projects

Document scanning for enhanced collection of identity management data

Ongoing
A family sits outside a house
Programme
UNHCR Innovation Incubator
Fund
Data Innovation Fund | Incubator
Start Date
Total Project Cost
USD 124,990
Country
Pakistan , Afghanistan
Project Team
UNHCR Pakistan , UNHCR Data, Identity Management and Analysis (DIMA) Asia and Pacific

Challenge

UNHCR regularly surveys the communities we work with and for to collect detailed data on protection needs and access to services. However, time and funding constraints often limit data collection to the household level, which can overlook the diverse needs of individuals.

Solution

Developing a mobile, offline-capable app – the Kobo Document Scanner. The app employs optical character recognition (OCR) to accurately and efficiently extract key personal and location data from identification documents of community members, integrating this information into Kobo, UNHCR’s survey collection tool.

Impact

Replacing time-consuming manual data collection, this app (once piloted in Pakistan) will integrate with UNHCR’s existing corporate solutions, helping field teams to collect comprehensive individual-level data, improving data accuracy, reducing assessment time, and advancing UNHCR’s age, gender, and diversity policy.