IDEMS’ approach to achieving impact, which shapes the activities we carry out, combines our expertise in development, education and the mathematical sciences. This often entails the development of technologies or data science approaches to support partners working with under-resourced communities. Through this approach, we contribute to improved professional and academic outcomes in development projects and the strengthening of education systems, especially in underserved environments. Our work this year broadly falls into the same four main areas as previously: agroecology, social development, climate and education. The benefits of our work in these areas for our community this year is outlined below. Agroecology (West Africa) As part of building local capacity, we have created, piloted and adapted a postgraduate and teacher level Research Methods for Agroecology course. increasing our support for the data needs within and beyond the WAf CRFS more systematically. Our team has also been working on improving a shorter version of this course for self learning. This work has been co-funded by PRORUWA. The RMS team led two-day research methods workshops for CRFS project decision-makers in Niger, Burkina Faso and in Mali to introduce different research methods available that can increase the impact of their projects. In addition to sharing skills on common topics, discussions in each country explored local priorities: in Niger big data projects with farmer federations; in Burkina Faso working with the Met office to access climatic data; in Mali, how AI can support research implementation. Requests informing 2025’s programme include statistical analysis, qualitative analysis, data collection methods and climatic analysis. Our partnership with CASAS Global (US) to improve the usability and expand the accessibility of their Population Based Demographic Models (PBDM) system progressed well. The system’s pioneers (Andrew Gutierrez and Luigi Ponti) visited to review our introduction of the approach. This was critical in enabling us to understand how they think about the PBDM method and led to a re-evaluation of some of our underlying structures. Most significant was when we gained understanding into why they were not worried about certain details and yet extremely concerned about others. We now appreciate that their approach is to focus on the system interactions rather than specific amounts, which is essential to understand the dynamics of the system. We believe that input from West Africa could valuably inform how the PBDM approach is developed globally. Climate Launched in 2022, our work with University of Reading on EPICSA in Zambia and Malawi was completed and extended. Although nationwide coverage for climate and crop advisories has taken longer than anticipated to implement, all the main locations in both countries are now represented in the mobile app for farmers and extension staff. The extension by GIZ to its original grant will support improving the data system feeding the app and the internal processes of met agencies in managing and improving the quality of national data. This year we also began an exciting data integration project in Zimbabwe bringing together and sharing meteorological and hydrological data from the two relevant government agencies: MSD and ZINWA. Though currently stored across legacy systems and incomplete databases, the project will build the two department’s capacity to correct and fill in data gaps and then make it mutually available for improved climate and irrigation advisories. Given the historical lack of data sharing between government ministries, we hope this integration will become a model for other countries. Social development Our work with the Global Parenting Initiative (GPI) this year accelerated around one of the two key product sets - OpenAppBuilder - and how its open authoring and deployment models an organisation-wide approach to developing digital solutions for under-resourced communities. Crucial to this advance has been the alignment with work on PBDMs with CASAS and the search for a common mathematical language via which to abstract and manage multiple variations of common methods. Results from the ParentApp Tanzania RCT provided the first large-scale evidence that the impact of digital-first parenting interventions can achieve the same level of qualitative impact for parents/caregivers and children at a fraction of the in-person costs achieving comparative outcomes. Reducing the cost per family from around $96 to $6 makes it affordable as a public policy priority for ministries of health in even the poorest countries. On this basis it is now part of WHO’s global parenting strategy. Conversely, Kuwait’s Ministry of Health also commissioned ParentApp which means its potential has been recognised in one of the world’s richest countries. This changes the expectations of the product significantly - not just in terms of Arabic right-to-left text but also local norms for connectivity and the app’s user experience. Though not a primary target for the long-term scaling of GPI, deploying in Kuwait (with UNICEF) is a useful test for the app’s infrastructure and is likely to stimulate further advances that will benefit the whole family of GPI products around the world. Education Our work with STACK continues to expand beyond our first collaborations in Kenya. In fact two Kenyan students started their PhDs at the University of Trieste in Italy pursuing research into STACK’s further development. Part of their work will involve delivering a contract to develop exam preparation materials for Linear Algebra at the University of Trieste, contributing to both academic support and the enhancement of educational resources. In a similar expansion of STACK’s origins, the University of Technology in California (Caltech) has also commissioned the development and delivery of learning support materials through a pilot project integrating STACK into the Caltech’s existing LMS (Learning Management System). This represents a key success in our ambitious plans for STACK globally, and validation of the business plan developed for our Knowledge Transfer Partnership with the University of Edinburgh. R-Instat (the open source GUI for the R statistical language) this year also began a new avenue of development with the Alliance Bioversity & CIAT to support farmer-led analysis of Tricot crop trials. Aligned with IDEMS’s approach of providing under-resourced communities ownership of research data and open tools for data collection and analysis, the project will develop new functions and tailored menus in R-Instat. This means analysis can be conducted by farmers and extension workers on the farms directly, enabling quicker analysis, improved interpretation and increased capability to assess larger-scale trials. Having developed learning materials on the responsible use of AI for the Turing Institute and Sage, this year it was tailored into an open online course for higher education professionals grappling with the increased use of AI by students in their course work and general learning. Responsible AI for Lecturers was delivered via live weekly webinars over six weeks to an international audience of educators.

In 2024 we continued to explore new ways to consult with our stakeholders, and involve them directly, to varying degrees, in the planning and delivery of our work. Key mechanisms and responses are outlined below. Agroecology Consultation: Feedback from participants in the research methods training workshop delivered in West Africa. Feedback: Requests for additional methods training and specific support have increased. Response: The RMS team has increased its team and representation in Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso. This make support more responsive to local stakeholders’ requirements. Social development Consultation: Engagement with local implementing partners of parenting deployments. Feedback: Full ownership of authoring of adaptation is limited by the complexities of the authoring and management system. Response: New versions of the authoring system have been developed and tested to give implementing partners greater independence. Climate Consultation: Engagement with EPICSA users and related met services. Feedback: Data quality in national databases still limits the scope and value of climate products produced. Response: In Zambia we are supporting the decentralisation of data management from the national HQ to regional offices. In Zimbabwe we are supporting a similar decentralisation aided in particular with the implementation of Climsoft Web in the main met service locations. Education Consultation: We have engaged with researchers and teaching professionals in under-resourced environments to understand their teaching needs. Feedback: Stakeholders requested support with curriculum development and delivery, especially with the shift to CBC in many African countries, e.g. more personalised learning resources and digital tools. Response: We are supporting INNODEMS to develop a new range of digital text books for high schools in Kenya. Social impact and organisational development Consultation: Consultation with non-executive directors. Feedback: Specific development opportunities have been identified (e.g. with IDRC in Canada). Clearer product development roadmaps would clarify market potential. Response: We are pursuing specific opportunities with relevant stakeholders and investing in planning for investment in product development. Consultation Consultation with external partners. Feedback: Raising the profile of the organisation would help to build IDEMS’ credibility with researchers, investors and customers. Response: We have started redeveloping the IDEMS website to better position the organisation externally. We have launched a podcast series discussing and promoting our research and development.

The aggregate amount of emoluments paid to or receivable by directors in respect of qualifying services was £110,827.90 The value of company contributions paid to a pension scheme in respect of directors’ qualifying services was £3,180.60 There were no other transactions or arrangements in connection with the remuneration of directors or compensation for director’s loss of office which require to be disclosed. Full details are provided in the company’s accounts.

No transfer of assets other than for full consideration