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Bad Services? Holding Officials Accountable with SMS, Radio, and TRAC FM

Posted by MelissaUlbricht on Sep 21, 2011

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Bad Services? Holding Officials Accountable with SMS, Radio, and TRAC FM data sheet 2345 Views

A recent radio poll at Sanyu FM in Kampala, Uganda, asked listeners what area of service delivery should be a priority: healthcare, education, security, sanitation, or transport. Using a new tool, TRAC FM, the station was able to solicit comments via SMS from listeners, discuss the issue on the air, and create and post online visualizations of the responses. The station received 103 SMS responses which showed that healthcare was the major concern for listeners, which accounted for 65% of responses.

With help from Text to Change and in partnership with local media organizations, TRAC FM provides citizens in Uganda with a platform to monitor, scrutinize, and discuss public service issues via SMS, radio, and online data visualizations. It does this via the TRAC FM software, a tool for Ugandan radio stations that is partially built on RapidSMS, an open source platform originally developed by UNICEF. 

According to the TRAC FM website:

TRAC works in countries affected by poverty and conflict. Its sole purpose is to improve the welfare of people by enabling them to make informed choices and to hold their leaders accountable. TRAC gathers data to enhance transparency and informs people by unleashing the power of mobile communications.

Trac.fm
Basic Information
Website URL: 
http://tracfm.nyaruka.com/
Organization involved in the project?: 
Text to Change
Project goals: 

TRAC works in countries affected by poverty and conflict. Its sole purpose is to improve the welfare of people by enabling them to make informed choices and to hold their leaders accountable. TRAC gathers data to enhance transparency and informs people by unleashing the power of mobile communications.

Brief description of the project: 

With guidance from Text to Change and in partnership with local media organizations, TRAC FM provides citizens in Uganda with a platform to monitor, scrutinize, and discuss public service issues via SMS, radio, and online data visualizations. It does this via the TRAC FM software, a tool for Ugandan radio stations that is built on an open source platform.

Target audience: 

TRAC FM software is installed and used by radio stations. The target audience for participation is all listeners of a given radio station, as well as anyone who engages online with the station. 

Detailed Information
Status: 
Ongoing
What worked well? : 

The TRAC FM software levarages local languages well. It also uses a multi-platform approach (radio, mobile/SMS, and online) to engage a wide array of people. The software is flexible -- it can be adapted to fit into the existing programming at a station. Recognition functionality helps automate and ensure that most responses are accounted for. 

What did not work? What were the challenges?: 

Dijkstra said that one of the biggest challenges thus far has been streamlining the process with different parties involved in the process of running a poll.