AI & digital innovation: Reflections on ACRES’ digital tools.
The Center for Rapid Evidence Synthesis (ACRES), Kampala, Uganda
For more than a decade, the Centre for Rapid Evidence Synthesis (ACRES) pioneered the Rapid Response Service (RRS) for policymakers in low- and middle-income countries to facilitate the use of evidence in policy and decision making. The premise was simple: decision-makers do not have months to wait for evidence; they have days or even hours to make a decision. As ACRES continues to support policy processes in Uganda and beyond, traditional approaches to evidence synthesis are being reshaped through digital innovation to make evidence synthesis faster, timelier and more accessible for policymaking across all sectors.
Some of the digital tools developed by ACRES include:
- cRhona (https://crhona.acres.or.ug/). cRhona is the digital clone of our RRS. This all-in-one AI-driven platform accelerates the entire evidence synthesis workflow, from receiving a research question to synthesis, while delivering rapid evidence products within a very short turnaround time.
- Digital Repository for Rapid Evidence Synthesis [DrRES] (http://deb.acres.or.ug/). This is a centralised, AI-powered, open-access one-stop repository of evidence products, including rapid response briefs and evidence gap maps, providing policymakers across Africa with immediate access to grounded, locally relevant research synthesised for urgent decision-making.
- Data Extractor (https://extractor.acres.or.ug/). Our extractor applies digital and AI-assisted approaches to execute tasks such as searching, screening, and data extraction, helping synthesis teams generate evidence in a short period of the time.
- Living EIDM ToolMap(https://tools.acres.or.ug/), an open-access repository of digital tools for evidence synthesis and use. Users can find and access existing digital tools used throughout various EIDM processes, from identifying evidence needs to disseminating and using the evidence in suitable formats.
Two lessons stand out. First, digital innovation in EIDM is feasible, especially when it addresses pressing challenges in the evidence synthesis workflow. Second, tools amplify, rather than replace, the human. While technology can streamline tasks and improve efficiency, the expertise and judgement of humans remain crucial for achieving robust outcomes.
Reflecting on this progress against the Evi4Dev 2025 Call to Action, these innovations respond to some of the pressing challenges faced in the EIDM space, including inadequate access to data and information, inadequate technical capacity for both researchers and policymakers, and untimely access to relevant data for decision-making.
We invite the Evi4Dev community to explore these platforms, test them against your own evidence workflows and give us feedback for further refinements and improvements.