Data-Centric Operations Design for Disseminating a Biomedical Screening Technology: A Case Study

Abstract

Social ventures in low- and middle-income countries face a myriad of challenges when scaling operations to expand their impact. Irrespective of the sector, the business model, and the geography, every venture needs to be attuned and responsive to customer and market needs in an ever-changing operating environment. Fledgling ventures that make decisions based on real stakeholder data are more likely to meet customer needs, pivot as necessary, and ultimately succeed in scaling operations. At the same time, integrating rigorous and reliable data collection, digitization, aggregation, analysis, visualization, and reporting into venture operations can be onerous for early-stage ventures. This paper presents a case study on the data-centric model developed and implemented by Ukweli Test Strips, a social enterprise that integrates low-cost urinalysis test strips to screen women for urinary tract infection and preeclampsia into the healthcare system of Sierra Leone. Ukweli uses a lean data approach and free tools such as Google Forms and Google Sheets to integrate data-driven reporting and decision-making into its entire operations. These practical insights on building a data backbone are highly transferable to social ventures in low-resource settings.