Establish project & team
Create a team that has the skills to be able to setup, implement, manage and maintain your OpenCRVS instance.
1. Introduction
Before any technical configuration begins, it's important to establish a clear project structure, define business objectives, and assemble a multidisciplinary team capable of delivering a successful CRVS digital transformation.
OpenCRVS implementations are not simply software deployments — they are national transformation initiatives requiring alignment between policy, operations, technology, and change management. Investing time upfront to define objectives and identify the right team significantly reduces implementation risk.
2. Define the Project Initiation Document (PID)
The first step is developing a PID that gives all stakeholders a shared understanding of the programme. It should define:
Business objectives — the strategic outcomes the country expects, such as increasing registration coverage, reducing delays, improving citizen experience, or strengthening data quality. Objectives should be measurable where possible.
Project scope — which vital events will be implemented, geographic coverage (pilot, phased, national), systems requiring integration, and infrastructure hosting approach.
Governance structure — executive sponsors, a steering committee, a project manager, and clear decision-making and escalation processes.
Success criteria — key milestones, timelines, adoption targets, and service quality expectations.
3. Establish the implementation team
Successful OpenCRVS programmes require a multidisciplinary team with expertise spanning policy, operations, technology, user experience, deployment, and service improvement.
The exact size of the team will depend on the country context, implementation scope, and available resources. In smaller programmes, individuals may perform multiple roles.
3.1 Core project leadership
Project Manager Provides overall coordination and oversight of the programme. Responsible for:
Managing scope, timelines, budget, risks, and dependencies
Coordinating activities across all workstreams
Tracking delivery against objectives
Managing stakeholder communication
Reporting progress to governance bodies
3.2 Business Analysis and Service Design
This workstream ensures that OpenCRVS is configured and implemented in a way that reflects national laws, policies, and operational realities.
Business Analyst(s) Responsible for:
Mapping existing registration processes
Identifying inefficiencies and improvement opportunities
Gathering functional and non-functional requirements
Documenting business rules and workflows
Ensuring requirements are translated into implementable solutions
Design Researchers / Qualitative Researchers Responsible for:
Understanding the experiences of registrars, health workers, courts, communities, and citizens
Conducting interviews, workshops, and field observations
Identifying user needs, pain points, and service barriers
Supporting user-centred service design
3.3 Infrastructure and Platform Management
Technical System Administrator / DevOps Engineer Responsible for:
Infrastructure provisioning
OpenCRVS installation and configuration
Managing cloud or on-premise environments
Security and access management
Monitoring system performance and availability
Backup and disaster recovery planning
Ongoing maintenance and operational support
3.4 Design and Development
Where additional localisation or feature development is required, a dedicated design and development team should be established.
UX/UI Designer Responsible for:
Translating requirements into intuitive user experiences
Designing interfaces consistent with OpenCRVS design standards
Supporting usability testing and design validation
Technical Architect Responsible for:
Defining technical solution architecture
Reviewing integrations and interoperability requirements
Ensuring scalability, maintainability, and compliance with OpenCRVS architecture principles
Software Developers Responsible for:
Developing additional features and integrations
Implementing country-specific customisations
Maintaining locally developed components
3.5 Quality Assurance
Test Lead / Quality Assurance Engineers Responsible for:
Defining testing strategy and planning functional and non-functional testing activities
Executing test cases and performing regression testing
Validating configurations and localisations
Managing defect resolution processes
Supporting user acceptance testing (UAT)
Determining deployment readiness
Comprehensive testing is critical before pilot and production deployments.
3.6 Training and Capacity Building
Training Lead / Trainers Responsible for:
Developing the national training strategy and designing training materials
Defining training-of-trainers approaches
Delivering training to end users and supporting onboarding activities
Monitoring training effectiveness and gathering feedback to improve materials
Training should account for varying levels of digital literacy and operational experience.
3.7 Deployment and Rollout
Deployment Team Responsible for:
Developing deployment strategies and rollout plans
Coordinating pilot and national deployment activities
Preparing implementation sites and ensuring site readiness
Supporting training activities and assisting users during rollout
Coordinating deployment resources and validating operational readiness
3.8 Change Management
Technology alone does not transform civil registration services. Sustainable adoption requires structured change management.
Change Management Lead Responsible for:
Developing a change management strategy and conducting stakeholder analysis
Designing communication and engagement activities
Managing organisational readiness and monitoring user adoption
Promoting the programme and supporting colleagues during transition
Gathering feedback from users and encouraging adoption of new ways of working
3.9 Monitoring, Evaluation and Continuous Improvement
Monitoring & Evaluation Lead Responsible for:
Defining programme indicators and success metrics
Establishing monitoring frameworks
Measuring operational performance
Conducting periodic reviews
Supporting continuous improvement initiatives
Indicators may include: registration coverage, registration timeliness, system utilisation, service turnaround times, data quality measures, and user satisfaction.
4. Resources and support
For broader guidance on skills and roles in CRVS digitisation, see the CRVS Digitisation Guidebook.
For any questions about establishing a team to configure, further develop, or manage and maintain OpenCRVS effectively, contact team@opencrvs.org.
Team sizing guidance: The size and composition of your team should reflect the scope of your implementation. A Proof of Concept may only require the two core roles, while a national-scale digitisation programme typically requires all programme and change management roles in addition to technical staff.
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