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Hector Alfaro's picture

Remote Working for Digital Nomads – How a Wiki Enables Me to Do “Beach Office”

Hector Alfaro - 15.8.2016

We know there are many people out there working remotely either by being home-based, or as freelancers, or are digital nomads who travel around the globe carrying a laptop with them and work at the same time. Whatever the case, they all have one thing in common: No real fixed office environment.

Does this sound like you? Then you probably know how technology can help you achieve this. In my case, I would like to share my experience and the technology that allows me to work remotely.

A bit of background:

I am a full-time employee who works for energypedia...

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Digital nomadsFreelancingITRemote working
Axel Heinemann's picture

How to Change the Language in Your Wiki

Axel Heinemann - 9.8.2016

Do you want to have the system texts in your wiki displayed in Spanish, French or Kiswahili? Switch your language settings in your wiki!  You can change your language settings to almost any language in the world.

Here are the steps to follow: Log into your wiki, go to the top right corner of the screen and hover over your picture and user name. A drop down menu will appear.  Select “Preferences”. You are now directed to your user profile. Scroll down to the section “Internationalisation”. Choose your desired language under the option “Language”, and then save your...

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ITwebmoWiki tips
Robert Heine's picture

Free Excel Guide to Building Monitoring Tools

Robert Heine - 2.8.2016

Imagine the following dialogue between a project manager and his supervisor:

Supervisor: “Please create a short overview of the impacts and the degree of goal achievement of your project. By tomorrow morning would be great.”

Project manager: “No Problem. I’ll just open my monitoring tool, have a look into the Management Cockpit and … done!”

Now, you might ask yourself: What is a “monitoring tool” and what is a “Management Cockpit”? And above all: How can I get one?

I’m glad the guide at hand will provide you with answers to those questions. It...

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ExcelITM&E
Melanie Uhlen's picture

M&E software – 8 Tips on How to Talk to IT Guys

Melanie Uhlen - 20.7.2016

You want to take your M&E system one step further and introduce a proper M&E software? That’s great, because a software has the potential of making the monitoring process more efficient and transparent, reduce errors and get more accurate data. But how to go about it? You have three options:

You build your own system, for example in Microsoft Excel; You purchase an M&E software package off-the-shelf; You hire an IT consultant to set up a customized M&E system according to your organization’s specific requirements.

If options one and two do not work out...

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ITM&E
Melanie Uhlen's picture

What is Confidential, Remains Confidential

Melanie Uhlen - 29.6.2016

Energypedia consult’s WebMo platforms are made for collaboration. They allow any number of people in different locations to jointly work on projects and to share information. Platforms are not limited to the staff of one organization: It is very well possible to invite all concerned stakeholders regardless of their organizational affiliation.

But what if a team wishes to exchange confidential information on their WebMo platform that are not meant for the eyes of other stakeholders like donors or implementing partners? Does that mean they cannot give them access at all...

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ITwebmo
Hector Alfaro's picture

Get a Free Copy of our WebMo Brochure!

Hector Alfaro - 23.6.2016

Simplify your daily work and make it more efficient with WebMo! One of our favorite WebMo tools is the google maps integration. If you are dealing with projects in regional offices, a map can definitely be of great help to give you a bird's eye view of your projects per country.

You can fit as many pins as you need to represent individual projects.

To make visualization even easier, it is possible to change the pin's shape as well as color...

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ITwebmo
Axel Heinemann's picture

How to Create a Joint Agenda in Your Wiki

Axel Heinemann - 13.6.2016

Want to set up a joint agenda in your wiki for a joint workshop or regular team meetings? Here you can find instructions on how to do it! First, type the preferred title, e.g. “Joint Agenda” or “Weekly Team Meeting” in the search bar and hit enter. Under the search results, the title will appear as a red link. Click on this title and you will then be directed to an empty page. Now you can structure your agenda page by adding headlines for every point that you would like to talk about in your meetings. ...

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ITWiki tips
Robert Heine's picture

So What's Wrong with Excel?

Robert Heine - 7.6.2016

M&E officers naturally deal with a lot of data. It is part of their job to collect and process them, and to prepare them for reporting. Especially when confronted with numbers, most people’s first intuition is to open an Excel file and start a table. That is a smart choice considering that

most people have Excel installed on their computer, it's free (after you have purchased the  Microsoft office package – which most organizations have), it's relatively easy to use after some practice, there are a lot of online help pages, manuals and video tutorials available...
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ExcelITM&E
Melanie Uhlen's picture

The 2016 energypedia consult Team

Melanie Uhlen - 6.4.2016

Meet the enthusiastic team of energypdia consult! We are working together on creative IT, M&E and energy solutions for the development sector. Read more about us and our motivation on the About Us page. Our academic backgrounds and professional experiences bring together methodological skills, energy expertise, the ability to conceptualize and implement IT projects as well as insights from the field.

Taken all together, we speak a total of eight and a half languages – so you see there is no reason not to drop us a line! We are looking forward to hearing from you to exchange...

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Company news