“Issues”: my experience as Quality Assurance Focal Point

Being an intern at ICARDA

As one of ICARDA’s research intern, I contribute to improve and populate a newly developed database platform for the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) of the projects implemented by ICARDA and mapped to CGIAR Research Program on Dryland Systems (CRP-DS).
MEL is:

“a web-based platform to enable better result-based management including planning, reporting, monitoring, risk management, performance evaluation, management of legal mechanisms in place among partners, as well as knowledge sharing and learning amongst different groups of stakeholders and within and across CGIAR Research Programs, CGIAR centers and bilateral projects”.

The team of research interns is in charge of uploading ongoing projects on MEL. It is a great opportunity to dive into the world of project management, analyse project proposals, brainstorm about impact pathways and familiarize with CGIAR Strategic Goals. Walking in the shoes of a project manager requires a deep level of understanding of diverse research topics, such as integrated water & land management, biodiversity & integrated gene management, diversification & sustainable intensification of production systems and more.

Enhancing MEL

Being the focal point for Quality Assurance, I act as a link between my fellow interns and the teams of computer scientists powering MEL, CodeObia and Immap. My duty consists in testing the functionality of the platform’s sections, developing new modules to enhance the platform and reporting aspects of the system in need of improvement. It basically comes down to opening an “issue” on GitHub – an online working space – every time that I conceptualize a new option, have an idea about a possible enhancement or I spot possibilities of improvement for MEL. In addition, I create “issues” to discuss with the programming team the lay-out of new modules and to test the performance of newly-developed modules and tools. The communication on GitHub goes both ways and I also collect feedbacks and indications from the programmers and my colleagues.

A day in the life of...

Mornings are characterized by reading all the freshly discussed issues on GitHub, the way from my office to the programmers offices is frequently trampled, and daily stand-up meetings increase the cooperation with the programming team. Unable to always catch-up with technical jargon, I‘m still capable to treasure some concepts about how development of MEL proceeds, and insights on what kind of problems programmers deal with. However, once the word ‘issue’ is mentioned, my ears are pricked and I’m able to fully participate in the discussion. My day ends with a list of ‘issues to be addressed tomorrow’, when I report the stand-up meeting to my fellow interns to ensure complete mutual understanding on what comes next. That’s where I call it a day.

Being the Quality Assurance Focal Point intern is a wonderful learning experience. It unravels that the secret work & life of programmers and project managers involves many… issues!