The Challenge

The Government of India launched the Poshan Abhiyaan (National Nutrition Mission) in March 2018 to significantly improve the nutritional status of pregnant and lactating mothers and children below 5 years. The mission called for convergence across multiple government ministries — Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (NHM), Ministry of Rural Development (NRLM), Ministry of Women and Child Development — and partnership with numerous donors and development organizations.

WeCan (We Collaborate for Nutrition), a national platform governed by BMGF, APPI, CIFF, and USAID and driven by IPE Global, identified a critical information gap: there was no centralized platform providing detailed information about the various development agencies working across different geographies on nutrition, their roles, areas of expertise, and geographic coverage. This gap hampered:

• Government Planning: Inability to locate partners for last-mile coverage of Poshan Abhiyaan or find organizations for collaborative initiatives
• Donor Investment Decisions: Donors could not assess geographies and nutrition thematic areas for investment based on existing partner concentration
• Cross-learning: Development partners lacked mechanisms to identify potential collaborators and access evidence on nutrition practices
• Coordination: No single platform existed for sharing policy documents, event details, or newsletters with all stakeholders simultaneously

The challenge was to build a sophisticated, multi-stakeholder platform that could map the entire nutrition partner ecosystem across India at national, state, and district levels, with rich data visualization and interactive features.

Velocity’s Solution

Scope of Work

Velocity conceptualized, designed, and developed a comprehensive web-based Atlas of Nutrition Partners platform with partner mapping, data visualization, knowledge repository, and communication capabilities.

Key Features & Deliverables

• Partner Mapping Engine: Comprehensive mapping of all donors, implementing partners, and NGOs working in the nutrition domain with:
• Organizational details and regional office information
• Primary role in the context of nutrition
• Geographic presence at national, state, and district levels
• Nutrition thematic areas and functional expertise
• Government platforms engaged with
• Organizational capacity metrics (coverage, human resources, period of engagement)
• Case studies and best practices

• Multi-layered Data Visualization: Interactive geographic maps overlaying:
• Critical nutrition indicators at district, state, and national levels
• Partner presence and concentration of nutrition interventions
• Multi-variable permutations with filtering capabilities
• Infographics and diagrams for intuitive data exploration

• Web-based Data Collection Forms: Interface for partners and donors to submit organizational information through predominantly objective data fields with some subjective inputs

• Dashboard & Analytics: Data representation through:
• Interactive dashboards
• Geographic maps
• Tables and statistical diagrams
• Filterable views with multiple variable combinations

• Knowledge Repository: Platform for sharing evidence, rich nutrition practices, case studies, policy documents, event details, and newsletters across stakeholders

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  Communication Platform: Features for transmitting information and knowledge sharing among all partners simultaneously, with potential for evolving into an interactive discussion forum

  
  
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  Authorization & Access Control: Standardized code with proper authorization levels for different stakeholder types

  
  
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  Hosting & Migration Support: Platform hosting during development with capability for seamless migration to another web domain

  
  

Technology Stack

• Frontend: Responsive web application with advanced data visualization
• Backend: Data processing engine with multi-variable filtering and mapping
• Visualization: Interactive GIS maps, infographics, dashboards, charts
• Data Collection: Web forms with validation and standardized data entry
• Architecture: Designed for scalability and future migration

Implementation Approach

The project followed a rapid-delivery methodology given the aggressive timeline:

1. Agency Onboarding & Requirements (February 15, 2019): Detailed understanding of WeCan’s requirements, stakeholder needs analysis, and conceptual design alignment
2. Data Flow & Framework Development (March 1, 2019): Finalization of components to be mapped, permutation and combination of data variables and filters, and development of data collection workflows
3. Pilot Web Portal (March 15, 2019): Prototype development including web graphic design, interface design, visual data representation, and data linking/layering
4. Final Product (March 31, 2019): Full platform launch with:
5. Complete partner mapping functionality
6. Data visualization dashboards
7. Web forms for data collection
8. Knowledge repository
9. Communication features
10. Testing and quality assurance

IPE Global provided all relevant data and information based on agreed templates, while Velocity led the design, operationalization, testing, launch, and stakeholder training.

Key Outcomes & Impact

• Created India’s first comprehensive web-based atlas of nutrition partners, mapping the entire ecosystem of donors, implementing partners, and NGOs working on nutrition across the country
• Enabled the Government of India and state governments to locate partners for last-mile coverage of Poshan Abhiyaan and identify organizations for collaborative initiatives
• Provided donors with data-driven intelligence for investment decisions based on geographic and thematic concentration analysis
• Facilitated cross-learning among development partners by providing a centralized platform for sharing evidence and best practices
• Established a single communication channel for WeCan’s governing stakeholders (BMGF, APPI, CIFF, USAID) to reach the entire nutrition partner network simultaneously
• Delivered a platform supporting the broader Poshan Abhiyaan mission of making nutrition a people’s movement reaching every block and village

Why Velocity

• Complex Data Visualization: Proven capability in building multi-layered geographic mapping and data visualization platforms with interactive filtering
• Rapid Delivery: Ability to deliver a complex, data-intensive platform within an extremely compressed 6-week timeline
• Government Data Integration: Experience working with government nutrition and health data systems at district, state, and national levels
• Multi-stakeholder Platform Design: Understanding of the unique requirements of platforms serving diverse stakeholders including government, donors, and development partners
• Scalable Architecture: Design approach ensuring the platform could evolve from an information repository to an interactive forum as stakeholder engagement matured