Non-profit sector · social and health innovation
Data platform for the fight against malnutrition
Ingestion, Data Warehouse, REST API and dual visualization (Power BI and custom Flutter dashboard).
2 apps
Integrated into a single analytical model
Daily ETL
Clean data every morning, no manual work
License-free
Custom cross-platform Flutter dashboard
Overview
Nut4Health's «Data Platform» for Sic4Change: a complete analytical infrastructure that turns operational records into evidence-based actionable information. Four integrated components: Python ETL from Firebase, MySQL Data Warehouse with an analytical model, authenticated REST API that exposes the data without direct database access, and two complementary visualizations —Power BI and a custom Flutter dashboard— embedded in the website with permissions and roles.
Technologies
The client
Sic4Change runs Nut4Health, a program for detection, treatment and prevention of acute child malnutrition in vulnerable contexts, deployed in Mauritania. Its operation relies on two mobile apps: a tracking app, with which agents and volunteers register cases in the community, and a health-center app that manages attended cases —clinical status, measurements, medication and follow-up—. Key program data, but trapped in operational databases without an analytical model.
The challenge
Information in Firebase optimized for app operations, not for analysis. Data scattered across two applications with structures designed for field registration. Without a unified model or structured warehouse, managers depended on manual extractions. All with a constrained non-profit budget that ruled out high-license-cost BI and demanded an efficient, sustainable architecture scalable to new countries.
The solution
Automated ETL processes
Python ETL that every night collects information from both apps from Firebase, cleans it and adapts it to the analytical model before loading it into the DW. Unattended execution: every morning the previous day's data is ready.
Data Warehouse with analytical model
Simplified analytical model in MySQL: dimensions (child, guardian, location) and facts for the two operational levels —community (contracts) and centers (cases and visits)—. Enables analysis of both field acquisition and clinical evolution at the centers.
REST API for data access
Token-authenticated REST API with specialized endpoints (cases, contracts, visits, locations, GeoJSON) that isolates the visualizations from the DW. Each endpoint accepts filters by country, region, province, center type, sex, level of malnutrition or date.
Two complementary BI solutions
After comparing Looker Studio, Power BI, Tableau and Qlik on cost, flexibility and access, we developed two visualizations on top of the same API. Power BI for agile exploration. A custom cross-platform Flutter dashboard for a tailored experience on any device, license-free and fully controlled by the organization. Both organized into four blocks aligned with UNICEF indicators.
Web integration with roles and permissions
Embedded in the organization's website with permissions and roles that determine what each profile sees —a key piece given the confidentiality of health data—. Dynamic consumption: the visualizations feed in real time from the API with filtered, interactive queries.
Results
End-to-end data platform: from information scattered in operational databases to a complete analytical ecosystem that turns raw data into actionable information.
Always up-to-date data with no manual effort: ETL processes run automatically every day, ensuring clean, up-to-date information without team intervention.
Secure, decoupled access: an authenticated, filtered REST API that opens the data to multiple visualization tools without exposing the database.
Dual visualization channel: Power BI and a custom cross-platform Flutter dashboard, combining the flexibility of an established tool with a tailored, license-free experience.
Evidence-based decisions: dashboards that put admission, recovery, dropout and mortality rates, treatment duration and territorial coverage within reach.
Sustainable, cost-effective solution: an efficient architecture deployed on in-house infrastructure that avoids high license costs —key for a non-profit organization.