e-WATCH : modular web platform for observatory data management

Territory management solution Sustainable agriculture Natural resources and territories
e-WATCH is a web platform for managing, monitoring, and sharing data from multi-site projects. Through interactive maps, it can be shared among users, funders, and decision-makers.
e watch portail web modulaire de gestion suivi et restitution des donnees d observatoire

Agronomist using a tablet in an agricultural field © Nolan Berg, CIRAD

Facilitating interactions in multi-stakeholder projects

Most multi-stakeholder projects generate a need for interaction around shared document repositories, data, and tools. At CIRAD, our researchers have addressed this need for multi-site data management through their own projects, often focused on agroecology, which operates across multiple scales.

This tool enables you to build decision-support tools and on-demand interactive maps.

This coherent and consolidated suite of open-source software consists of three modules that can be used independently, making your project data accessible and securely shareable through :

1. A web portal and online database, DATA OBS

2. A mapping portal, Carto-Web

3. A grey information dissemination portal, Open-library

CIRAD offers tailored services to design and develop portals adapted to your specific project needs.

Key features of the e-WATCH web platform

Easy to implement, the platform:

  • Centralises data in a secure, user-friendly, and shareable online tool
  • Includes a powerful multi-criteria search engine
  • Provides rapid and user-friendly visual outputs through mapping-based representations
  • Can be technically adapted to meet specific needs
  • Reduces development costs thanks to its open-source foundation
  • Can be installed and configured directly on your project server
  • Enhances your project team’s autonomy in managing tools

A project web portal tailored to stakeholder needs

Initially developed in collaboration with the cotton sector, the platform is also applicable to other value chains.

The solution can be used by a wide range of socio-economic stakeholders (companies, federations, NGOs, etc.), as well as funders and policy-makers involved in collective projects, particularly those related to agroecology.

It is also a valuable tool for monitoring and evaluation units and observatories.

We provide support to adapt the platform to your projects, in collaboration with researchers and technicians from the Aïda research unit and IT specialists.

Easy to implement, the platform:

  • Centralises data in a secure, user-friendly, and shareable online tool
  • Includes a powerful multi-criteria search engine
  • Provides rapid and user-friendly visual outputs through mapping-based representations
  • Can be technically adapted to meet specific needs
  • Reduces development costs thanks to its open-source foundation
  • Can be installed and configured directly on your project server
  • Enhances your project team’s autonomy in managing tools

The research team

Aïda research unit, comprising around 80 staff members, has extensive expertise in agricultural value chains, environmental issues, data management, and information systems.

Jean-Baptiste Laurent, an information systems specialist, developed e-WATCH for projects within the Aïda research unit and enhanced its modularity to support a wider range of projects.

References and use cases

The e-WATCH suite has enabled the development of more than a dozen shared platforms and tools, including:

  • The Manamora web platform for monitoring agroecological farms in Madagascar
  • The e-Winsu database: information system and monitoring of agroecological transition in Benin
  • The IUCN mapping portal for environmental governance in West Africa
  • The SIFCOM information system for the cotton sector in Mali
  • The Wat4Cam platform for managing data from a project on hydraulic systems and practices modernisation in Cambodia
  • The Data4C database on soil carbon sequestration
  • The AFLUX collaborative platform dedicated to animal movement tracking
  • The Fertexpert-cacao expert system for calculating optimal fertiliser formulas for cocoa farms
  • The e-Bembal information system for monitoring cotton production for Sodécoton

See also