Starting in 2020, Transformative Solutions collaborated with Internews to conduct a midterm and a final evaluation of the project Building Analytical and Support Infrastructure for Critical Security Tools (BASICS). The project took two well-known problems in the open source internet freedom community – sustainability challenges and lack of diversity – and combined them in order to solve both.
The midterm evaluation was a process evaluation of the project that looked at ‘what could be learned about how BASICS is being delivered,’ its achievement of objectives, alignment with the right strategies, and efficient resource utilization.
We collected data through surveys and in-depth interviews involving project staff, partner organizations, and experts associated with BASICS. Our aim was to offer well-substantiated insights from key stakeholders regarding their BASICS experience and provide actionable recommendations for enhancing project implementation.
In 2022, our team was commissioned for a follow-up evaluation of the BASICS project. This final evaluation involved a Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) to scrutinize various sets of ‘conditions’ contributing to project outcomes. Unlike the overall evaluation, which focused on ‘what was achieved?’ the QCA shifted its attention to the question of ‘what conditions were essential for success?’ This type of analysis offers valuable insights into replicating positive results more effectively in future endeavors.