Attachment J.4 - OTI Database & OTI Anywhere Guide.pdf

SWIFT 6 – Attachment J.4 1

Attachment J.4 – OTI Knowledge Management Applications: The OTI Database and OTI Anywhere Quick Reference Guide

Table of Contents

OTI DATABASE 3

1. Database Access, Roles and Permissions 3 IP View Own 4 IP View All 4 IP Edit All 4 IP SMT (Senior Management Team) 4

2. Purpose 4

3. Details 5 General 5 Compliance 6 Classification 6 Dates 7 Budget and Finance 8

4. Locations 8

5. Implementation Plan 9

6. Activity Notes 10

7. Monitoring & Evaluation 11 Classification 11

8. Custom Fields 14

9. Merge Templates 14

10. Access Permissions 16

11. File Management 16

OTI ANYWHERE 18

KNOWLEDGE NETWORKS 19

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GUIDANCE 20

PEOPLE 22

RESOURCES 22

OTI DATABASE 23

OTHER FEATURES 23

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The purpose of this document is to provide a quick overview of the two major applications used by our implementing partners and OTI staff to implement and share information. As our learning evolves so do our applications and their guides. Links and access to the applications are provided to all SWIFT Contractors, where they can access the latest OTI Guidance, Practices, and the most recent application's User Guides.

OTI DATABASE

The Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) Country programs normally consist of a Task Order (TO) implemented via a multitude of small activities under the Transition Activities Pool (TAP), which includes Grants Under Contract (GUCs), Short Term Technical Assistance (STTA), Direct Distribution of Goods and Services (DDGS), as well as other implementation vehicles. The average number of activities (sub-awards) can range from 300-800 in any single country program.

Given OTI’s work in complex environments, the nature of what constitutes success for a program is often known in hindsight via trial and error. This “learning by doing” or Action Research model often leads to a large number of small units within a TO. Hence the need for a database for tracking, managing operations, financials, knowledge, reporting, etc. on these units.

The OTI Database provides a system for:

1. Storing a variety of information about the program and each activity;

2. Meeting ADS compliance requirements in a systematic and automated way;

3. Documenting monitoring, evaluation and learning data; and

4. extracting information in a usable and rapid format.

The Database, thus, is a tool that assists Implementing Partners (IP) and OTI Staff in the field and Washington, DC in managing multi-faceted programs and “telling our story,” to Congress, host countries, partners, the public, our beneficiaries and other stakeholders. It provides the means to capture information to explain what we do, why we do it, how we spend the funds, and what we learned as a result of implementing activities.

The Database is tailored to each OTI program to create custom configurations to meet a program's particular needs and develop more in-depth, context-specific guidelines to facilitate the activity approval, implementation and reporting process. This guide makes step-by-step suggestions for key fields that can help to capture “the process” of a field program, as well as, making analysis and documentation of outcomes more straightforward.

The guidance below is provided to give a sense for the types of information captured for each activity in the OTI Database. It is broken down by 10 tabs and their individual fields, described below. Screenshots from the OTI Database are also provided. *The activity example used in the guidance below is fictional. References to people, places, organizations, etc. are not real and are used, purely as examples.*

1. Database Access, Roles and Permissions OTI Staff and Implementing Partners access the Database via a Login.Gov account, which they must obtain in order to gain access. All users have differentiated levels of access permissions based on user

SWIFT 6 – Attachment J.4 4 roles and need to know. Users are located around the globe and the system is maintained in Washington, DC. One of the most important parts of customizing a program database is assigning the proper roles and permissions to each person on the country team who will have access to the OTI Database.

The roles and permissions for implementing partner staff are the following:

IP View Own (most restrictive)

● Can only view and edit specific activities they created or were given access to by other users (access permission tab within an activity)

● Reports, visuals, dashboard will only include activities they can access, including the Program Funds Control Sheet Report.

IP View All

● Can view all activities, but only edit activities they created (unless another creator checks their name in the access permission tab) IP Edit All

● Can view and edit all activities IP SMT (Senior Management Team)

● Can view and edit all activities. Can also officially review activities and force unlock an activity if someone forgets to close the editing functionality, and can approve activity amendments (with the allowed contract threshold).

2. Purpose

● Activity Number: Choose your prefix from the dropdown menu. The database will then automatically assign the next number in sequence. Other prefixes can be chosen to denote partner, location, task order – whatever makes sense to the team, usually 3-4 letters.

● Background: (4-6 paragraphs) This section sets the stage for the activity by explaining what happened to create the current need or opportunity for the Program to intervene. The background section should tell a complete, yet succinct story. This section provides information on the context and the specific problem the activity will address.. [Framework: WHY/Problem - WHAT and WITH

WHOM]

● Activity Objectives: These objectives are specific to the activity itself and should clearly reflect (Objective #1) the output (what), (Objective #2) the direct outcome, and (Objective #3) the higher-level result to which the activity is meant to contribute, which for many programs is represented through a program sub-objective or cluster outcome. These activity objectives are directly tied to the Theory of Change (ToC) and serve as the foundation for the Activity Summary and the M&E plan.

● Activity Summary: The overall summary should be approximately 4 – 8 sentences and should follow this general framework: Background sentence that clearly indicates what the problem is [WHY/ISSUE]. Through this activity the PROGRAM will support [WHO/AWARDEE] in [WHERE] to [WHAT/OUTPUT/ACTIVITY OBJECTIVE ONE] in order to [DIRECT OUTCOME/ACTIVITY OBJECTIVE TWO] in [WHERE]. This activity will [HIGHER LEVEL RESULT/ACTIVITY OBJECTIVE THREE].

● Activity Justification (Theory of Change): An articulation of a hypothesis (set of beliefs) about how and/or why change (immediate outcome) is expected to happen as a result of an activity's inputs by stating relevant assumptions. In simple terms, the ToC states why you believe that doing X will address the problem. It is not a description of who, why, where or how, but rather states the

SWIFT 6 – Attachment J.4 5 underlying assumptions that the program believes will lead to the anticipated outcome of the activity.

● Activity Title: The Title should be short, succinct, and action-oriented, but still contain concrete, useful information. It should be no more than 70 letters/spaces and should not contain commas, dashes or backslashes. It should not repeat the awardee name and it need not include the location.

3. Details

General

a. Last Updated By: This auto-updates with the last person who accessed this activity made edits and saved those edits.

b. Last Time Updated: This auto-updates with a timestamp from the most recent time this activity was updated.

c. Award: If applicable, select the Award from the drop-down menu.

d. Implementing Partner: This field auto populates upon the award selection.

e. Awardee: The awardee must be a local organization, a group of individuals, or—in some country programs—a government Ministry. Avoid commas, dashes or backslashes. users can select the name from the drop-down menu and if it is a new awardee they can add it manually.

f. Awardee Type: The code that describes what type of Awardee is receiving assistance from OTI.

Note: This should be the type of organization, not the beneficiaries.

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g. Awardee Contact: This should be the point of contact for the awardee organization, ideally the person who will be signing any agreement to facilitate the auto-creation of the awardee documentation. (write name only no PII)

h. Activity Type: Select one of the following types: Grant Under Contract (GUC), STTA, DDGS, or Zero-Dollar Activity.

i. Office: Select the field office where the staff who will manage the activity are located.

j. Country: Select your country’s name from the drop-down menu.

Compliance

a. Eligibility (Competition): Restricting eligibility is the new terminology for limiting competition under assistance awards (GUCs in this case). Eligibility may be restricted, and competition may be limited, for a specific sub-grant (or amendment/modification) based on one of the USAID-authorized exceptions to restrict eligibility (i.e., exceptions to full competition).

b. Eligibility Exception: This field is only active if an exception to full competition was selected in the previous field. Please see ADS 303 for further detail on the exceptions to competition.

c. Environmental Risk Classification: As of March 2017, the Environmental Risk Classification field is now required for all activities. Per your program’s EMMP, please select the option from the dropdown menu as appropriate. If your program is being implemented by IOM, please select that option in this menu. If “Negative Determination with Conditions” is selected, you’ll get a second field where you can choose the activity type from your program’s EMMP.

d. EMMP Activity Type: Please select the appropriate activity type from the dropdown menu per your program’s EMMP. Although it is rare, there will be some activities that fall under multiple EMMP categories. For the majority of activities please only select one EMMP Activity Type. However when designing an activity if it becomes clear that it falls under multiple categories, please select the EMMP types that apply.

e. Climate Risk Rating: This field allows teams to assign a Climate Risk Mitigation rating of Low, Moderate,High or N/A. The Country level Initial Environmental Examination provides analysis of the appropriate Climate Risk Mitigation ratings for different types of activities.

Classification

a. Current Status https://www.usaid.gov/ads/policy/300/303

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● Pending: New activity proposal, worthy of consideration but not yet cleared.

● Cleared: OTI has cleared the implementing partner to award the activity or implementation is in progress.

● Rejected: Activities that are not cleared for implementation and for which there was no expenditure of any funds. Or a previously cleared activity that was not implemented and Zero Dollar disbursements.

● Cancelled: A previously cleared activity that is partially implemented and subsequently cancelled after some expenditure of funds. NOTE: if clearance is withdrawn on a previously cleared activity prior to implementation and no funds have been expended the status should be changed to “Rejected” rather than “Cancelled.”

● Suspended: A previously cleared activity that must temporarily cease implementation for an extended period of time due to issues outside of the program’s control.

● Completed: An Activity is COMPLETED when the actual work of the Activity is finished but the paperwork for financials, collection of evaluation information, or receipt of final report may still be pending.

● Closed: The closeout process for activities is defined in the IP’s activity manual

b. Cleared By: The OTI Country Representative’s name (or designee) who clears the activity. this field auto populates when OTI rep changes the status from Pending to Cleared

c. Points of Contact: Enter the names of the team that will develop and manage the activity to completion. This will include the Program Development Officer and Grants Manager in most cases.

d. Reviewed By: The Chief of Party’s name (or designee) who reviews the activity before sending it to OTI for clearance.

Dates

a. Concept Identification: Enter the date that the activity was first introduced to the program development officer. (Optional field.)

b. Concept Submission: Enter the date that the concept was first presented to OTI. (Optional field.)

c. Concept Endorsed: Enter the date that OTI endorsed the concept (yellow light).

d. Entered: The date that the activity was entered into the database (this is automatically entered and not editable).

e. Clearance Request: Enter the date that the Chief of Party (or his/her designee) requested clearance from OTI.

f. Rejected: The date that an activity was rejected by OTI’s Country Representative (or his/her designee).

This field is automatically generated once the OTI Country Representative changes the status of the activity to Rejected. A rejected activity can either be a previously “pending” or previously “cleared” status. A rejected activity has zero disbursements.

g. Cleared: The date that the activity was cleared by OTI’s Country Representative (or his/her designee). This field is automatically generated once the OTI Country Representative changes the status of the activity to Cleared.

h. Awardee Signed: Enter the date that the awardee signed the Agreement.

i. Start: Provide your best estimate of a start date. If the start date changes, create an Activity

Note indicating this.

j. End: Provide your best estimate of an end date (when the activity deliverables will be completed).

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k. Suspended: Enter the date that the activity was suspended due to conditions beyond the control of the program. A previously cleared activity that must temporarily cease implementation for an extended period of time due to issues outside of the program’s control.

l. Completed: This is the date that all activity implementation tasks were completed and the status changed from Cleared to Completed. An Activity is COMPLETED when the actual work of the Activity is finished but the paperwork for financials, collection of evaluation information, or receipt of final report may still be pending.

m. Closed: This is the date that the activity was reviewed and closed by OTI.

Budget and Finance

a. Date: Enter today's date.

b. Budget Type: Select a macro-level budget line item from the dropdown menu.

c. Amount: Enter the amount of the budget this line item represents for this activity.

d. Estimated Activity Award: This amount will show up automatically. It automatically sums the lines entered into the budget (This field reflects the up to date activity total amount).

e. Amount Disbursed: This field is automatically populated. Periodically, usually weekly, partners upload an Excel spreadsheet with updated expenditure data on each activity.

f. Original Activity Budget: this field retains a record of the original approved budget before

Amendments and Adjustments.

g. Fund Source: From the pull-down menu, select the fund source against which the activity will be charged.

h. Assistance Type: Select Cash or In-Kind from the dropdown menu (based on the activity type).

i. Awardee Contribution Amount: If the awardee is providing any in-kind or cash contribution to the activity, please indicate that here (in USD). For in-kind contributions, make your best estimate on what the fair market value of the goods and services would be.

j. Awardee Contribution Narrative: Describe the awardee contribution from the previous field, keeping in mind that these contributions are a means of incorporating buy-in of the community we are partnering with on this activity.

k. Other Donor Contribution Amount: If other donors (other USAID programs, UN, DFiD, etc.) are assisting in the activity, please enter the amount here. For in-kind contributions, estimate the fair market value of the goods and services.

l. Other Donor Contribution Narrative: If it is something that is impossible to describe in dollar value, please make sure to describe it clearly here. For activities that involve government awardees, make sure that contributions such as space, participation in events/meetings (i.e.

time evaluated as labor) are noted.

4. Locations The Locations Tab is broken into six sections: Adding a Location, Entering the Latitude and Longitude, Dragging the Marker to the exact location, Editing Locations, Editing a Place, and Editing a Precise Location. All locations are viewable on the interactive map

● Region: Select the region from the drop-down menu.

● Municipal: Select the municipal from the drop-down menu.

● Place: Select the town or place from the drop-down menu.

● Precise Location: Either drag the marker or specify coordinates (latitude and longitude).

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● Locations Actions: (this is only visible in the Edit more), the use of this action is to edit or Remove an existing location.

5. Implementation Plan

a. Awardee Reporting and Deliverables: This field describes the detailed implementation plan in addition to the reporting and deliverables required by the awardee. Include a detailed description of activities that will be undertaken by all parties, including the awardee, community, other partners, and the OTI implementing partner. Be sure to use action-oriented and time-specific phrases. Deliverables can be listed separately or can be integrated into the implementation plan narrative. For any materials or information that will be produced using OTI funding during activity implementation, OTI program staff will have to provide a Non- Partisan Review (NPR) approval. Items for NPR are generally listed here and categorized as “deliverables” that the awardee is required to submit in order to move forward with activity implementation.

b. Coordination: Discuss the various types of coordination (sometimes on multiple levels) that are required for the particular activity that are not specifically included in the implementation plan.

Provide information with regard to various responsibilities, including obtaining permissions or authorizations. This section will also discuss the awardee’s commitments, if any, to ensure that an activity is continued once program support ends. Coordination activities that take place once the activity is cleared, should be entered into the Activity Notes field.

c. Special Instructions to Partner: Add any special instructions related to implementation for communication between OTI and the implementing partner. This is especially useful to understand the line of communication between program staff and the awardee. Instructions, such as how local products will be delivered or where certain items will need to be procured, are helpful to include in this section.

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d. Branding and Marking: Any details regarding branding and marking expectations for this activity should be added here. Whether or not an activity is branded as USAID and/or the local partner should be made explicit prior to clearance.

e. Media Plan: Many activities include a (traditional or social) media component, and this should be spelled out in this field.

6. Activity Notes Use these entries to record information that is significant to the progress, success or failure of this activity. Focus on processes and outcomes that are becoming apparent during implementation and things that are observed during site visits. Amendments to activity scope and budget are also automatically by the system recorded here.

a. Date: The date that the entry is made – entered automatically.

b. Title: A brief summary of the activity note’s content.

c. Tag: Each note entry should be categorized so that they can be usefully reviewed and retrieved later. The better the use of categories, the better we can use this field for learning. Activity notes should be categorized according to the type of information that is being recorded:(Site Visit, Implementation Update, Security Incident, Media, Outcome … etc)

d. Cluster impacted: When an activity note is tagged as an Outcome, the appropriate cluster should be selected here, if applicable.

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e. Text: The main body of the activity note. This field can be in a language other than English, if deemed appropriate by the senior management team.

Note: Activity notes can be entered directly in the database or through the bulk upload function under settings.

7. Monitoring & Evaluation

a. Activity Objectives: The Activity Objective fields are displayed at the top of the page as a reference (not for editing). It can be edited on the Purpose tab.

b. Activity Justification (Theory of Change): The Theory of Change field is displayed at the top of the page as a reference (not for editing). It can be edited on the Purpose tab.

Classification

c. F Objective: The F Objective will be automatically assigned by the system.

d. F Element / Sub Element: Select the F Element under which the funds were appropriated. TI funds always fall under F: Peace and Security (PS), Category 6: Conflict Mitigation and Reconciliation..

e. Program Objective: Select one Program Objective from the dropdown menu.

f. Sector: You can only pick one sector so pick the one that is most relevant to the activity.

g. Themes: Select all of the themes that are relevant to the activity. These are very important to provide different types of reporting.

h. Clusters: A Cluster is a set of activities intentionally grouped around a common result.

Activities included in a cluster, and the outcomes that arise from those activities, are meant to interact with each other in a meaningful way to enable that cluster result. Clusters are distinct from sectors or themes, which are merely classifications about the content of an activity.

Effects at the cluster level are higher than individual activity effects, yet generally are lower than the achievement of the program’s objectives.

i. Beneficiaries: Direct beneficiaries are the individuals who immediately receive something from an activity, such as skills, knowledge, awareness, technical assistance, temporary employment, or material goods.

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■ Total Beneficiaries Planned: Enter an educated guess of the total number of planned direct beneficiaries, including both males and females.

■ Female Beneficiaries Planned: Enter the number of planned direct beneficiaries who are female (women/girls).

■ Total Beneficiaries Actual: Enter the observed number of total direct beneficiaries.

■ Female Beneficiaries Actual: Enter the observed number of female direct beneficiaries.

■ Beneficiaries Narrative: Explain how the number of direct beneficiaries was determined or calculated.

j. M&E Plan: The M&E plan is a detailed description of the activity's outputs and outcomes, how they will be measured, and by whom. The foundation of the M&E plan is activity objectives 1 and 2.

k. OTI Indicators and F-Indicators: Activity indicators provide scale/scope to the activity.

Whenever selected indicators are counting people (e.g., number of journalists trained, number of person days of employment), another indicator disaggregating the figure for female beneficiaries must also be selected, even if the number will be zero. Where relevant, select only one F Indicator per category Note: there is no requirement that every activity include an F indicator.

■ Planned: Select all applicable indicators and enter, using a best educated guess, the planned amount prior to activity clearance.

■ Actual: After activity completion, enter the actual amounts for each indicator but do not adjust the planned amount (unless there was a typo or similar error).

l. Dates

■ Awardee Final Report Due: Enter the date when the awardee’s final report is due. By default, this is two weeks after the End Date of the activity.

■ Awardee Final Report Received: Enter the date that the awardee’s final report was received.

■ Final Evaluation Report Date: Enter the date that the Final Evaluation Report for the activity is written and entered in the Summary of Achievements and/or Problems field.

m. Summary of Achievements and/or Problems: Each program will develop a format and set of questions to be answered in this field, which forms the narrative of the activity’s Final Evaluation Report (FER). The FER should describe whether the planned outputs were produced, whether expected outcomes were achieved, and whether any unintended outcomes were produced. For each, appropriate evidence should be cited to reasonably demonstrate those assertions. In addition, the FER should describe whether the activity’s assumptions were valid or need to be revisited. Any lessons learned for application to future activities should be entered in the corresponding field below.

n. Lessons Learned: Lessons learned are written primarily for internal purposes. While methods and contexts will vary, sharing lessons learned will help OTI staff and partners think through key programmatic and operational issues on future initiatives.

o. Success Story: Success Stories are written for outreach purposes and tell a story about this activity. It is very useful to also take photos of the project.

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8. Custom Fields If there is no field in the database to capture some piece of information that the program would like to track, custom fields can be created to track whatever you want. You can track additional dates, numbers, and memos (long narrative text fields), and name them whatever you want. For example, if the country wanted to track the date of the final site inspection, a custom date field could be made to do this. Further, custom fields can be set (in the Program Settings) to be required to move an activity from one stage to another.

to add a new field, reach out to your OTI counterpart or submit a ticket through the help/feedback button.

9. Merge Templates In order to extract information from the database for IP Awardee Agreements and other customized forms, you must create a template that is able to pull from specific fields in the Activity Database. To Add a new template (Please note this is an IP SMT and OTI function only):

● Go to the upload template section, and download a blank RTF template

● Save to your computer, and rename the downloaded template to the name of the document.

● Open the downloaded template, and enable macros, the template will blank upon opening for the first time. go to the OTI tasks tab on the top center of your work doc. you will find menus that mimic the activity tabs with the same tab name and each menu has the same list of the activity fields, copy the format of the template you are working on and paste in this form and start selecting the fields you need filled out by the database. After finishing save the template in .RTF format and go back to the database to upload.

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To generate the form (All users):

To generate a form with the auto populated information, go to templates and click on the name of the document, save and close.

To Delete:

click the delete button next to the document name.

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10. Access Permissions Active/Inactive Users: Access Permissions allows you to determine which colleagues (that do not already have access to do so) can edit this particular activity.

11. File Management Please upload all activity related files directly into the activity File Management tab . All documents associated with this activity should be uploaded to File Management. Files can also be viewed at the program level.

1. Upload a Document: Simply drag one or more files into the file area –OR- click on the upload file button. To upload a document successfully, users must complete a list of mandatory fields:

■ Name: You can edit or keep the name of the file.

■ File Description: (Required) Provide a brief description.

■ File Type: (Required) Select from the drop-down list.

■ Origination Date: This is the origination date of the document being uploaded.

■ Activity: If pertinent to a particular activity, please tag the document with the activity number(s).

2. File Filters: Another way to locate files at the program and the activity level is by using file filters. Within file management, click on File Filters to expand and view the various filter options.

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OTI ANYWHERE

OTI Anywhere is OTI’s knowledge-sharing and learning platform for OTI’s community of practice. It was designed to enable OTI and Implementing Partner staff to access and share information, get help, advice, resources, etc. when they need it, where they need it, and how they need it. OTI Anywhere allows users to:

● Accelerate the transfer of guidance, lessons learned and best practices across OTI programs

● Streamline key work processes and achieves more efficient customer support

● Enhance knowledge sharing through shortening connections between people and information

● Leverage a dynamic and evolving platform for training and orientation

OTI’s success, now and in the future, depends in large part on its ability to achieve an overarching organizational goal: the effective transfer and ongoing analysis of knowledge and experience— comprised of values, management processes, lessons learned, best practices, standards, and innovations—in real-time, with a variety of stakeholders. Knowledge sharing on OTI Anywhere is encouraged but not contractually required. Each SWIFT-Programs Contractor and SWIFT-Support Contractor staff will have access to the site once a Task Order is awarded for all program staff or at a minimum for headquarter personnel overseeing the SWIFT contract. Quarterly user audits will be conducted by OTI and the Contractor will be asked to update their list of authorized users.

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The site has four main sections to support OTI’s knowledge management purpose:

● Knowledge Networks

● Guidance

● People

● Resources

KNOWLEDGE NETWORKS

The Knowledge Networks (KN) are discussion spaces on topics of interest such as Monitoring & Evaluation, Research, or the IP Hub that allows users to connect with colleagues worldwide online, share resources, add to the discussion, or get advice. All implementing partner staff are automatically added to the IP Hub KN online so that all IPs are in the know on the latest resources. Similarly the Grapevine is the network for all OTI staff. Members can post to a network by clicking the create discussion button and all members will receive an email with the information. Some content is restricted to OTI only for its sensitivity but the KNs are meant to be an open space where all users can comment, like or dislike a post or add their own discussion.

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GUIDANCE

The guidance books are created by OTI staff and provide users worldwide with the latest information and direction on OTI’s mission, model, policies, requirements and program effectiveness guidelines.

There are two main types of resources within the Guidance Page: Guidance like OTI’s Field Programs Guide and Practice Resources like programmatic toolkits and practice notes. Guidance includes the ethos, theory, and rationale or intent of and context for elements of OTI’s mission, model, and program effectiveness (PE) (e.g. Field Guide, etc.) as well as, the policy and requirements that OTI and IP staff, particularly those with accountability for Program Effectiveness (PE), need to know. For the

SWIFT 6 – Attachment J.4 21 more operational aspects of OTI’s work, guidelines are provided that explain how to execute or fulfill requirements related to OTI’s model or PE.

The second category after guidance are practice resources compiled from the collective experience of OTI’s community of practice. Practice resources provide staff with examples and information about how other OTI programs over time have implemented a requirement or addressed a common challenge or PE need. Practice Resources have different types and levels that allow users of the site to identify whether it is just an idea or a practice endorsed by OTI. While there is a list below note that these types and categories will likely evolve overtime. These resources all have the same unifying purpose: to build a body of knowledge that enhances OTI programming approaches. Below is the main breakdown of the different types of practices, who creates them, if they are reviewed or not, etc.. This helps users understand the variety of resources available in OTI Anywhere.

In the guidance page you can search to find guidance on the Action Research Model or OTI-Endorsed Practices: There are also common guidance blocks to:

● Consult guidance on implementing country programs in the Field Guide;

● Review OTI's experience and lessons learned in particular topics in the Programmatic Toolkits;

and

● Refer to User Guides for OTI Anywhere and the OTI Database.

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OTI Editor teams are primarily in charge of editing the guidance in consultation with OTI’s Program Effectiveness Decision Group who approves any changes to guidance related to OTI’s Field Programs.

Only designated OTI individuals can update or create new guidance to share as needed.

PEOPLE

The people page allows users to update their profile to better engage with the OTI Community. Only work emails are appropriate and it is helpful to have a clear picture of the individual’s face or if they so choose, users can be created and use a memoji or other favorite image. This directory of OTI’s community of practice is available for all users and it serves as a searchable directory for finding colleagues, including their title, organization, email and duty station. We encourage users to reach out to fellow users but note that any contact reported as inappropriate can lead to the suspension of the users account and/or further disciplinary actions.

RESOURCES

The resource page is a repository for all content types posted to the site. Whether it is Guidance, Discussions or other Resources, they all can be found here in this page. It is the site's library to find documents, search, sort, and filter thousands of resources uploaded by users. All OTI Anywhere users can add content through the create resource button that is relevant to OTI programming in the form of documents, videos, audio, links, maps and photos to make it easily available to other members. When creating a resource there are a number of fields that help tag resources and create filters in the advanced search functionality of the page. This helps users refine search results and pinpoint exactly what they need from what’s available within OTI Anywhere. You can search by name, content type and/or format of resources, such as photos, videos, maps and visuals, or you can enable the advanced search to find information on particular programs, resource type, etc.. Note that content restricted to

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OTI Only will not appear if the user is an IP. Additionally, the data retention policy for OTI Anywhere is three years if there is no longer a need for the information.

OTI DATABASE

Users can access the OTI Database by clicking on the database icon. Note this will open a new tab in the browser. On the other hand you can always return to OTI Anywhere via the external links tab in the OTI Database or access the OTI Database User guide. Additionally, as the database evolves announcements will be made in OTI Anywhere via the Tech Loop

Knowledge Network.

OTHER FEATURES

HELP - The Help button allows users to generate a ticket. Use this button to post a question about the site, report an issue, or any additional help needed to contact our Site support team.

SEARCH - The search bar allows users to search for content with keywords words or phrases across OTI Anywhere. If the user wants to search for an exact phrase they need to make sure to use “Quotations” to indicate they want that exact wording. The search bar will look for those words in the title and description of each content. Resources such as documents, images, videos and other multimedia content is tagged using keywords to improve searchability. Search in the Resource page to use filters to narrow a search across OTI Anywhere.