Digital Pen Project managed by South African Ministry of Agriculture in Partnership with Xcallibre Worlds Fastest Forms Processing Solutions! Contact : Mr Tozamile Lukhalo Director: National Extension Reform South Africa South Africa

Outline 1.Welcome & Introduction 2.The Pilot Project Why Digital Pen not Tablet? 4.Post Pilot Project success 5.Project Success – National Rollout 6.Advantages of using Digital Pen & Paper 7.Digital Pen & Paper Technology – How it works? Solution Flow The Digital Pen The Paper forms 8.Live System demonstration 9.Questions?

The Pilot Project Western Cape Department of Agriculture piloted use of Digital Pen Vs Tablets in 2009 for use in the completion, transfer, capture, storage and reporting of extension advisory forms and related reports. The aim was to find the most suitable technology to solve problems experienced: Difficulty monitoring and managing large field based teams and productivity Delays in receiving forms due to large distances from field to office including lost forms and incomplete forms delays in capturing & processing forms insufficient info on forms for managers to assist extension officers, no photos difficulties of assessing information & reporting due to lack of ICT systems poor spatial planning due to lack of GPS coordinates No proof of onsite visits The department wanted a real-time form capture/transfer solution with minimal training, change management, support and implementation costs.

Why Digital Pen not Tablet? After a 3 month initial piloting of Digital Pens and Tablets to capture and transfer forms the department choose to move forward with digital pens. Why? –Easy to use with little or no training required & Zero change to current work practice –Normal ink & normal paper - Paper copy/backup available –Very long device life (4 to 5 years) vs 1 to 2 tablet –Very long battery life (8 hours writing time) –No second hand resale value - Rarely stolen vs high risk tablet –Cheap vs tablet –Swap out warranty no delays on repairs/broken screen vs lengthy screen replacement, etc tablet delays –Limited IT support required

Post Pilot Project Success The Western Cape then did a full rollout of digital pens to over 100 users Xcallibre developed a project and farm monitoring system for the client using its digital pen technology combined with GPS & camera enabled mobile phones. The solution allows the department’s extension officers to register projects and then do real time monitoring and provide support at regular site visits, while also attaching GPS coordinates and photographs. How do we solve the problems?: Difficulty monitoring & managing large field based teams/productivity – Real-time system reporting - managers have visibility on staff movement/productivity Delays in receiving forms due to large distances from field to office including lost forms/incomplete forms – Real-time transfer of forms to centralised database Delays in capturing & processing forms – Automated handwriting recognition software > 90 % capture accuracy insufficient info on forms for managers to assist extension officers, no photos – Photo and GPS attach allowed managers additional info for decision making difficulties of assessing information & reporting due to lack of ICT systems – Centralised online forms portal allowed secure realt-time access to forms and reports

Project Success – National Rollout After the success of the Western Cape Digital Pen Project, DAFF and other 8 provinces decided that the solution should be rolled out Nationally. Starting in 2010 other 8 provinces began procuring solution and rolling out DepartmentProject Start DatePens Free State25-Nov Northern Cape17-Nov Western Cape07-Jul Eastern Cape03-Jul KwaZulu-Natal10-Dec Gauteng25-Feb Limpopo04-Nov North West02-Nov Mpumalanga14-Nov-11260

Advantages – Why use Xcallibre! 1.Documented & adopted extension methodology, roles & responsibilities, deliverables, outcomes, etc 2.Real-time forms transfer & processing 3.Consolidated provincial databases of projects, farms, visits, commodities, etc 4.Consolidated national databases of projects, farms, visits, commodities, etc 5.Project and site visit administration system 6.Pre-defined reports, alerts (sms/ ) exception reports at the click of a button 7.Track field workers using GPS coordinates, date/time & routes 8.Spatial (GIS) mapping of all form data & online mapping system 9.Visual representation of farm visits by attaching photos 10.No missing or duplicate forms using barcodes & phone validation

How it works- Digital Pen/Tablet? OR

The Pen – Technical Data Battery Memory – 40 A4 Pages or 80 A5 Pages Processor Infrared Camera Ink Cartridge and force sensor Encrypted data transmission – 128 bit Bluetooth transceiver/USB  Uses ink  Functions just like a normal pen  Contains a digital camera  Takes pictures of pen strokes only  Small data files  Secure data transfer  Bluetooth or USB

The Paper 1.8 mm Small dots printed on ordinary paper Images and text can be overprinted Visually a slight grey tone on the paper Non complex printing process – Lazer/Litho/Digital The pixels have an addressing system from Anoto

Live system demonstration KZN Agriculture

The Digital Pen System Questions ???