1. Optical Character Recognition for Logistics Reporting Contributors: Joy Kamunyori, Mike Frost, Ashraf Islam A recording of the WebEx session can be found here: https://jsi.webex.com/jsi/lsr.php?AT=pb&SP=MC&rID=75382 732&rKey=f3bc9ca3232b8b42https://jsi.webex.com/jsi/lsr.php?AT=pb&SP=MC&rID=75382 732&rKey=f3bc9ca3232b8b42

2. Testing Methodology Select ToolsCollect Forms Perform & Document

3. OCR Tools OmniPage Professional 18 (desktop-based, licensed) Abbyy FineReader 11 (desktop-based, licensed) Tesseract-OCR (desktop-based, open-source) Evernote (mobile phone–based, free) Captricity (web-based, paid)

4. Testing Protocol 1.Pass field-filled logistics management information system (LMIS) form through application 2.Fill out blank LMIS form carefully and pass through 3.Record number of correctly vs. incorrectly identified fields (numeric) 4.Calculate character recognition accuracy rates.

5. Form 1: Tanzania Essential Medicines R&R

6. Form 2: Tanzania Essential Medicines Supplementary Form

7. Form 3: Zimbabwe ARV R&R

8. OmniPage Professional 18 Licensed tool—$499.99 General impressions: –Easy to use after initial orientation –Fast processing (less than 1 minute) –Can verify/validate recognized text

9. Interface

10. Output

11. OmniPage Professional 18 Accuracy rates (numerical fields): Forms filled out in the field: –TZ essential medicines: 13% –TZ supplementary form: 21% Forms filled out by tester: –TZ essential medicines: 53% –TZ supplementary form: 76%

12. Abbyy FineReader 11 Licensed tool—$169.99 General impressions: –Easy to use after initial orientation— harder to learn to use than OmniPage –Fast processing (1–3 mins) –Can verify/validate recognized text

13. Interface

14. Output

15. Abbyy FineReader 11 Accuracy rates (numerical fields): Forms filled out in the field: –TZ essential medicines: 10% –TZ supplementary form: 10% Forms filled out by tester: –TZ essential medicines: 39% –TZ supplementary form: 43%.

16. Tesseract-OCR Open-source tool General impressions: –Does not have a graphical user interface –Is a command line tool—needs to be run from command line –Difficult for users who do not know command line use –Requires input file in image format (i.e.,.png,.jpg)

17. Tesseract-OCR In the example below, we ran Tesseract with a scanned image file and an output file to hold the recognized text:

18. Program install location Program nameScanned image Output text file name Interface

19. Source File

20. Output

21. Evernote Can send pictures of documents Not useful for character recognition or data entry Allows tagging on the image, e.g., district/facility

22. Captricity Web-based, paid service Offers several tiers of pricing: –“Pay as you go”—$0.01 per field –Discounts as number of fields increase –“Premier” tier—$335/month for 50,000 fields $0.0067 per field –“Enterprise” tier—custom tier, depending on volume provides dedicated account manager and support volume discounts.

23. Captricity Process: 1.User creates template for form 2.System creates digital fingerprint from template 3.Compares uploaded form to digital fingerprint –Fixes skews, or flips form, if needed 4.Does human validation field-by-field –never see the entire form –preserves privacy 5.Output in.csv file.

24. Captricity General impressions: Initially, time intensive –must separate forms into single files, per page –must set up templates for each page, e.g., one page form took 10 minutes to create Requires Internet connection Approximately 24-hour turnaround for first time –turnaround time is reduced after first processing.

25. Interface

26. Output

27. Captricity: Accuracy rates (numerical fields) Forms filled out in the field: –TZ essential medicines: 65% –TZ supplementary form: 99% –Zim antiretrovirals: 52% Forms filled out by tester: –TZ essential medicines: 98% –TZ supplementary form: 100% –Zim antiretrovirals: 98%

28. Research conclusion: Captricity looks most promising Digging deeper…

29. Captricity Positives Shows best results –Validation of output is critical Fast turnaround time Digitization is accurate –data entry staff did not introduce new errors Cloud storage can store data indefinitely Output in.csv format (readable by a database).

30. Captricity Negatives Requires Internet connection; must be used at higher levels of supply chain Set up is time-intensive; must— –split up forms –create templates –rotate to landscape Validation/reconciliation can be time consuming Cost can be high, but discounts available for high volume –Cheaper than hiring data entry clerks?

31. Use Cases for LMIS Reporting Using Captricity

32. Use Case 1 SDP/CHW: Send paper report District: Upload and verify Central database

33. Use Case 2 SDP/CHW: Take photo of form District: Upload and verify Central database

34. Use Case 3 SDP/CHW: Send paper report District: Aggregate reports Central database Central: Upload and verify

35. Thank You! Questions?