivate reliable business relation for Gobi eco-system – JEMR Co. Ltd. (January 2009 – December 2009)

5) Improving the Responsiveness and Efficiency of Public Sector’s Information Services Provision in Mongolia - Cabinet Secretariat of the Government of Mongolia (January 2009 – December 2009)

6) Engaging citizen participation in the Parliamentary legislative process - Secretariat of the Parliament of Mongolia (January 2009 – December 2009)

Training programs:Training programs:

◦ Project management and Financial administration (22-23 April, 2009)

◦ Social science research methods (26-30 May, 2009)◦ Online collaboration tool (dotProject) and Web 2.0

technologies(5 June, 2009)

◦ Communications for influence on policy and practice◦ Research writing and publication ◦ Evaluation methods

Utilization focus evaluation (UFE) Outcome mapping (OM) Gender analysis (GEM)

DREAM IT project 8

Current phase:Current phase:

Past:

The project is kicked off and into its sixth month. Three training workshops held. Subprojects submitted financial and inception reports. Q2

technical reports to be submitted. Research design of subprojects revised. Literature review and

baseline study. The project portal www.dreamit.mn with Web 2.0 technology is

launched. Online collaboration tool dotProject is used.

DREAM IT project 9

Current phase:Current phase:

Upcoming:

Call for New Proposal abstracts and selection of new subprojects

National seminar and official launch of the project for public and media

Monitoring and Evaluation plan Three more training workshops

Project Project administrative tooladministrative tool

Online collaboration tools Basecamp at the project development phase, until 5 June 2009

Dotproject - open source online collaboration tools and Project Management application, since 5 June 2009

Consistent user interface;

Project Management functionality is not same as another CMS;

Open source / free usage.

DREAM IT project 11

Dotprojects:At the umbrella level, project board members can use the

system to setup the tasks required to be performed and then:

Set up some limited dependencies; Set up project milestones; Use status information provided by project members to

manage project deliverables and schedules; and Record basic project information such as statements of

requirements, indicated budgets and so on. Assign the required tasks and dates; Assign human resources to perform the project activities;At the subproject level, subprojects team can then use the

system to: Update their progress on task and create log entries to

advise other project members of the status of tasks; Manage their workload by using a variety of different

views of project and project tasks; Access and/or create files and supporting documentation

generated against projects and/or tasks; Discuss issues with other project members via forums; Manage diaries for task and or events.

Dotprojects:FILE NAMING OF QUARTETLY REPORTWe have a file naming protocol, otherwise known as a standardization of abbreviations.The file naming must be consistent, as the following examples illustrate. For example: The First Quarterly Report of the subproject 1 SP1 = Subproject 1

1Q09 = First Quarterly Report V1e = Version 1, English

Description: SP1 1Q09 DraftSP1 1Q09 Draft, comment by Board SP1 1Q09 Draft, comment by LeaderSP1 1Q09 Final report

Dotprojects: Reports Available at the Dotprojects Tasks sorted by user - This report shows the tasks allocated

to each project team members. Overdue - Tasks currently overdue Project Statistics - Project Statistics, describing task

statuses. User performance - Report that shows the amount of hours

worked by a user against those allocated in tasks Overall Report - Gives an overall snapshot of all projects

Upcoming - Tasks to be completed in next week Allocated user hours - This report shows how many hours a

user has allocated in the specified period of time. Tasks end date - View the task's end date (real and

theoretical) Task List - View the Projects Task List Completed - Tasks completed in the last week Task Log - View the user task logs

Dotprojects:Umbrella and Subprojects

Dotprojects:View Projects

Dotprojects:Gantt chart

Recommendations for starting new projects

To build a strong networking between accountants of umbrella and subprojects

To have detailed action plan (reflecting with budgets) from the subprojects at the proposal submission stage

To reflect more detailed TOR of project team members at the MGC, as one important element of accountability is MGC

To set up a strong project administration and management tools/Track Record

Financial and Administrative Procedures Manuals Qualifications of Financial Staff Due to the transparency, to strive to improve

awareness and distribute more detailed information about IDRC administration procedure at the earlier stage of subprojects’ proposal submission