PIIRS Technical Brief
(for call with Civis, June 2017)
What PIIRS is
PIIRS, the Project and Program Information and Impact Reporting System, is adata repositorythat forms part of CARE International’s global Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning framework. It is set up hold annual data on the reach and impact of CARE’s projects and initiatives around the world, allowing for the assessing of progress against the programmatic priorities and commitments of the CARE2020 Program Strategy.
It holds data since FY14 onward and enables CARE staff to access, export and analyze project/initiativedata year by year, plus access to documentation when available.
What is the structure of PIIRS?
In terms of content, thecore of the PIIRS system are 3 data collection forms/tools that define what data is collected every year and how (e.g. data from CARE offices: staff, type of offices; data from projects and initiatives: data on participants reached, data on impact indicators). These 3 forms are adjusted and improved every year, based on learning or evolving needs in the organization. This is positive in the sense that the organization adapts the information system based on a constant dialogue on what data is needed and what data is relevant. However, that also means that the system requires adjustments in content, structure and process every year, therefore, high levels of flexibility, certain autonomy for adjusting the system and constant IT support for improvements is a critical feature in PIIRS.
In terms of who is involved in data collection, processing and reporting, plus hosting and maintenance of the system, this is how different teams/roles interact:
What is the underlying technology used?
Technology for data entry/processing:
C# .Net Framework 3.5
Sencha Framework Ext 4.2.1
SQL Server 2012
Technology for generating reports:
C# .Net Framework 3.5
SQL Server 2012
Apache POI
Who are the primary users & administrators?
Administrators: Ximena Echeverria (Monitoring and Evaluation Coordinator – CI Secretariat) / Programs Director CARE International / ACROS Business Solutions
Primary Users:
-CARE staff from projects/initiatives that feed data annually (project managers, MEL officers)
-CO/CMP leadershippositions that review the data, analyze results and capture learning
-Technical teams that analyze results and assess progress against CARE2020 Program strategy outcomes and approach, and use data for communications, reports or resource mobilization
-Communications staff for updating communicational resources
What are the tool interfaces used?
The only interface the system directly uses is Active Directory (for identification of users).
For data analysis and visualization,the system doesn’t have an interface but fully allows the exporting of data in excel spreadsheets (all projects or specific subsets of the data) that are normally used in other programs like SPSS, STATA, Tableau Public, Power BI, Carto DB.
Being a data repository, the system doesn’t currently have additional functionalities for data analytics. This is continuously discussed but, as the content of the system evolves year after year, we have prioritized the repository and reporting features only.
How does data get in & out?
-Country offices complete Excel sheets offline
-CARE International Secretariat (together with ACROS Business solutions) populates the data to PIIRS online and password required)
-The system hosts data on all individual projects and initiatives every year (e.g. 1,004 projects and initiatives in FY16 only)
-The data on projects and initiatives can be explored via the use of filters and search options
-The data can be exported either as a word document or as an Excel file
See PIIRS Database Instructions below:
What are the update cycles?
The updates are done yearly.
In terms of timeline of the data collection: historically, the process of collecting data takes 2 to 4 months (July to November) depending on how responsive CARE projects/initiatives are. The data processing/quality control takes 2 to 3 months depending on the quality of the data and how many iterations need to be made with projects or initiatives wo have provided inconsistent data (November to February), and it finally leaves 4 months for socialization of data and learning. We are all fully conscious that the PIIRS process is quite long every year and we are taking several actions to reduce the process in at least 2 months in the next round: we are improving the tools, improving the guidance and connecting with several CARE teams around the world that can support projects and initiatives to overcome delays in submission, needs for training, issues with the quality of data, etc.
There have been several discussions over the years on how possible/realistic/relevant it would be to have more frequent updates of the PIIRS cycles (every 6 months, every quarter or even real time data). We assess these elements every year and here are some of the recommendations we make, from a global standpoint:
-We acknowledge that the data collection cycle is too long and the data should be accessible sooner every year. We are taking actions to improve it in the years ahead but our ability to improve the process involves collaborative work from many roles and responsibilities in the organization, not only the COs that provide the data.
-A good part of the data collected in PIIRS doesn’t change dramatically from one quarter to the other. Therefore, there are a lot of information fields that should only be collected annually (not real value of collecting it more frequently). The data collection is such an extensive effort for the organization that it is not worth to pull more data than what we can realistically demand from projects/initiatives, process and learn from in a constant way.
-For those parts of the data collected in PIIRS that could be collected more frequently (e.g. data of impact indicators), we are looking for alternatives and opening the option to CARE projects to report this kind of data any time during the year, rather than only once a year. This is promising and we will see how it works. Nonetheless, it will be important to note that opening this option also comes accompanied with the need for CARE members and technical teams to provide constant support, technical assistance and guidance to projects around the world, in order to ensure they are able to report data more frequently, with good quality and without generating overburden.