MEEDS : a decision support system for selecting the most useful developmental projects in developing countries : case of Ghana

Abstract

Several sustainable development indicators have been used to monitor and measure the progress of various countries. Several reports and data available about countries progress prove that development has not been equal in all regions. On the brighter side, the data can be used to inform decision making in areas that are experiencing deficiencies. In this research, a decision support system(DSS) is built to help governments and NGOs to properly choose projects that align with the needs of the people. We approached this research by utilizing Abraham Maslow’s proven psychological framework on the hierarchy of needs as the main criteria for choosing projects for sustainable development. The system ranks development projects based on the needs priority and how much it has been fulfilled. It ranks projects that meet an urgent need that is also lacking fulfillment higher than other project alternatives. The social progress index (SPI), a comprehensive open data that measures the social progress of counties were correlated to the needs indicated by Maslow’s Hierarchy. The needs were then used as criteria in the AHP decision analysis model to build a classic DSS to aid in selecting the most appropriate development project.