DEV Community: consolata gicheru

Top 5 Use Cases for Automation in Humanitarian Aid Organizations

consolata gicheru — Thu, 18 Sep 2025 06:37:37 +0000

In this era of Artificial Intelligence, the humanitarian sector can no longer afford to sit on the sidelines. Automation, once seen as a luxury, is now a lifeline. It’s the quiet miracle helping aid organizations streamline operations, reduce errors, and free up precious time for what truly matters,serving communities in crisis.

Let’s take a closer look at how automation is already making a difference across five critical areas.

Donor Reporting and Compliance

For many humanitarian organizations, the end of the year brings a whirlwind of donor reports, compliance reviews, and impact documentation. In 2025, this workload has intensified, especially following funding reductions from USAID. NGOs have found themselves submitting more frequent reports, crafting detailed justifications for grant extensions, and preparing new proposals to diversify their funding streams all while operating with leaner teams due to budget constraints.

These reporting tasks are vital, but they’re also time-consuming and vulnerable to human error. That’s where automation is stepping in to lighten the load. By pulling data from financial systems, field reports, and CRM platforms, automation tools are generating clean, donor-ready templates with minimal manual input.

Procurement and Vendor Processing

Emergency response often demands rapid procurement, but speed must be balanced with accountability. Automation is helping NGOs onboard vendors faster by verifying documents, checking compliance, and flagging risks all in real time.

Mercy Corps, for example, has integrated automated procurement tools to streamline vendor registration and contract management, reducing turnaround times and improving transparency across their supply chain.

IT Support

Field teams working in remote or low-connectivity areas frequently encounter technical issues that can stall operations. AI-powered chatbots are now providing real-time IT support, guiding users through troubleshooting steps, resetting credentials, and escalating tickets when needed.

Field Data Monitoring

Data from the field is the heartbeat of humanitarian work. Whether it’s attendance logs, distribution records, or health screenings, timely insights are critical. Automation tools are helping organizations scan incoming data for anomalies such as missing supplies, low turnout, or delayed deliveries and trigger alerts instantly.
The Danish Refugee Council has piloted automated monitoring systems that flag operational risks early, enabling faster interventions and better resource allocation.

Inventory Tracking

In humanitarian logistics, visibility isn’t just helpful, it’s life-saving. Knowing what’s in stock, where it’s located, and when it’s moving can mean the difference between timely aid and missed opportunities. That’s why automation is becoming a vital ally in supply chain operations, helping organizations manage stock levels, track shipments and reconcile inventory across multiple warehouses with precision and speed.

UNICEF’s Supply Division has been leading the charge with its Stock Management Tool (SMT)a ready to use digital platform designed to bring end-to-end visibility to vaccine and therapeutic supply chains. Developed in partnership with WHO, the SMT is tailored for use in low-resource settings, offering both online and offline functionality to ensure accessibility even in areas with unreliable internet.

In conclusion, automation isn’t just a technical upgrade, it’s a gift of time. These digital helpers are quietly working behind the scenes, enabling humanitarian teams to deliver with precision and purpose, even in the face of growing complexity and limited resources. And that, perhaps, is the most meaningful transformation of all.

UiPath vs Power Platform: Same Goals, Different Soap Opera

consolata gicheru — Sun, 14 Sep 2025 19:07:00 +0000

1. Meet the Cast

Before we dive into the drama, let’s introduce our stars:

UiPath Character	Power Platform Counterpart	Personality
Studio	Power Apps	The developer, enables creation of graphic interfaces that allows users to connect with data or agents in the case of studio.
Orchestrator	Power Automate	The bossy scheduler, enables creation of automation workflows with orchestrator being able to handle complex processes
Maestro	Power Platform Pipelines	The process diva,lives for long-running workflows and dramatic pauses.
Agents	AI Builder / Custom Connectors	The mysterious sidekick shows up when things get complex.
UiPath Chatbots	Power Virtual Agents	The smooth talker, great with users, secretly powered by backend drama.

Each platform has its own ensemble cast, but they’re all chasing the same plot: automate processes, empower users, and reduce manual chaos.

2. The Relationship Status

UiPath’s components are tightly coupled Studio builds the bot, Orchestrator deploys it, Maestro choreographs it, and Agents fill in the gaps. It’s like a well-rehearsed theatre troupe: everyone knows their role, cues are timed, and the performance runs smoothly.

Power Platform, on the other hand, is more like a group project in college: Power Apps builds the front-end, Power Automate handles the logic, and AI Builder occasionally shows up when needed.

They work together, but sometimes you wonder if they’ve even met.

3. Emotional Intelligence or Just Good UX?

UiPath Studio is powerful but intimidating. Power Apps, meanwhile, is the friendly neighbor who helps you build a form in five minutes and then asks if you want to add AI.

4. Secrets, Scandals, and Shadow IT

Governance is where the drama hits peak ratings.
UiPath is built for centralized control. Power Platform needs strong governance policies and CoE frameworks to avoid chaos.

UiPath Orchestrator is strict all roles, permissions, audit logs, and robot management are baked in.

Power Platform is more democratic until someone builds a Flow that emails 500 people every 10 minutes and IT gets involved.

5. Who Gets the Final Rose?

It depends on your storyline:

Scenario	Winner	Why
Enterprise-grade automation with complex workflows	UiPath	Maestro, Orchestrator, and Agents shine here.
Rapid app development for business users	Power Platform	Power Apps + Power Automate = instant MVP.
Humanitarian tech in low-connectivity environments	Tie	UiPath’s offline bots vs Power Platform’s mobile-first design which can be configured for offline use.
Citizen developer empowerment	Power Platform	Studio can be abit scary.would need some more experience as compared to powerapps.

🎬 Final Scene

Like any good soap opera, the automation saga ends not with a clear winner but with a cliffhanger.

UiPath and Power Platform may chase the same goals, but they bring wildly different personalities to the stage. One thrives on orchestration and precision; the other on accessibility and speed. And in the middle of it all? You the architect, the strategist, the storyteller deciding which cast best fits your organization’s plot.

Whether you're building for enterprise scale, humanitarian impact, or citizen empowerment, the real power lies in knowing your audience, your constraints, and your endgame. Choose your tools like you cast your leads: not just for talent, but for chemistry.

So what’s next
Start your own pilot episode. Map your workflows, sketch your personas, and test your platforms. And if the drama gets too real, remember even bots need good direction.

How I met Data Pipelines😊

consolata gicheru — Sun, 05 Mar 2023 18:24:26 +0000

Which is your favorite TV show? Mine is the classic, "How I met your mother". In the entertainment industry, data pipelines can be equated to the process of creating and delivering a film or television show.

Just as data pipelines extract, transform, and load data from various sources into a central repository for analysis and reporting, the process of creating a film or television show involves extracting ideas and inspiration from various sources, transforming them into a cohesive story, and delivering them to the audience.

The production process for a film or television show typically involves several stages, including pre-production, production, and post-production. During pre-production, ideas and inspiration are gathered from various sources, such as books, scripts, or real-life events, and transformed into a cohesive story that can be turned into a film or television show. This process is similar to the data extraction and transformation stage of a data pipeline.

During production, the story is brought to life through the use of actors, sets, and special effects. This stage is similar to the data loading stage of a data pipeline, where the transformed data is loaded into a central repository for analysis and reporting.

Finally, during post-production, the film or television show is edited, polished, and delivered to the audience. This stage is similar to the reporting stage of a data pipeline, where the data is analyzed, processed, and presented to stakeholders.

Data pipelines have revolutionized the way businesses and organizations process, manage, and analyze their data. These pipelines are designed to extract, transform, and load data from various sources into a central repository for analysis and reporting.

In this blog post, we'll also get to explore the advantages of data pipelines and why they are an essential component of any modern data architecture.

Scalability and Flexibility: One of the most significant advantages of data pipelines is their scalability and flexibility. With the ability to scale up or down based on the volume of data, data pipelines allow organizations to process large volumes of data efficiently. Additionally, they are flexible enough to handle data from various sources, including structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data, making them ideal for modern data architectures.

Automated Data Processing: Data pipelines automate the process of data extraction, transformation, and loading. This automation reduces the risk of human error, increases processing speed, and ensures data accuracy. Additionally, data pipelines allow organizations to process data in near-real-time, enabling timely and accurate decision-making.

Data Quality: Data pipelines help maintain data quality by identifying and addressing data inconsistencies, errors, and redundancies. By performing data quality checks during the extraction, transformation, and loading process, organizations can ensure that the data they analyze is accurate, complete, and consistent.

Cost Savings: Data pipelines help organizations save money by reducing the need for manual data processing and maintenance. By automating the data processing process, organizations can significantly reduce labor costs, improve data accuracy, and make better use of their resources.

Improved Data Governance: Data pipelines facilitate better data governance by providing a centralized repository for data storage, processing, and analysis. This centralization allows organizations to manage data access, security, and compliance more effectively, reducing the risk of data breaches and ensuring regulatory compliance.

In conclusion, data pipelines are a crucial component of any modern data architecture, providing organizations with the scalability, flexibility, automation, data quality, cost savings, and improved data governance they need to make informed decisions. By adopting data pipelines, organizations can effectively process and analyze data to gain valuable insights and stay ahead of the competition.

Data! Data! Data!

consolata gicheru — Thu, 09 Feb 2023 14:03:00 +0000

Data is like the lifeblood of any organization or individual. It helps us make informed decisions and understand the world better. But, not all data is created equal. Just like blood types, some data is O-positive and some is AB-negative. In this blog, we'll take a lighthearted look at some cool examples of databases as well as the unique data qualities.

But let's not take data too seriously, it's time to have some fun and look at the different characteristics of data and some of the exciting databases that exist in the world today!

Structure
Data can come in different structures, including numerical, categorical, ordinal, and binary. Numerical data consists of numbers that can be quantified, such as age, height, and weight. Categorical data is a set of categories that describe the data, such as gender, occupation, and nationality. Ordinal data is a type of categorical data that has an order, such as movie ratings from best to worst. Finally, binary data is a type of data that only has two categories, such as yes/no, true/false, or male/female.

Volume
Data can come in different sizes, ranging from small to big. Small data is usually manageable by humans and can be processed using basic tools like Microsoft Excel. Big data, on the other hand, is too large to be processed by traditional tools and requires special software and hardware to manage.

Velocity
Data can be generated at different speeds, ranging from slow to fast. Slow data is generated over a long period of time and can be analyzed in a more relaxed manner. Fast data, on the other hand, is generated in real-time and requires immediate attention and analysis.

Variety
Data can come in different forms, including text, images, audio, and video. Text data is the most common form of data and consists of written information. Image data consists of visual information, such as photos and illustrations. Audio data consists of sound recordings, such as music and speech. Video data consists of visual and audio information, such as movies and television shows.

Now, let's take a look at some exciting databases that exist in the world today:

IMDb (Internet Movie Database)
IMDb is a database of information related to movies, TV shows, and celebrities. It includes information about actors, directors, writers, production companies, and more. With over 6.5 million titles and more than 100 million registered users, IMDb is the ultimate destination for movie and TV fans.

Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a free, open-source, multilingual, online encyclopedia that is based on a collaborative model. With more than six million articles in English alone, Wikipedia is one of the largest and most comprehensive databases of information on the internet.

GenBank
GenBank is a database of genetic information that includes DNA sequences, protein sequences, and genetic maps. With more than 200 million sequences, GenBank is a valuable resource for researchers in the field of genetics and biotechnology.

World Bank Open Data
The World Bank Open Data is a database of information related to the global economy and development. It includes data on finance, trade, health, education, and more. With more than 3,000 indicators and data from over 210 countries, the World Bank Open Data is a valuable resource for policymakers, academics, and the general public.

In conclusion, data is a crucial aspect of our lives, and it's important to understand its different characteristics and the databases that exist to make the most of it. So let's embrace data and have some fun exploring the world of information!

Analytical Adventure

consolata gicheru — Wed, 01 Feb 2023 18:03:26 +0000

"Once upon a time, in a land far, far away (ok, maybe just a few cubicles over), I embarked on a wild and wondrous journey into the world of data. It was a land filled with endless possibilities, where every number and statistic held the key to unlocking the secrets of the universe (or at least, the secrets of your business).

But as with any great adventure, there were challenges to overcome. The data was vast, overwhelming, and sometimes, just plain confusing. But fear not, my friends! For with the power of datascience, even the most daunting of data problems can be conquered.

So grab your calculators and your courage, and join me on this analytical adventure as we delve into the world of data and discover the solutions it holds!"

Data Science is an interdisciplinary field that involves using scientific methods, algorithms, and systems to extract knowledge and insights from structured and unstructured data.

Machine Learning is a subset of Artificial Intelligence that provides systems the ability to automatically learn and improve from experience without being explicitly programmed.

In data science, data is collected, cleaned, and analyzed to gain insights and make predictions. Machine learning algorithms are then used to build models that can automatically make predictions or decisions based on input data. These models can be used in various applications such as natural language processing, image and speech recognition, and prediction of outcomes in fields such as finance, healthcare, and marketing.

Exciting advancements are constantly being made in the field, including the development of deep learning algorithms and the increasing availability of big data, leading to improved accuracy and efficiency in prediction and decision making.

In our next blog we'll get to cover the characteristics of data sources.

Don't just sit there! Start Power Pages

consolata gicheru — Fri, 18 Nov 2022 15:10:35 +0000

Hey there, glad to have you here. Ever wondered how you’d create your own website as this one to fuel your business in just a few days/ hours without having to worry about security. Worry not as Power Pages just like redbull gives you wings to fly!!

This year we get to introduce the newest baby in the power platform family. For businesses already utilizing the Microsoft 365 suite and also new businesses looking to adopt the Microsoft suite.
Power pages is a secure platform for creating, hosting and administering modern external facing business websites using data stored in Microsoft Dataverse.

Power Pages Capabilities

Simplified authoring experience for makers: This has been made possible by using available templates, design studio providing styling, data and setup workspace for site management.
Responsive rendering as power pages is based on Bootstrap hence supporting responsive and mobile friendly applications.
Advanced custom development for pro developers to extend power pages functionality using visual studio.
Integration to other Microsoft Power Platform components like dataverse, PowerBi, Power Apps, Automate and Power Virtual Agents.

Pricing

Power pages was previously purchased as Power Apps portals but is now a stand-alone product with two license types:

Pre-paid subscription plans

Power Pages authenticated users per website (for 100 users/site/month) is priced at $200 with two additional volume tiers. Each subscription plan includes 2GBs of Dataverse Database storage and 16GBs of Dataverse File storage that accrues to the tenant.
Power Pages anonymous users per website (for 500 users/site/month) is priced at $75 with two additional volume tiers. Each subscription plan includes 500MBs of Dataverse Database storage and 4GBs of Dataverse File storage that accrues to the tenant.

Pay-as-you-go

Power Pages authenticated user per website is priced at $4 per user.
Power Pages anonymous users per website is priced at $.30 per user. Authenticated and anonymous users are consumed/metered only when a user accesses a website in a calendar month, making it easy to deploy websites to broad audiences without assigning licenses to individual users each month.

                   Happy Learning!!

Class Diagrams Relationships

consolata gicheru — Sun, 23 May 2021 01:46:18 +0000

Class diagrams are the main building block in object-oriented modeling. They are used to show the different objects in a system, their attributes, their operations and the relationships among them.

Classes are interrelated to each other in specific ways. In particular, relationships in class diagrams include different types of logical connections. The following are such types of logical connections that are possible in Unified Modelling Language:

Association
Composition
Aggregation
Inheritance
Generalization
Specialization

An example to understand the relationships
consider a person with his/her gadgets (phones, Laptops etc )

From here we have 2 classes class person and class gadget
when a person charges a gadget that creates an Association between the two classes

Composition implies a relationship where the child cannot exist independent of the parent.
Battery is part of a phone
A phone can't exist without a battery hence that is an example of composition

A battery and a phone can however exist independently . This is an example of Aggregation
Aggregation implies a relationship where the child can exist independently of the parent

Generalization is a mechanism for combining similar classes of objects into a single, more general class.
Phones and Laptops are examples of Gadgets .
class phones can be a subclass of class Gadgets
This is an example of Generalization as phones inherit attributes from the super class Gadgets

Specialization is the reverse process of Generalization means creating new sub-classes from an existing class hence in the example we could have class phones being created from class Gadgets

Representation of the relationships

Nevertheless, Consolata Gicheru Coded in 2021!

consolata gicheru — Sun, 21 Mar 2021 04:00:40 +0000

My most recent achievement was Speaking at the Global Power Platform Bootcamp in Nairobi.

Advocating for myself looks like believing in myself and the skills that I have and pushing to learn more each day and become a better person.

My biggest goal is to be an expert in my field and maybe one day be a Power Platform advocate hence grow my community and empower them to do more.

My advice for allies to support underrepresented folks who code is Kindly give them a platform to showcase their skills and grow their careers.I'd also like them to keep this in mind A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle

Highlight of My AZ-900 journey

consolata gicheru — Sun, 10 Jan 2021 04:36:00 +0000

When I begun studying for my AZ-900 I struggled getting this concepts and could often get them mixed up but after writing this blog I feel more confident in explaining them to others. I hope you feel the same after reading it.
I'll be sharing more insights on the cloud service models and there key differences.

Microsoft Azure is a Cloud computing platform and an online portal that allows people to access and manage cloud services and resources provided by Microsoft.

Cloud Computing : the delivery of computing services over the internet, which is otherwise known as the cloud. These services include servers, storage, databases, networking, software, analytics, and intelligence.

Cloud Service Models define the different level of shared responsibility that a cloud provider and cloud tenant are responsible for.There are 3 Cloud Service Models:

Infrastructure as a Service(IAAS)
Platform as a Service (PAAS)
Software as a Service (SAAS)

Infrastructure as a ServiceThis model is the closest to managing physical servers. A cloud provider keeps the hardware up to date, but operating system maintenance and network configuration is left to the cloud tenant.
Example Azure virtual machines are fully operational virtual compute devices running in Microsoft data centers.

Platform as a ServiceThis model is a managed hosting environment. The cloud provider manages the virtual machines and networking resources, and the cloud tenant deploys their applications into the managed hosting environment.
Example Azure provides app services supporting the entire building process of a web app development and deployment,

Software as a ServiceIn this cloud service model, the cloud provider manages all aspects of the application environment, such as virtual machines, networking resources, data storage, and applications. The cloud tenant only needs to provide their data to the application managed by the cloud provider.
Example Microsoft Office 365 provides a fully working version of Microsoft Office that runs in the cloud.

An illustration of the various levels of responsibility between a cloud provider and a cloud tenant.

Deep Dive into Power Platform #3 Power Virtual Agents

consolata gicheru — Thu, 31 Dec 2020 12:45:17 +0000

Have you ever shopped at Amazon?or better yet have you interacted with Alexa ;Amazon's virtual Assistant? At the end of this blog you will be able to create your own virtual Assistant with the help of Power Virtual Agents.

A Virtual Agent is a computer generated, animated, artificial intelligence virtual character that serves as an online customer service representative.

It leads an intelligent conversation with users, responds to their questions and performs adequate non-verbal behavior

Power Virtual Agents lets you create powerful chatbots that can answer questions posed by your customers, other employees, or visitors to your website or service.

Power Virtual Agents is available as both a standalone web app, and as a discrete app within Microsoft Teams.

Key Pointers

When you create bots with Power Virtual Agents, you author and edit topics.
Topics are discrete conversation paths that, when used together within a single bot, allow for users to have a conversation with a bot that feels natural and flows appropriately.
Creating a bot with Power Virtual Agents is easy to do with the no-code authoring canvas, and there are a number of ways you can manage how topics interact, how you want the conversation to flow, and what it should feel like.
It's also easy to test the bot without having to fully deploy the bot whenever you make a small change.
There are also lesson topics that guide you through topic authoring - from simple to complex scenarios, as well as default system topics.

Create your first chatbot using the provided guide

Deep Dive into Power Platform #2 Power Automate

consolata gicheru — Thu, 31 Dec 2020 12:43:15 +0000

Power Automate (previously called Microsoft flow)is a service that helps you create automated workflows between your favorite apps and services to synchronize files, get notifications, collect data, and more.

key Terms

A trigger : the thing (event) that happens that starts the process. That's what you're asking the workflow to look out for.
Actions : the things you want the workflow to do once the trigger takes place.
Connectors:It is a proxy or a wrapper around an API that allows the underlying service to talk to Microsoft Power Automate, Microsoft Power Apps, and Azure Logic Apps.

It provides a way for users to connect their accounts and leverage a set of pre-built actions and triggers to build their apps and workflows.

Types of flows

1.Cloud flows

Automated flow Create an automation that is triggered by an event such as arrival of an email from a specific person, or a mention of your company in social media.
Instant flows Start an automation with a click of a button. You can automate for repetitive tasks from your Desktop or Mobile devices
Scheduled flows Schedule an automation such as daily data upload to SharePoint or a database.

2.Desktop flows:Used to automate tasks on the Web or the desktop. Alternatively, you can use the two legacy methods of of creating desktop flows: Windows recorder (V1) and Selenium ID.

3.Business process flows: provide a guide for people to get work done. They provide a streamlined user experience that leads people through the processes their organization has defined for interactions that need to be advanced to a conclusion of some kind.

Get to know the different Premium and Standard connectors
in Power Automate

For more information regarding power automate kindly visit
Power Automate Docs

Deep Dive into Power Platform #1 Power Apps

consolata gicheru — Thu, 31 Dec 2020 12:39:22 +0000

Power Apps is a suite of apps, services, connectors and data platform that provides a rapid application development environment to build custom apps for your business needs. With Power Apps, you can quickly build custom business apps that connect to your business data stored either in the underlying data platform (Microsoft Dataverse formerly CDS) or in various online and on-premises data sources like SharePoint, Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, SQL Server.

With Power Apps, you can create three types of apps: Canvas Apps, Model-driven Apps, and Portals.

To create an app, you start with Make.powerapps.com

Power Apps Studio is the app designer used for building canvas apps. The app designer makes creating apps feel more like building a slide deck in Microsoft PowerPoint.

App designer for model-driven apps lets you define the sitemap and add components to build a model-driven app.

Power Apps portals Studiois a WYSIWYG design tool to add and configure web pages, components, forms, and lists.

Canvas Apps
They Provide a visual canvas for one to build and design apps.To create the app, you can drag and drop various elements into your canvas from whatever you require. Throughout, you can format the right conditions and settings that are needed to make the application work.

Model-Driven Apps
They Provide an interface to build apps with complex business logic. Model apps can run as either a standalone or as the backend to a canvas app.

One of the core benefits of Model-driven apps is their ability to generate data models. When inputted, the data is defined as a structure which allows the app to conform to your information.
The simple application architecture allows you to customize the app, without creating new code.

Canvas and Model Driven Apps are quite similar but to their design, the fundamental difference is over user control. When creating a Canvas App, you have full control over every single aspect of the result.
In contrast, Model Apps are controlled more by the data and information you enter into it. What you input is effectively what decides the outcome. The layout, functionality and general design will be more affected than a Canvas-based application.
If you want flexibility there’s Canvas, yet if you crave structure, Model-driven apps can provide that.

Portal
A portal provides an experience of an external facing website
that allow users outside their organizations to sign in with a wide variety of identities, create and view data in Microsoft Dataverse, or even browse content anonymously.

This end-to-end experience allows portal makers to quickly create a website and customize it with pages, layout, and content. Makers can reuse page designs through templates, add forms and views to display key data from Dataverse, and publish to users.

Create an M365 Developer Account Here
Create one of the apps described above and share the app on social media ,Don't forget to tag the power platform community.

For More insights one can check out :