Can we Compare with More Fruit?

By   July 21, 2016
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Are we now done? Do we now have a final set of NEXES flexible Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) with their decoupled effect measurements? The answer is: Yes and No. “Yes,” as the principle of flexibility is the silver bullet. “No,” as the current KPIs and effect measurements are likely to change, even by the NEXES project itself as a result of a number of experiments. Fortunately, these changes are easily accommodated: that is the result of designing for change.

This is the final article in a series of six about the NEXES Key Performance Indicators. The previous articles described the flexible KPIs where each KPI depends on multiple effect measurements. Emergency services can tailor the effect measurements to their individual situation by selecting relevant effect measurements, and setting the measurement method, reference value, scoring formula (also known as normalisation method), and importance of effect measurements when computing the scores of KPIs.

The flexibility of the KPIs and effect measurements has shown to be beneficial (1) to guarantee autonomy of emergency services in the application and tailoring of the KPIs, (2) to enable structured comparison of results of the before and after situation of an emergency service , and (3) to foster exploration and understanding of the NEXES impact by changing and re-computing scoring formula and scores of KPIs for (all) emergency services.


Has our work finished with the flexible KPIs? Applying the KPIs to multiple oranges and apple orchards that undergo change, within Europe and beyond, is bound to provide feedback on effect measurements. For example, orchards may bring the distinction that when fruit is harvested, it is not necessarily ‘ripe for eating’. This may lead to changes in the definition of effect measurements: whether the colours of fruit are about ‘ready to be harvested’ or ‘ready for consumption’. Furthermore, cherry, strawberry, grape, banana, lemon and other fruit orchards may join and request additional effect measurements. Is this a problem? Not from the point of view of flexibility: it’s straightforward to change effect measurements, remove or add effect measurements and even change, remove or add KPIs.

Is the current set of NEXES effect measurements, 58 in total, finished? Not likely. The NEXES Action is set to conduct a number of exercises in which these KPIs will be applied to emergency services in Slovenia, Romania and Turkey that implement some or all of the NEXES Internet-enabled communication technologies. These exercises will also yield insight in the usefulness and practical applicability of the current KPIs and effect measurements. It may even lead to changes to the KPIs: that is a welcome effect of accumulating progressive insight. The net result will be an improved set of flexible KPIs that useable by emergency services throughout Europe and beyond.

Our challenge was to find an alternative approach to replace the ‘one size fits all’ KPI-approach. We adhered to the ‘design for change’ adage and created the principle of flexible KPIs. This flexibility is achieved through the tailoring of relevant effect measurements and scoring importance. Has our work finished with the principle of the flexible KPIs? Yes – the inherent flexibility in the KPIs and their decoupled effect measurements makes it easy to accommodate changes. By definition it is easy to extend and improve on the KPIs and effect measurements.

Has our work really finished? To be honest: no. First, we need to gain more experience with applying flexible KPIs. Then, it becomes possible to identify gaps in our understanding and formulate our needs for automated support. We may be in need of smart apps for semi-automated comparison for a single emergency service, automated explanation of differences in scores, and other useful support tools. We may also investigate the possibility to investigate operational difference among emergency services, reflected by their choice and tailoring of effect measurements. Furthermore, we may attempt to aggregate scores nationally and explore national comparisons.

When you’re interested to read more about our flexible KPIs, we can recommend the deliverable D2.4 on the NEXES Key Performance Indicators. The NEXES RIA will also deliver a validation framework at the end of the project (April 2018).

Thank you for your reading!

On behalf of the NEXES Action,

Niek Wijngaards

This blog is number 6 in a series of six articles on the NEXES Key Performance Indicators and Effect Measurements. When you wish to delve deeper into the NEXES Action and its solution to comparing apples and oranges we recommend to read the deliverable D2.4. Below is the list of all the articles in the series:

Photo of Niek Wijngaards. Dr. Niek Wijngaards works for AIMTech Consulting Limited in the United Kingdom and True Information Solutions in the Netherlands as senior consultant and solution architect. His focus on user-centered innovation and his work on intelligent systems and scenario-based robust decision-making provides a sound basis for the development of the NEXES flexible KPI structure, making it possible to rigorously compare apples, oranges and indeed the entire contents of a fruit basket. Niek can be contacted at n.wijngaards AT aimtech DOT co DOT uk for KPI and fruit-related questions.


EC FlagNEXES action logo Copyright © 2016, NEXES RIA, All Rights Reserved. The NEXES Research and Innovation Action has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 653337. The work on the NEXES Key Performance Indicators is co-authored by the Action partners and has benefited from the constructive comments by the reviewers. See the NEXES LinkedIn group LinkedIn Logo for an overview of NEXES colleagues. All images Copyright © NEXES unless stated otherwise.