It may seem that things have been quiet on the LMMS front these days (was there ever a winner on the Java vs .Net debate?), but rest assured, while you’ve been thinking about the pros and cons of these development architectures, the LMMS staff have been working very hard in the background … LMMS’ing. Here’s what we’ve been up to:
- In response to the devastating earthquake in Haiti, LMMS has been identified as a necessity to ensure accountability, efficiency and effectiveness in the distribution of Non-Food Items (NFIs) in the 90 day emergency response plan and throughout an initial one year programme in the country.
- In light of the growing demand for LMMS, the first wave of LMMS training has been set in Canada for this month which includes:
- 2 intensive days of technical training focusing on software installation and troubleshooting (ie. networks and connectivity).
- 3 exciting days of end user training for those people going out to the field to train staff on LMMS use
- Revamping of the LMMS website…stay tuned for the “official” site launch date (estimated to be mid-April)
- LMMS has a logo!
jcapili Uncategorized
As a good example of why LMMS is so needed as a tool to ensure aid gets to who needs it and to hold agencies accountable for aid, consider this report today from the UN’s news agency:
In Brief: Alleged food aid seller arrested in Afghanistan
KABUL, 21 January 2010 (IRIN) – A man who allegedly sold 72 tons of food aid destined for internally displaced persons (IDPs) along the border between the southern provinces of Zabul and Paktika, has been arrested, the National Security Department (NDS) said in a press statement on 20 January.
“The accused has confessed that he sold 1,212 sacks of wheat, 224 cartons of cooking oil, 145 sacks of pulses and 12 bags of salt which were given to him by WFP [World Food Programme] for IDPs – to a merchant in Qalat City [Zabul Province] for one million Afghani [over US$20,000],” the statement said. NDS is Afghanistan’s intelligence agency and its officials do not respond to media queries.
WFP spokeswoman in Kabul Challiss McDonough told IRIN WFP was taking the food diversion allegations very seriously. “We will aggressively investigate this case,” she said, without confirming the food aid sold had been donated by WFP.
UN agencies do not have direct access to insecure southern provinces but run aid projects through local partners such as NGOs and government offices.
Reported from http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=87819
Jay Narhan Uncategorized
Readers – please consider support for the Haiti Earthquake. One option: http://bit.ly/Help_Haiti
I will be posting more info on Haiti support soon.
Jay Narhan Uncategorized
Just a quick update to notify everyone that the system’s development team finalized two major issues on LMMS last night that came up as we worked on the integration pieces between World Vision and Fieldworker’s respective software coding. We are expecting Fieldworkers applications to be released on Friday and WVC’s updated release also on Friday. The Core Team will spend a few days running through test scenarios. Additional (lower priority) functionality on LMMS will continue as we work on the Alpha release on the existing specifications (expected to end beginning of March).
Equipment order process has started and we have a deadline imposed as of beginning of February to have equipment in Uganda and Zimbabwe. Card printing options at WVC are still under design phases, but we hope to have all cards pre-printed ahead off shipment to the field.
One quick note to all – the LMMS team is exhausted, we have been going full out for a while. With the Christmas break upcoming and the closure of a number of offices, the team will be off December 22 to January 4th. Let me wish you all a very peaceful, joyous holiday season and a very happy new year!
Jay Narhan Uncategorized
Couple of recent posts and links to LMMS that have popped up:
Zunia.org and Reliefweb
both linking to case study cited in an earlier blog entry, but good to see some greater coverage from two well respected humanitarian sites!
Jay Narhan Uncategorized
