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Purpose: The purpose of this instrument is to facilitate quantitative measurement of a SERVIR host institution’s capacity to fulfill the functions specific to a SERVIR Hub. The outcomes of this self-assessment may be used to prioritize technical assistance and other activities to build Hub capacity, and/or serve as a mechanism to monitor progress over time.
Please note that this instrument does not assess financial sustainability or management of the Hub institution. An assessment of institutional capacity from financial and business development perspectives may be conducted using other instruments, for example, the USAID Organizational Capacity Assessment.
Use of this instrument: This instrument is designed to provide a quantitative measure ranging from 1 (the lowest) to 5 (the highest) of a SERVIR Hub’s capacity to execute each of the functions. For each function performed by the Hub, the instrument provides several statements and asks the person completing the assessment to indicate their level of confidence that these statements are correct. The score for each function is determined as an average of the answers to statements related to executing the function.
The statements fall into three categories: technical and managerial resources, expertise (knowledge) and experience:
Technical and managerial resources include qualified staff, computers and other equipment, financial resources and time.
Expertise refers to the theoretical knowledge of the available staff members and experts, although these experts my not used this knowledge in the past.
Experience refers to both individual and collective (institutional) proficiency gained through implementing certain activities in the past.
Since the same resources, knowledge or experience may be required for multiple functions, in some cases the same question appears in the instrument more than once. This is done for convenience of calculating the scores. Similarly, some questions may appear as simple "Yes"/"No" questions. In order to facilitate scoring of the whole function, the instrument requires to answer these questions within the same range, assuming "No" is the lowest score, and "Yes" is the highest score. However, if the "Yes" or "No" answer seems to be conditional ("Yes, but..."), you may choose a score in between these ranges.
Survey Instructions: For each function, the instrument provides a number of statements. Your answer represents your subjective ‘best estimate’ in regards to the Hub host institution. You must answer all questions; providing all the answers is required to provide an accurate score for the function as a whole. Remember: There are no good or bad choices, only helpful answers.
Select the number of stars that best represents your agreement with the statement (more stars mean greater degree of agreement). If a statement seems to be a "Yes"/"No" question, select one star for a definitive "No" and five stars for a definitive "Yes", recognizing that you may also choose an in-between response.
The survey has 3 pages, and may take you from 30 to 90 minutes to complete. |
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| IR1. Improved capacity of analysts and decision-makers to use earth observation information and geospatial information technologies |
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| FUNCTION 1.1.1: Systematically assess users’ capacity needs at the individual and organizational levels, for both technical users engaged in the analysis or consumption of geospatial data as well as those who use the outputs of those products and services in decision-making.
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| Our institution has a person(s) whose job responsibility includes conducting assessments of users' capacity and determining their needs | |
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| Our institution has conducted assessments of INDIVIDUALS’ ability to analyze geospatial data and/or develop products based on this data | |
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| Our institution has conducted assessments of INSTITUTIONS’ capacities to analyze geospatial data or develop products based on this data | |
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| Our institution has conducted assessments of the decision-making process within a government agency that uses geospatial data and/or analysis | |
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| Our institution has a person on staff who knows how to assess users’ capacities | |
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| Our institution has a person on staff who has assessed users’ capacities or users’ needs | |
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| Our institution has sufficient resources to conduct capacity/needs assessments for new users | |
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| Our institution has sufficient resources to conduct capacity/needs assessments for key users on an annual basis | |
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| FUNCTION 1.2.1: Design and deliver high-quality training and technical assistance.
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| Our institution has a person whose job responsibilities include delivering trainings | |
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| Our institution has a person whose job responsibilities include providing technical assistance on geospatial data analysis | |
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| Our institution currently provides technical assistance on the use of geospatial data or tools | |
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| Our institution has completed training for technical staff in the past | |
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| Our institution has completed training for decision-makers in the past | |
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| FUNCTION 1.2.2: Adapt training to client needs and project objectives, including monitoring and evaluation of training, customization of materials, and adoption of new techniques.
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| Our institution has a person whose job responsibilities include assessment of client needs for training | |
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| We monitor how participants understand training materials | |
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| We evaluate outcomes of the training for the trainees | |
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| Our institution has compared pre and post training capacities of an organization in the past | |
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| Our institution has a process for adapting existing training materials for individual client needs | |
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| At our training we provide more than information about our products | |
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| Our institution has developed trainings based on new training techniques in the past | |
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| FUNCTION 1.2.3: Support training, including venues and equipment, event management, post-training knowledge management and participant management.
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| Our institution has facilities to conduct training for 10 -15 people | |
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| Our institution has staff whose responsibilities include organizing training for 10-15 people in the past | |
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| Our institution has a website/web-portal to share training materials online | |
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| We contact training participants after the training to evaluate their experience | |
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| People who participated in our events/trainings in the past continue engagement in discussion/working groups | |
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| Our institution has a database with information about all training participants | |
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| FUNCTION 1.3.1: Design, plan and implement science-policy exchanges about geospatial products and services to support development decision-making.
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| Our institution has participated in science-policy exchanges in the past | |
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| Our institution has organized science-policy exchanges in the past | |
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| Our institution has experience organizing meetings for international participants hosted by our institution | |
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| Our institution has facilities to host a meeting of 30 -50 individuals | |
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| FUNCTION 1.3.2: Engage relevant stakeholders (research, NGO, policy, government, etc.) to generate meaningful collaboration, take stock of existing efforts, and avoid duplication.
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| Our institution has regular contacts (meetings, collaborative projects) with other research institutions and NGOs in our region | |
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| Our institution has regular contacts (meetings, collaborative projects) with government institutions/decision-makers in our region | |
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| We take advantage of opportunities (event, conference, workgroup) to inform others about the projects we are currently doing | |
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| We know what geospatial tools/products are currently developed by other stakeholders (research institutions, NGOs, government) in our region | |
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| Our institution has a person whose job responsibilities include ensuring that there is no duplication of efforts with other stakeholders (including other projects, donors, Hub’s or government institutions) | |
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| IR2. Improved awareness of and access to geospatial data, products, and tools |
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| FUNCTION 2.1.1: Assess regional and national awareness, needs, quality, and coverage of geospatial data, products and tools.
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| Our institution has a person(s) whose job responsibilities include assessment of geospatial data availability and data needs | |
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| Our institution has completed assessments of regional or national geospatial data/product/tool availability in the past | |
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| Our institution has completed assessments of regional or national geospatial data/product/tool quality in the past | |
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| Our institution has a person on staff who knows how to conduct data/product/tool availability and quality assessments | |
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| Our institution has a person on staff who has conducted data/product/tool availability or quality assessment in the past | |
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| Our institution has sufficient resources to conduct data/product/tool quality/ availability assessments regularly | |
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| FUNCTION 2.1.2: Systematically monitor and evaluate user access and awareness of geospatial data, products and tools.
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| Our institution has a person whose job responsibilities include assessment of client awareness of geospatial products and tools | |
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| We monitor how clients use our data, products, and tools | |
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| We evaluate user access to our data, products, and tools | |
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| Our institution has conducted studies of user access to geospatial data in the past | |
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| Our institution has a process for measuring awareness of our products and tools (any products and tools of the hub host organization) | |
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| Our institution has resources to conduct assessments of current and potential stakeholder’s access to geospatial data/products/tools on an annual basis | |
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| FUNCTION 2.2.1: Identify information “value chains” and communication channels and needs.
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| Our institution has a person whose job responsibilities include identifying user’s use/intended use of geospatial data and/or decision tools | |
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| In the past we have conducted analysis of how information flows into a user’s decision-making process (the information “value chain” from data generation to analysis to tool development to communication) | |
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| We understand how to analyze information about user’s decision-making processes to inform the design of decision-support products and tools and communication of information | |
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| Our institution has a person on staff who knows how to identify and select ways to tailor and communicate information to enable its use (web-based, SMS, email, print, radio, etc.) | |
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| Our institution has analyzed communication options for our user’s/potential user’s in the past | |
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| Our institution has resources to track the effectiveness of various communication formats | |
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| Our institution has used more than one format in the past for communicating information to users | |
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| FUNCTION 2.2.2: Develop and employ communications, marketing and outreach tools, events and other activities that increase awareness and access to geospatial data, tools and products.
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| Our institution has facilities to conduct events for 20 -40 people | |
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| Our institution has a person on staff who has developed communications, marketing, and outreach tools in the past | |
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| Our institution has a person on staff who has organized events for 20-40 people (including international visitors) in the past | |
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| Our institution has a person on staff whose responsibilities include/will include developing communication/outreach tools/events | |
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| We understand the differences in communication and outreach messages and tools for different audiences | |
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| Our institution has a database with information about audiences for outreach/communication events | |
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| FUNCTION 2.2.3: Create data, product, and tool sharing arrangements.
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| Our institution has created or facilitated data sharing arrangements in the past | |
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| Our institution has hardware/software necessary to facilitate data sharing arrangements | |
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| Our institution has working relations with organizations that are potential participants in data sharing arrangements on a regional level | |
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| Our institution has a person on staff whose job includes facilitating and maintaining data sharing arrangements | |
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| FUNCTION 2.2.4: Develop and implement metadata and data management standards and procedures.
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| Our institution has a person on staff who knows how to develop and implement DATA management standards and procedures | |
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| Our institution has developed DATA management standards and procedures in the past | |
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| Our institution has a person on staff who knows how to developed and implement METADATA management and standards | |
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| Our institution has developed metadata and implemented METADATA management procedures in the past | |
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| Our institution has dedicated a senior geospatial scientist to supervise the development of standards | |
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| Our institution has people on staff whose jobs include development and implementation of data management standards | |
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| Our institution has provided technical assistance in implementing data management standards and procedures in the past | |
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| FUNCTION 2.2.5: Coordinate with existing and planned data sharing efforts to avoid duplication of effort.
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| Our institution has a person whose job is to coordinate data sharing efforts with other institutions/stakeholders | |
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| We are currently engaged in regular coordination activities at the regional/national level | |
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| Our institution has successfully coordinated data sharing efforts in the past | |
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| Our institution has working relations with ALL institutions that produce and share geospatial data in the region | |
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| FUNCTION 2.3.1: Develop, operate and maintain data, product, and tool sharing platforms.
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| Our institution has people on staff who KNOW how to develop data sharing platforms (including web-based platforms) | |
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| Our institution has people on staff who HAVE EXPERIENCE developing data sharing platforms | |
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| Our institution has minimum required number of people on staff who can be dedicated to development of the data sharing platform | |
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| Our institution has a person whose job responsibilities include maintenance of data sharing platforms | |
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| Our institution has people on staff who know software required to develop and maintain data sharing platforms | |
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| Our institution has minimum required number of people on staff who can be dedicated to maintenance of the data sharing platform | |
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| Our institution has had experience maintaining web-based data sharing platform in the past | |
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| Our institution has a server (hardware) with adequate computing power and storage capacity to host data sharing platform for the next five years | |
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| Our institution has legal copies of software required to host data sharing platforms | |
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| Our institution has an internet connection with bandwidth that exceeds estimated needs for data sharing platforms for the next five years | |
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| Our institution has experience standing up cloud-based servers to host data sharing platforms | |
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| Our institution has uninterrupted electricity supply (source) to maintain power to the server for at least a day | |
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| Our institution has adequate resources (financial and material) to maintain data sharing platforms | |
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| FUNCTION 2.3.2: Integrate available geospatial data, products, and tools into relevant platforms.
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| Our institution has a person whose job responsibilities include integration of new data into data sharing platforms | |
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| Our institution has people on staff who know how to integrate new geospatial data into our data sharing platform | |
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| Our institution has obtained and integrated new geospatial data in the data sharing platform in the past | |
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| Our institution has an established process for identifying new data and integrating it into the data sharing platform | |
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| Our institution has resources to continue extension of our data sharing platform with new data for the next five years | |
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| FUNCTION 2.3.3: Monitor use, and track system performance.
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| Our institution has person(s) on staff responsible for operability of data platforms | |
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| Our institution has established procedures for monitoring use of the data platform(s) | |
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| Our institution has standard practices for tracking system performance and responding to identified security threats and future performance constraints | |
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| Our institution has person(s) on staff with knowledge of how to maintain operability of data platforms | |
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| Our institution has procedures to respond to identified external risks and to performance problems | |
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| Our institution has successfully maintained operability of data systems in the past | |
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| IR3. Increased provision of user-tailored geospatial data, products, and tools to inform decision-making |
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| FUNCTION 3.1.1: Identify previous and planned data, products, and tools to avoid duplication and build on existing efforts.
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| Our institution has a person(s) whose job responsibilities include assessment of geospatial data availability and data needs | |
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| Our institution has completed assessments of regional or national geospatial data availability in the past | |
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| Our institution has a person on staff whose job responsibilities include analysis of available tools and plans for tool development from partners and stakeholders | |
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| Our institution has working relations with ALL institutions in the region that produce geospatial data and tools | |
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| Our institution has mechanisms (regular meeting, phone call, website, etc.) that are used by ALL regional institutions that produce geospatial data and tools to inform about plans to develop new products | |
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| Our policies for development of new tools/data include analysis of available data and tools, as well as development plans by ALL regional stakeholders, as a necessary step to start development of the new tool | |
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| FUNCTION 3.1.2: Engage decision-makers at regional and national levels to identify needs and opportunities for decision support data, products, and tools.
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| Our institution has a person whose job responsibilities include engaging regional decision-makers | |
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| We are currently engaged in regular coordination activities at regional/national level | |
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| Our institution has a database of contact information of and activities with regional stakeholders (customer relation database) | |
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| Our institution has a persons on staff who has experience engaging stakeholders to identify opportunities and needs for geospatial data and tools | |
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| Our organization engages stakeholders at the first stages of product/tool development as common practice | |
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| User engagement in the different phases of the product or tool development cycle is well – documented | |
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| We allocate sufficient resources to tasks that engage decision-makers in the identification of needs and opportunities and prototyping and testing of products and tools | |
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| FUNCTION 3.1.3: Identify opportunities to adapt SERVIR products and tools from across the network.
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| Our institution has a person whose job responsibilities include identifying available SERVIR tools to be adopted in the region | |
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| Analyzing opportunities for adapting existing products is a standard part of new product development in our institution | |
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| Our institution has specialists on staff who understand every product developed by SERVIR network partners | |
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| We engage in regular conversations with SERVIR partners to learn about new products they develop | |
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| FUNCTION 3.2.1: Develop geospatial product and tools for local decision-makers.
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| Our institution has experts/scientists who can build user-tailored geospatial tools/products and models | |
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| Our institution has in-situ Earth observations datasets produced and used in our institution | |
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| Our institution has used remotely sense Earth observations datasets in our institution | |
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| Our institution has geospatial data - such as soils datasets, land use types - derived from satellites and used in our institution | |
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| Our institution has products - such as hydrologic model outputs, etc. - produced and used in our institution | |
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| Our scientists have access to journal articles, and other similar publications to support research | |
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| Our institution has developers on-staff who have experience developing stand-alone geospatial products/tools in the past | |
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| Our institution has on-staff scientists able to translate the end-user need to an actionable tool/model/product | |
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| Our institution has sufficient number of developers/programmers to produce required number of geospatial tools/products | |
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| Our institution has source control/change systems in place | |
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| Our institution has practices in place to support IT security (computer resources and management practices) | |
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| Our institution has well-defined software development process (collection of user requirement, document user acceptance, manage source code, publishing products) that we practiced in previous projects | |
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| FUNCTION 3.2.2: Adapting/expanding/tailoring existing SERVIR and/or NASA products and tools for local (national and regional) needs.
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| Our institution has a PI (with doctoral or master level degree/technical experts with experience) available to supervise tailoring SERVIR/NASA products for each product we will tailor | |
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| Our institution has programmers on staff who are familiar with the software/languages/science used in other geospatial applications | |
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| Our institution has, and/or have access to, hardware/software necessary to run existing SERVIR applications for local needs | |
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| Our institution has person(s) on staff who has knowledge of EACH of the geospatial tools developed by our institution | |
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| Our institution has person(s) who know how to expand existing tools into new sectors/ to new users | |
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| Our institution has person(s) who expanded existing tools into new sectors/to new users in the past | |
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| We start expanding/customizing existing tools to new sectors/users by default right after the opportunity is identified | |
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| Our institution has human resources to adapt existing tools to additional sectors/users | |
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| Our institution has financial resources to adapt existing tools to additional sectors/users | |
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| Our institution has a PI (with doctoral or master level degree/ technical experts with experience) who has experience developing or adopting existing models, tools or applications to the national or regional needs in the past | |
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| FUNCTION 3.2.3: Maintain technical team that is able to collaborate on national, regional and international research and product development activities, often through multi-disciplinary teams and expertise (Technical – GIS, Remote Sensing; Database; and Sectoral –water, disaster, agriculture, land use, weather).
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| Our institution has the necessary scientific and technical personnel by relevant Group on Earth Observation (GEO)_theme (agriculture, biodiversity, climate, disasters, ecosystems, energy, health, water, weather) | |
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| Our institution has on-staff scientists/PIs who collaborated on national, regional, and international research and product development | |
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| Our institution has on-staff scientists/PIs who published in peer-reviewed journals in the last 3 years | |
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| Our institution has opportunities or provide support to engage in continued education and technical skill training | |
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| Our institution has processes (internships, RAships, etc.) to engage junior researchers/students in collaboration on research not directly related with activities funded by donors | |
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| Our institution has opportunities or provide support to engage in continued education and technical skill training | |
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| Our institution has scientists/technical (PI or Team leader) who lead development of standalone products (projects) in the last 5 years | |
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| There is there a mechanism/funding/support at our institution that allows scientists to spend time on own research ideas | |
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| Our scientists have continual/consistent access and exposure to emerging data/models/platforms developed provide by agencies like NASA, ESA, etc. | |
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| Our institution has scientists on staff who were invited to speak at conferences (locally and abroad) | |
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| Our institution has peer-reviewed journal publications, books or chapters, conference proceedings, and/or conference presentations | |
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| Our institution has procedures in place to identify opportunities for international/regional/national collaboration | |
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| FUNCTION 3.2.4: Engage users throughout the product development process, including gathering requirements, product design, development, and testing.
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| Our institution has a person whose job responsibilities include assessment of client decision-support needs | |
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| We monitor how clients use our products and tools | |
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| Our institution has a person whose job responsibilities include gathering product/tools requirements from the users/potential users | |
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| Our institution has engaged users in defining product/tools requirements in the past | |
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| Our institution has a process for engaging users/potential users in pre-release product testing | |
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| Our institution has a methodology to collect user feedback about our products and have used it in the past | |
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| Our institution has a process of adapting (changing) existing products based on user feedback | |
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| Our institution has resources to collect user feedback about our products on an annual basis | |
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| FUNCTION 3.2.5: Partner with complementary institutions and initiatives for product development.
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| Our institution has a database (or information in other form) about regional and national institutions that develop complementary products | |
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| Our institution has a procedure to identify and assess partners with complementary products/initiatives | |
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| Our institution has identified, assessed, and partnered with complementary institutions in the past | |
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| Our institution has resources to identify and assess complementary initiatives on an annual basis | |
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| Our institution has people on staff with experience identifying and assessing complementary initiatives | |
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| FUNCTION 3.3.1: Develop and execute product-level communications plans to ensure target audiences are being reached.
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| Our institution has people on staff who KNOW how to develop communication plans (plans that describe steps to communicate information about new product to different audiences) | |
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| Our institution has people on staff who HAVE EXPERIENCE developing communication plans | |
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| Our institution has people on staff who KNOW how to implement communication plans | |
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| Our institution has people on staff who HAVE EXPERIENCE implementing communication strategies/plans | |
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| Our institution has people on staff who KNOW how to identify and segment target audiences for a product | |
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| Our institution has people on staff who HAVE EXPERIENCE identifying target audiences and communication channels for a product | |
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| Our team has experience using all communication channels (print, web, events) | |
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| Our institution has venue and resources (websites, mailing lists, etc.) to conduct communication events and share information about our products | |
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| We successfully communicated information about our products to ALL appropriate audiences in the past | |
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| FUNCTION 3.3.2: Develop and implement tool hosting, maintenance and technical support plans.
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| Our institution has people on staff who KNOW how to develop technical support plans | |
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| Our institution has people on staff who HAVE EXPERIENCE developing technical support plans | |
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| Our institution has people on staff who KNOW how to develop websites for hosting geospatial tools | |
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| Our institution has people on staff who HAVE EXPERIENCE developing websites/platforms for hosting geospatial tools | |
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| Our institution has people on staff who have experience maintaining websites/platforms for hosting geospatial tools | |
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| Our institution has sufficient physical infrastructure (servers and internet connection) to host websites/platform for sharing geospatial tools or we have established cloud-based solution for this | |
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| Our institution has adequate resources (financial and material) to maintain websites/platforms for hosting geospatial tools | |
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| FUNCTION 3.3.3: Monitor and evaluate the uptake and application of tools.
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| Our institution has person(s) on staff responsible for monitoring and evaluating use of the tools we developed | |
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| Our institution has established procedures for collecting data on use of the tools we developed | |
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| Our institution has person(s) on staff that knows how to evaluate uptake and application of tools | |
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| Our institution has person(s) on staff conducted evaluation of uptake and application of tools in the past | |
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| Our institution has resources to conduct evaluations of the uptake and use of EACH of our tools on annual basis | |
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| Our institution has evaluation tools (surveys, templates, etc.) to conduct evaluation of the uptake and use of the tools | |
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| Our institution has procedures to incorporate results of the monitoring and evaluation of tool uptake into tools design process | |
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| FUNCTION 3.3.4: Assist end-users with the interpretation of models, product and tool outputs and analyses.
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| Our institution has person(s) on staff responsible for assisting users in interpretation of product/tools outputs | |
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| Our institution has a person who has experience assisting end-users in the interpretation of products/tools outputs | |
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| Our institution has clearly defined ways for users to request assistance in interpretation of product/tool outputs | |
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| Assistance to users in interpreting tools outputs and conducting analysis is financially self-sustainable | |
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| Our institution has human resources to provide assistance in the interpretation of product/tool outputs to all users requesting this assistance | |
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