Data collection and processing significantly improve the impact of public health programs. In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the digitalization of community care site (Sites de Soins Communautaires – SSC) supervision illustrates how a nationally adopted technology combined with rigorous technical support strengthens healthcare delivery for the population. Discover how the open-source platform IASO adapts to operational challenges on the ground.
The application developed by Bluesquare provides a regularly updated map of community care sites, registers community health workers, tracks stocks of medicines and inputs, supervises SSC operations and activities, and identifies the least visited sites.
Several priorities were identified to develop the application:
Digital planning, real-time data collection, and technical interoperability with the national system are at the heart of this large-scale project’s success. Initially developed and launched with funding from USAID (PROSANI project) across 9 provinces, the initiative has structured itself and sustained its impact today, notably thanks to the Global Fund and SANRU’s coordination in 16 additional provinces, as well as the RHCC project in Kasai province. The rollout thus expanded to cover all 26 provinces, enabling digitized tracking of community activities.
The expansion of the SSC application achieved a national scale by building the capacity of provincial health division (Divisions Provinciales de la Santé – DPS) teams and health zone management teams (Équipes Cadres des Zones de Santé). Cascade training models successfully established pools of qualified trainers. Authentication for Head Nurses allows them to access information specific to their health area within the app and enter data related to their supervisory activities. As of June 10, 2026, the ecosystem centralizes more than 80,000 monthly SSC reporting/supervision form submissions received on the server. The cumulative data highlights the sheer volume of activity on the ground.
Data collection and processing rely on the IASO mobile app, which operates optimally offline. Given the weak connectivity in rural areas, the app saves forms locally on tablets and smartphones before performing a delayed synchronization as soon as internet access becomes available.
One of the platform’s major innovations lies in the management of the micro-payment chain designed to support the mobile supervision visits of Head Nurses. The identification feature generates payment lists based on digitized supervisions that were actually carried out and validated.
The micro-payment workflow follows these steps:
Deploying a digital tool at the scale of a country like the DRC requires proactive anomaly management and rigorous technical maintenance of the information system. Bluesquare supports its partners in structuring this data governance.
Bluesquare works closely with PNECHOL-MD and its partners to assist provinces with regular cleaning and merging of duplicates to maintain the community health pyramid. Furthermore, we collaborate with the DSNIS to ensure synchronization with the DHIS2 instance that serves as the community National Health Information System (NHIS).
The SSC application captures geographical coordinates while forms are filled out in the field. IASO centralizes this data and allows administrators to view submission locations on dynamic maps.
The platform offers features to update an official SSC location using either the direct geographical coordinates of a validated submission or by calculating the average location of multiple submissions. Eventually, this mapping will precisely identify the attendance levels at Community Care Sites to optimize the allocation of resources and inputs.
Visualization of organizational unit details
Investing in sustainable data collection and processing products promotes national sovereignty over digital solutions. The project’s architecture was designed to integrate into the DRC’s state structures, particularly the DHIS2 community NHIS instance. As a result, all variables uploaded monthly by Head Nurses via the SSC App are already configured in DHIS2, and export processes allow for regular data transfers from IASO to DHIS2.
Driven by a logic of continuity and national ownership, the definitive migration of the community IASO server (historically supported by USAID PROSANI and SANRU) is planned to move to the infrastructure of the National Agency for Clinical Engineering and Digital Health (Agence Nationale d’Ingénierie Clinique et du Numérique de la Santé – ANICNS).
The digitalization of SSC activities is entering a new phase by focusing on turning raw data into direct operational decisions. The ultimate goal of this digitalization is to make information immediately “actionable.” When a recurring stockout or a gap in community health worker basic training is reported, the health hierarchy and support partners can trigger targeted supplies and tailored mentorship missions, thereby boosting the responsiveness of the healthcare system and the quality of community healthcare.
