Decision Support Modeling Tools for Ethiopia (DSMT-E) is a research project that aims to develop and test a suite of decision support tools for food security and development planning in Ethiopia. Food security analysis requires an understanding of complex social, economic, and bio-physical variables, and is thus difficult to analyze. DSMT-E seeks to apply advanced technologies to better understand the multi-sectoral interactions, dependencies, and impacts of these variables so that analysts and decision-makers can bring complexity and systems thinking into program design and implementation.
The project uses advanced technologies such as machine reading, ensemble modeling, grid computing, and natural language processing to build use-interfaces that allow planners to interact with complex data and models. The suite of decision support tools under development are expected to allow an Ethiopian analyst to generate and communicate evidence-based recommendations that use 1) improved models, 2) a greater number of data sets and information sources, and 3) dynamic and interactive displays that allow decision makers to ask “what if” questions.
The project is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s Global Agricultural Development program in partnership with the United States Government’s Defense Advanced Research Project Agency’s (DARPA) World Modelers program. Addis Ababa Institute of Technology is the lead institutional partner within Ethiopia and Luma Consulting is facilitating working partnerships between Ethiopian and World Modelers partner institutions to co-create modelling tools.
“Don’t let complexity stop you. Be activists. Take on the big inequities.”
Header Image- Elias Sime, Tightrope 2019