Development Logics Archives - Maverick's Journey

As India geared up to fight COVID-19 and the country-wide lockdown came into effect in March 2020, it was a sudden jolt to individuals and businesses. Adapting to remote working and virtual collaboration was (and is) no cake-walk. But for us at Development Logics, being in the grips of the pandemic was much more than just adjusting to the new normal. It was almost like a battle-call.

The State of Himachal Pradesh, where we are headquartered, announced full-fledged curfew on the end of March 2020. But essential service providers and people in emergency situations still needed to travel. This essentially meant that a portal to request, approve, and download Curfew Passes was required on an immediate basis. In close collaboration with the IT Department of the State Government of Himachal Pradesh, we built the Curfew Pass application that went live in just 24 hours. It facilitated the generation of e-pass as a valid permit to move within the State.

When the application was first launched, we were receiving around 7 applications per minute. Towards the end of the lockdown, we were receiving over 100 applications per minute. Thus, this was not just another app that we built – we had to attain high scalability and a stable back-end that could cater to millions of requests and app sessions under extreme timeline crunch.

There was no time to plan a project of this scale and magnitude. But, we weathered the storm by rising up to the crisis and with the aid of dedicated officials from the Government. We would like to acknowledge the contribution by Mr. Rohan Thakur, then Director IT, Mr. Rajeev Sharma, Additional Director IT, Mr. Anil Semwal, Joint Director IT, from the government of Himachal Pradesh for their relentless support, inputs, and encouragement. They were available to us with full commitment whenever we needed them to make critical decisions as product owners, and this made the journey an easy sail. The impact of this project was incredible and that made our team work harder than ever to make life easier for the people of our state.

The applicants needed to fill a form stating the reason for travel, details like timeline and information about anyone accompanying them, identification details, and so on. The applications were automatically sent for approval to the district officials, and on approval, an SMS alert was sent to the applicant. On one hand, it was a moment of pride for us to have been able to contribute in making lives easier for our people. On the other hand, making this feat possible in remote working mode was no easy task. But then, we were just getting started.

Tracking the quarantined population and contact tracing for those affected by COVID-19 was next on the cards for the State Government. Within merely 5 days, we launched the COVID Quarantine App in collaboration with the IT & Health departments of the Government of Himachal Pradesh. The project was the brainchild of Mr. Nipun Jindal, Special Secretary Health Dept, Govt of Himachal Pradesh who deserves a special mention here. The app was loaded with powerful features to track and trace the location of those in quarantine, assign a healthcare worker to each quarantined patient, send automated notifications to healthcare workers in case of quarantine violations and emergencies, and enable administrative staff to easily update data from the back-end. It has successfully tracked nearly 65,000 people and 6,200+ health workers till date. With this we also setup a dedicated help desk, for responding to queries of health workers and people being quarantined.

Given the critical nature of the situation, it was of utmost importance to create an information hub for COVID-19 where people at large could easily access the quarantine app, curfew pass, COVID-related dashboards, updates on new orders by the Government of Himachal Pradesh, and more. This was also essential to have in place as quickly as possible to counter the spread of fake news and de-stress the public. We showcased all pandemic-related information by building a single Government e-portal for COVID-19. This, too, went live in a matter of 4-5 days.

Each of these projects further evolved rapidly during the lockdown. Daily meetings on feature updates & logic changes were held to keep up with the changing requirements of the people and the State. We also took stock of the limitations we faced along the way. The apps were primarily built for Android phones, which means that non-android users lost out on some of the benefits. People without smartphones could not be served with these solutions either. The quality of sensors and inaccuracies in geolocation data were other stumbling blocks we had to workaround. It was not the best solution we could build, but then we were working under tight deadlines. Thankfully between the Department of IT and us, we found another team at Tagbin, which built version 2 of the quarantine app, helping us improve the location tracking features. Would like to thank Saurabh and Ankit from Tagbin for taking up this challenge.

Each member of our team came forward to ensure that the projects are implemented in time. We also collaborated with external teams like the state data center teams and government bodies at a whole new scale due to the sense of urgency involved. Would like to compliment Hitesh and his team at the state data centre for their relentless support in keeping the infra cranked up to achieve the scale we were staring at.

And yes, timely intervention from Rupika, who helped optimize resources for these applications, making the whole experience breezy for the end users. Over 1,00,000 curfew passes were issued in just over a month from the total of 4,00,000+ applications that were received. Accurate movement of live data and high scalability were a few of the aspects that we had to keep up with on the go. It has been an exciting phase for us to juggle these high-priority projects steered forward by the IT department of the State that is progressive and willing to adopt new ways. It was encouraging to see our story being covered by The Tribune India and The Times of India, and we look forward to going onwards and upwards from here in the service of people, communities and organizations.

I would like to thank Rohan Thakur, the then Director IT for reposing trust in our team. There are few bureaucrats who walk the talk. We connected during the Global Investors meet with regards to the IT policy of the state. He actually took that discussion to another level by giving a small upstart in Himachal an opportunity to work on such critical projects. Learnings from here will be of immense value to us and hopefully pave the way for more IT companies to set up base and collaborate with the state government.

In the end I would like to mention the effort put in by my colleagues at Development Logics. Anirban, Vijith, Ramya, Deepti, Pankaj, Mukesh and Yogesh for spending countless hours building these applications and then supporting them since the last couple of months.

It has been a few months since I came back from Oklahoma. Many friends and family members have been enquiring about my experiences during the visit. So this blog.

I consider it to be a privilege to experience life in a different country, giving an opportunity to interact with professionals from different countries. To learn from each other, sharing knowledge about people, culture and business.

The Professional Fellows Program (PFP) is a two-way, global thought exchange program designed to promote mutual understanding, enhance leadership and professional skills, as well as building lasting, sustainable relationships between mid-level emerging leaders from foreign countries and the United States.

PFP participants are placed in intensive 5-6 week fellowships in non-profit organizations, private sector businesses, and government offices across the United States for an individually tailored professional development experience.

This initiative aims to enhance the professional expertise of individuals by enabling leadership development and networking among key entrepreneurs in diverse fields. The program is fully funded by the US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’, Professional Fellows Division.

Our hosts – Oklahoma University

Being in the south of the U.S., Oklahoma, a Republican state is situated in the heart of America, with the majority of white and prominently Christian residents. While people from India get a little sceptical about the social environment in a region like Oklahoma, I wanted to see the real America as they say it back in Norman. I think I can say for all our colleagues, that we were really taken care off and wherever we went or the people we met, we were welcomed and enjoyed our conversations.

Oklahoma University campus welcomed us grandly. The beautiful green campus consists of over 32,000 students and 2,800 faculty members. The university not only serves as an educational institution but also as a public research centre. Seeing students and researchers hustling around, trying to come up with something productive, was indeed a big booster to the whole experience.

Our Group – BBI Fall 2017 Participants

We were a group of 10 individuals, selected from Bangladesh, Myanmar and India for the fall program of October 2017. What was most interesting was how diverse the selection was. And to top it up how our hosts had closely matched all the participants with businesses in Oklahoma.

Trupti Doshi, a sustainability architect from Pondicherry was matched with Mitscher & Associates Architects. Her motive to enhance sustainability & eco-friendly construction design not only inspired us but also gave her a substantial recognition in the U.S.

Arjun Mishra, the director of NABET India runs a skill development and employment generation program for differently abled individuals in Gurgaon. He was matched with New View, a non-profit which works with blind people in the US, employing them in their factories and call centres.

Abdul Rouf Khan worked as a trainer with Entrepreneurship Development Institute in Srinagar. He was matched to an incubation centre at the University of Oklahoma.

Shah Paran, Founder, Handymama, a tech startup offering handyman services in Dhaka, was working with WeGoLook, a high growth startup, providing the on-demand workforce for validating information anywhere.

Khin, a Burmese entrepreneur operates a community-based firm which produces hand-made wax statues, candles, gift items. She was matched with “A Date With Iris”, a unique firm in the Oklahoma city that provides gifting products & services.

Affan Mahmud, the founder of Boomerang Digital from Bangladesh, was matched with Trifecta Communications. Trifecta focuses on leveraging data to provide digital solutions to its clients. Affan to acquired considerable knowledge about building AR & VR solutions for his customers.

Naseema from Chittagong runs the first-day care facility in her region. She was placed with Captulsa and Educare in Tulsa region of Oklahoma. Unlike daycare facilities in our region, the one in Tulsa focused a lot on the development of the children.

Htut from Myanmar finds that there are not enough proofreaders in the Burmese language. She is trying to solve that problem. She was matched with Resolute PR, a public relations firm in Tulsa, which does tonnes of proofreading for their clients.

Sai, from Myanmar, has interests in forming farmers cooperatives back home. He is already working with Ginger farmers in his region. In Oklahoma, he got to work with the department of agriculture. Every day early in the morning he would dash off to look at new farms or attend a farmers market.

The firms that I got matched for the fellowship were – Mcmahon Marketing and Benali Marketing. Both the companies are offering digital marketing services which is one of my areas of interest.

Professional placements experience

Mcmahon Marketing

I spent 3 weeks with Mcmahon Marketing and had never thought that in just 3 weeks I would be able to explore a lot. Mcmahon Marketing is a digital marketing firm based out of Norman. Their office is walking distance from the university campus. A small team of 7 people were handling 30 clients of the firm offering inbound marketing services.

They had a smooth & well-organized system of working. Because of the pre-assigned tasks, everyone knew their responsibilities. They used Asana, a task management tool to get things done. After sitting with the clients to discuss their quarterly plans, they would prepare a month’s content and then schedule it for posting. Kalie, the Content Director, was especially good with this specialization.

Everyone at Mcmahon Marketing was open to sharing their experience with me. The level of transparency that they provided was a great gesture towards a trustworthy & long-lasting partnership. Even during their tight schedules, they took out time to help me experience the professional life in the US to the fullest. Not only did they welcome me at the office, but also for lunches, coffee, and office gatherings. The work environment was quite welcoming.

Key-takeaways from Mcmahon Marketing:

Importance of having a well-organized and smooth work system.
Timely execution & completion of operations through team-work.
Emphasis given to research & planning for enhanced business growth.
Focus on automation and making templates for services which are repeatable.

Korey Mcmahon, the director of Mcmahon Marketing, became more than just a professional partner for me. From taking me to client meetings to his daughter’s preschool, he made sure that I get to see and experience life in the U.S. as it really is. And as generous as he was, he welcomed me to his home as well.

We also went for a meeting at the Rotary Club, which happens to be the home club of Ron D. Burton, the president of Rotary International. In another meeting, Korey introduced me to Martin Holland, who was his business coach. After meeting Martin, I realised that business coaching is huge in the US and how effective it is in bringing focus and growth to a business.

Welcome message at McMahon’s office

Team lunch with McMahon’s team.

McMahon team debating on a marketing strategy for their client

Team planning meeting at McMahon Marketing

Team discussing weekly plans at the start of the week.

In conversation with Josh, marketing strategist at McMahon

A client project review meeting

Korey McMahon with Megan on a Friday afternoon.

Aliens in McMahon’s office

Mcmahon office, preparing for Boundless 2017, an event with Dan Tyre, Director of Sales at Hubspot

Visiting Korey’s house

Attending the Rotary club lunch in Norman

Farewell lunch with McMahon’s team

Benali Marketing

Benali Marketing is another digital marketing agency in Oklahoma where I spent a week working with Khalil, the founder of the business. Benali Marketing focuses on bespoke marketing services that include marketing consulting, digital marketing as well as project management training. I had to say, The meticulous planning and documentation before executing a marketing strategy was what I loved about this firm.

Khalil Benalioulhaj, the founder, loves to share! His trust over people, constant zeal to explore business associations, and most importantly, his warm-hearted nature; certainly has helped forge a long-lasting relationship. Khalil, would pick me up every morning and take me to different co-working spaces, restaurants, cafes and bistros, just to help me experience life in Oklahoma.

Key-takeaways from Benali Marketing:

Importance of meticulous execution of all operations.
Well-defined documentation of strategy, plans & processes.
Emphasis is given to personalization in every step of customer acquisition.

The debriefings & the weekends

So from Monday to Thursday, we all used to be working at our respective placements. On Friday, we would all come together for debriefings session at the OU campus. The sessions would comprise of two components. One was to bring an industry expert to talk to our group and then follow up with the group meeting about that weeks’ experience. Since everyone was sharing information about their placements, it was kind of helpful to see how people were gaining from their individual placements experience.

The weekends were always an outdoor activity. We travelled to various places of interest across Oklahoma city and state. One of the weekends was well spent as a homestay experience. I and Shah got to stay with a senior lawyer and now judge, Ken Stoner. I will be writing another blog about all the fun stuff we did together sometime soon.

Friday debriefing session, Professional Fellows Experience

The final week

The PFP program had about 260 participants from 45 countries, spread across the US. In the final week, we all came together for a conference. It was a good opportunity to interact with our hosts and other fellows, building a global network of participants. The then National Security Advisor of US, Lt. General H.R. Mcmaster was one of the keynote speakers at the event.

Attending the Professional Fellows Congress

BBI participants attending the Professional Fellows Congress

BBI group participants at the Professional Fellows Congress in Washington DC

People who made the experience possible for us

The overall experience would not have been such, without the efforts put in by the staff at OU. Dr Elanie Steyn, the program coordinator, Jeff Moore, Kathy Adams and Imran Hasnat, went out of the way to ensure, our stay was comfortable and yet enriching both professionally and personally.

In the end, would like to thank, Prof Joe Foote, Dean Emeritus, Gaylord College of Journalism at Oklahoma University and his wife Jody Foote, who hosted us on a number of occasions, sharing insights from their days spent in South Asia, especially Bangladesh and India in the 80’s and 90’s. It was his foresight and perseverance that such programs are conducted by Oklahoma University in association with the US state department for last many years.