Ana Paneiro

Pledge 1%: Supporting Associação Crescerbem with Jira Software

Associação Crescerbem is a Private Social Solidarity Institution, founded in 2011, and its main goal is to help families of hospitalised children in economic deprivation. The association started in Dona Estefânia Hospital in Lisbon, where the headquarters still remain nearby. Meanwhile, the support has been extended to Santa Maria Hospital and Beatriz Ângelo Hospital.

The mission of Crescerbem is, specifically, to provide for families in a personalised manner, according to the specific needs of each case and helping them become more independent and autonomous. This way, follow-up does not happen only when a child is hospitalised, but also in the period after the medical discharge.

The association started offering home support and, through that, other needs started to be identified besides medical follow-up; from that point on, countless parallel projects came to life, such as the solidarity pantry (food baskets provided to families), the laundry service, and the solidarity pharmacy (which provides the necessary medication).

Despite the number of families helped and the number of existing cases, all the information was still offline. This means that it was impossible to access the necessary information without physically being in the association’s headquarters. Volunteers spent hours searching for case files and updating them, which resulted in a huge lack of visibility on the current state of each support case. Therefore, computerising all this information was critical. However, there was a problem: the lack of financial means to spend on technological solutions that could put an end to this problem.

It was at this stage that Donate IT – a community of volunteers who work with information technology – came into action through Sofia Neto, community volunteer and Collaboration & Development Solutions Lead from Xpand IT. Sofia managed to unite her work at Donate IT to the movement Pledge 1% – a movement which Xpand IT joined in 2017, thereby committing to annually donate 1% of profit and 1% of products to social solidarity institutions. Completely pro bono, Xpand IT made Jira Software available to Crescerbem (including implementation and support), thereby accomplishing Donate IT’s vision  – helping to help others  – and Pledge 1%’s vision.

Besides being extremely important to the computerisation of all documents of Crescerbem, this project proves that Jira Software has a lot more uses than software management. In practice, it can be adapted to any reality.

Inside the association, each family corresponds to an ‘issue’ in Jira. When support to a new family starts, a new issue is created and the type family is chosen. Each issue has the complete information that characterises each family: information including when the support started, how many children, which country the family is from and the contact details of the parents.

Everything is organised in different tabs in order to make viewing and editing of the information on each family easier, and all initiatives are considered subtasks: e.g. home support or medication provided. Therefore, a new registry of everything that happens has become an integral part of the process, and everyone with access permission can access that information anywhere.

Xpand IT is already working on the new release and it will have two goals: the first one is to introduce Confluence to further facilitate the sharing of information about tasks to be undertaken or families with open cases; the second one is to include Xporter, so that the association can easily export a report, for example, and to always be able to present it with the best formatting.

With this software, we have the ability to computerise all social processes and this means that access to all information related to the families is only a click away. What is the importance of this change? We will have more time. Time to begin expanding to other hospitals; time to help more families; and time to move forward with the idea of a social business, which will make Crescerbem self-sustaining.

Isabel Ramos - Co-founder, Crescerbem
Ana PaneiroPledge 1%: Supporting Associação Crescerbem with Jira Software
read more

Artificial Intelligence: The Future is now

It’s not exactly breaking news that the concept of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been gaining some ground. A new wave of platforms that achieve maximum performance using the last generation of processors are obtaining really positive results. However, the question still stands: what defines this subject and what practical uses does it offer?

Ana PaneiroArtificial Intelligence: The Future is now
read more

Xpand IT opens new office in the USA

Lisbon, Viana do Castelo, Porto, Braga, London … and now, San Francisco. This is Xpand IT’s sixth office, a move that represents an investment in a city outside Europe, looking to respond to the quick growth that the product area has been experiencing all over the world, but particularly in the USA.

Ana PaneiroXpand IT opens new office in the USA
read more

Welcome to Tableau Prep!

According to a Harvard Business Review article from 2017, people spend 80% of their time prepping data and only 20% analysing it. Tableau acknowledged that problem and came up with a simple solution: Tableau Prep.

Ana PaneiroWelcome to Tableau Prep!
read more

GDPR – Our commitment

GDPR is the trending abbreviation and does not need any introduction. The new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) entered into force on the 25th of May and marks a new era concerning data and personal data processing. It concerns companies and individuals, in and outside of the European Union, as long as a European citizen is part of the transaction.

Ana PaneiroGDPR – Our commitment
read more

Blockchain: society’s new paradigm

Blockchain has been much discussed recently. We decided to gather our three Blockchain experts to talk about the subject in order to clarify its concept, the differences between public Blockchain and private Blockchain and its practical uses in some industries, such as in Health and in Supply Chain.

Ana PaneiroBlockchain: society’s new paradigm
read more

Xpand IT DNA: we take happiness very seriously

A sound mind in a sound body. At Xpand IT, we follow that rule and want our staff to follow it too. A study conducted by two MIT researchers for the scientific magazine Nature Communications concluded that exercising is “socially contagious”. That’s why we promote several activities that are able to stimulate equally both the physical and mental health of all participants. From after-work gatherings to CrossFit classes, there’s a range of activities for everyone. Regardless of the activity, what matters most in the end is spending time together, bonding between teams. That is Xpand IT’s DNA spirit.

Ana PaneiroXpand IT DNA: we take happiness very seriously
read more

Tableau 2018.1: Make your data make an impact

Make your data make an impact. That is the Tableau goal: to translate available data into useful value, allowing it to have a positive effect on businesses. Consequently, Tableau, aiming to respond to the emerging needs of new self-service tool users, has decided to change its market positioning and has started to declare: Data everywhere. Tableau for everyone.

Ana PaneiroTableau 2018.1: Make your data make an impact
read more

Jira Service Desk: The tool to act according to GDPR

Take note of the 25th of May on your calendar. This day will mark the point where all citizens will be able to make several requests about their personal data: requests can range from being erased from all databases to opposing the treatment of their data, or, to put it simply, to claim the right to the information.

Ana PaneiroJira Service Desk: The tool to act according to GDPR
read more