Interswitch, Fio Corporation move for quality data, better project result

Rule of thumb, its danger

Have you ever executed two projects, one based on data and the other without data backing it?  Obviously, the result would not be similar. All things being equal, the project supported by data would be enduring, impactful and have greater positive result. Data is basically the nucleus of sustainable projects as financiers would be able to measure impact and plan where to effect changes.

Unfortunately, many business projects are embarked upon in Nigeria and in other countries on the rule of thumb. This term which is not expected to provide the exact answer has evolved over a time, from its application in rough physical measurement to various and broadlyapplication to projects.  It is not clear why some managers in both public and private sectors still engage in rule of thumb in a dynamic environment hoping to achieve positive results in comparison to the expenditure. Obviously, a rule of thumb is incoherent and informal principle that is expected to   provide adequate guidance in place of precise direction.

Rule of thumb may have originated from carpenters who use thumb as a measurement tool rather than ruler. They could have modestly succeeded because they were measuring small size physical objects. But it is a big picture when embarking on socio-economic projects.

This could largely be responsible for the failure of most business projects either in public or private sector as they are not based on correct data but rule of thumb. Sometimes managers are lazy or in a haste to look for data to support projects.Data, according experts, “are now woven into every sector and function in the global economy, and, like other essential factors of production such as hard assets and human capital, much of modern economic activity simply could not take place without them”.

Importance of Data

Data enhance the functions of a manager to create strategies, make important decisions, and set goals for the business.  Without data, the manager is like a pilot without a compass. Recently, top-flight executives and discussants who spoke at Chartered Global Management Accountants forum  on ‘Future of Executive Decision Making’  underlined data as critical in effective decision making in the present dynamic environment enhanced by technology.

They therefore noted that managers in marketing, management, finance and across board need to be knowledgeable enough with the environment and especially guided by data and proper evidence to be able to take the rights decisions.

At the forum, it was strongly agreed that if data are not right the decisions would likely be faulty. It was therefore suggested that managers need to implement solutions, softwares and systems to get the right data for effective decisions making.

Interswitch, Fio partnership on data for health

It was therefore in the spirit of ensuring success of some socio-economic projects in the country and checkmating wastage of funds on such projects not backed by data, that Interswitch, an Africa-focused integrated digital payments and commerce company and Fio Corporation, a private Canadian healthcare technology company operating at the intersection of healthcare delivery and data entered into partnership to tackle various diseases starting with malaria through provision of adequate data on where and how it is ravaging communities and would be able to trace impact of funds spent.

Under the partnership, Fio is introducing its Fionet platform device. The device democratizes quality diagnosis and makes any health care worker as good as the best lab tech at delivering diagnoses. The device is simply a companion to a health worker and guides him/her on what to do.

“It is a companion device for health care workers that helps to diagnose and helps the worker to do the right things. It reports automatically on everything it sees and this means no more writing in papers. It lets the health care workers deliver health and lets the data captured to be as automated as possible. Another thing the device does is that it communicates. This is a medical device not built on the PC platform, it is not built on a custom computing platform, it’s actually built on the android operating system platform, and we did that for communication reasons. It just requires a cell phone signal and everything it sees it sends”, Hayim Raclaw of Fio Corporation told BusinessDay in Lagos.

With the data captured, the device which has data analytics engine allows stakeholders whether financiers or project managers to have every data electronically they would not have had in the past including the performance of healthworkers. This enables improved planning.

Raclaw said that Fio Corporation built the device and craves for franchising the Fionet across African continent “because Fio managers don’t have the local experience on how the device should be customized for different countries in this continent. So every where we operate, we have local partners. We take our technology and customize for local context. In the case of Interswitch, we wanted a company that has shown expertise in marketing, recognizing the drivers of the market to help design not just the technology for public and private sector use but also the business modules”.

Raclaw regretted that countries that can least afford to waste health care resources, are wasting the most resources because of lack of data. “If you run a company on health care intervention any where in the world and you have a quality of data coming back on pen and paper, that would be unacceptable to you. There is no other industry besides health care that spends hundreds of billions of dollars that healthcare spends with as little quality data coming back on the decision made on the huge resources spent”.

The system is designed to bridge the gap between what happens in the primary care where most Nigerians, in fact where most human beings seek health care. 95% health care is delivered at primary care levels and that is where there is the least visibility and the least supporting supervision and the least oversight.

Also explaining to BusinessDay the rationale for the partnership, Uzor Okonmah, Head of Health Solutions within the Strategy, Insights and Growth Group for Interswitch said the two organizations are entering into partnership where “we provide Fionet services in the Nigerian region. Interswitch has been in health for at least five years, providing on-demand tailor-made solutions in health care space and this is just an addition to our bouquet of solutions “

Uzor further explained that the two organizations are deploying Fionet device in a health project sponsored by ExxonMobil in Niger Delta region to determine the extend of the project and the results.

On why partnering a Canadian firm instead of Nigerian or any other African firm, Uzor said Interswitch which has been developing software for sometime is looking for international experience with quality standards in data in health care delivery. “We were looking for two things, a company with proven expertise and a company that definitely has a technology that is unique and what Fio brings is unique to the international market. For us to have a system that is checking exactly what the health worker is doing real time is good for us”

Uzor said it is not surprising that Interswitch an e-payment platform, is delving in to healthcare delivery. “Interswitch is a technology integrator across all verticals.”Today there is no industry in Nigeria we don’t serve – from financial services to government to transport. But we picked three main verticals that we want to serve specially. This means developing unique products for them. One is transport, retail and third one is health”. She said payment is to give value and someone pays for it. “We enable that movement of money.  We are enabling health care providers and funders to move money efficiently on health issues. It is important that all the players are connected so that we get adequate reports and the analytics to plan and budget for the industry in the future”.

Malaria is a disease largely resulting from bite of mosquitoes which is ravaging Africa. In 2010, there was an estimated 219 million cases of malaria outbreak resulting in over 660,000 deaths. Majority of the cases are children with pregnant women at risk of infection each year.

Governments have intervened in various occasions but most of the interventions and spending are blindly executed without accurate data on where, how the funds were spent. In most cases, there is no data to show the effectiveness of funds spent. This is where the Interswitch and Fio Corporation partnership becomes important for deployment of Fionet device to track diagnoses, health field workers’ performance and results of project executions in communities.