Purpose of Product Catalogue
The Information Management Product/Service Catalogue is a preparedness template to document what tools and services exist, where data is stored and where files/templates are located. Each country office should complete this template with country specific information.
Target Audience
Whole of OCHA Office, Information Management Officers, Partners/Relevant operational stakeholders
Scope
Existing products and services, data sources and notes.
Templates/Tools
Reporting Cycle
In order to make OCHA’s Information Management activities predictable to our partners and clients as well as significantly reduce the ad-hoc craziness that often ensues in the IM world, OCHA IM should setup a standard IM reporting and product cycle. By using this approach, we give the clusters space to do their work between reporting periods and allow them to be predictable with their cluster members (as they define a reporting cycle for their members). Having predictable output will also calms management’s demand for products as they always know when the next will be released. The tools and examples below show the 3W reporting cycle used in the Philippines Haiyan Response 2013/14 at weeks one and five.
Given that there may be a geographical spread of the emergency and thus multiple coordination hubs, an IM data flow should be agreed upon early in the emergency. In order to provide clarity, it should be proactively decided (with the clusters) that the field clusters are responsible for collecting their own local data, sharing it with their clusters at national level who compile it, and then share the data with OCHA. With this approach, products can be generated anywhere along the chain of data movement. The Data Flow tool is a visual depiction of the setup in the Philippines Haiyan Response 2013/14. Adapt this graphic for your context.
Of course, we know that OCHA will continue to receive data from partners who visit our offices, people who attend meetings, and by email. The agreed approach with the clusters should be that OCHA would happily accept this data with clear messaging that we will pass it along to the cluster (at the respective level) for incorporation into their 3W data. In this arrangement, OCHA becomes an extra conduit of information for the clusters.