Posted
Amplifying the impact for families thanks to digital tools
How a smart automation project developed by volunteers positively impacted an NGO and the lives of hundreds of families in Argentina
An NGO lacking a reliable and fast reporting process
With family centres mainly located in isolated rural areas in Argentina, Haciendo Camino is an NGO partner of The Human Safety Net that now runs its activities for families in 12 locations. To secure the continuity of their program, they follow what happens at each family centre and check very often how every family and their children are doing.
They have been collecting data from each centre, such as a supply of essential goods, food for children, and baby's growth rates, and then consolidating it manually at a central level. However, the process was long, they lacked the speed and reliability of the data, and many people spent time on reporting purposes instead of focusing on families. This process was also a key tool for identifying early signs of malnutrition in children, for which a fast reaction is critical.
A joined effort of smart automation experts who volunteered to test and implement a new solution
The smart automation community of practice of Generali group decided to take the challenge to enhance Digital and Automation capabilities to deliver real impact on local underserved communities, using technology to impact the world positively. For six months, a team of 15 smart automation experts from diverse countries supported by a volunteer Program Manager joined their expertise to propose a meaningful solution to answer the need of Haciendo Camino.
A robotic process automation that allows the NGO to dedicate more hours to activities with families and fast detect any problematic issue with children
One of the main challenges of the team of experts, led by Cristina Pirola, was to understand the specific context and adapt their business-as-usual way of working and process to reach an impactful solution. They isolated a digital tool accessible for free for no-profit organizations, UiPath. So the team implemented a software robot that can replicate automatically, faster, without errors and with no time boundaries the collection of data and automate the creation of a monthly activity report from all 12 Haciendo Camino family centres.
"We are saving more than 20 hours each month on reporting tasks, which they now dedicate to directly supporting our families." says Nicolas Fiedotin, Responsible for International Cooperation and Alliances at Haciendo Camino. More importantly, the NGO can quickly detect malnutrition cases in babies, as the data received now are more reliable than in the past. In addition, the automation will allow more frequent and accurate reporting, providing crucial information on the effectiveness of activities on the ground and longer-term impact.
Volunteers' positive experience to bring technology for good
This collaboration will undoubtedly raise new ideas and open new volunteer opportunities to support the NGO community daily. Discover more about our volunteers and what they say about this experience.
