Requirements, Authority, and Approval Design When an NGO Handling Humanitarian Logistics Introduces Robo Claw
In the Refine STEP, we document the scope of the target regions, supply categories, transportation processes, classification of handled data, responsibility division among NGOs, local governments, transport operators, and local bases, read and write permissions, conditions for human approval, separation of authority between staff and volunteers, and KPIs, and convert them into requirements that can be verified in the Build & Validate phase.
In the requirements definition, explicitly state the design that does not delegate final decisions such as allocation, prioritization, and emergency transport safety judgments of aid supplies to Agents, and clarify the scope of information organization and candidate suggestion, such as transport requests, delivery destination information, and arrival reports. Specifying the responsibility division of NGOs, local governments, transport operators, and local bases, handling of personal and location information, and the separation of authority between staff and volunteers is key to preventing rework in subsequent STEPs.
Who This Is For
Who This Is For
Targeted at logistics and transport managers who determined the scope of work in the Discover STEP, information system personnel (including concurrent roles), local base managers, and board members.
What You'll Decide
What You'll Decide in This Step
In the Refine STEP, we document the scope of target regions, material categories, and transportation processes, the classification of data to be handled, connected systems, read/write permissions, approval conditions, responsibility boundaries among NGOs, local governments, transport operators, and field bases, the separation of authorities between staff and volunteers, and KPIs.
Industry Challenges
Challenges specific to NGOs and NPOs in charge of support logistics
Insufficient organization of data classification
In many cases, it is not clear which classification delivery destination information and beneficiary information, including personal information and location information, belong to, and to what extent they can be used.
Rules for responsibility boundaries among NGOs, local governments, and transport operators are undeveloped
In some cases, the scope of information sharing and the approvers for reporting in outsourcing, agreements, and transport contracts are not documented.
Roles of staff and volunteers are unclear
Sometimes operations are conducted without a clear division of roles among full-time employees, part-time staff, and volunteers who assist with transportation.
Accountability is unclear
In some cases, it is not clarified who bears the final accountability for results that utilize outputs from AI agents.
Method
Implementation Steps
1. Organize As-Is/To-Be
Compare and organize the current transportation workflow and the workflow aimed for after introducing Robo Claw.
2. Define the target regions, goods categories, and transportation processes
Clearly define the scope of the target regions, goods categories, and transportation processes (reception, inter-base transport, last mile, etc.).
3. Design Agents, Skills, and Tools
Design the roles of Agents required for the target tasks, the Skills for business procedures, and the scope of Tools for system operations.
4. Check data classification, purposes of use, and legal basis
Confirm whether input and output data correspond to personal information or location information, and check the purpose of use, user consent, and legal basis.
5. Design Tool Policy and permissions
Define as a Policy the operations that a Tool is allowed to perform (read/write, Allow/Deny) and whether external transmission, ordering, or delivery requests are permitted.
6. Confirm the division of responsibilities among NGOs, municipalities, transport operators, and local bases
Based on commission specifications, agreements, and transport contracts, confirm with stakeholders the scope of data sharing and the approval process for reporting.
7. Define separation of authority for staff, volunteers, and transport operators
Separate access permissions for full-time staff, part-time staff, volunteers, and transport operators.
8. Define human approval and escalation to responsible personnel
Defines the approvers for the results using the output, and the escalation destinations of responsible persons when safety judgments for emergency transport or other decisions are required.
9. Define logs, retention periods, prevention of duplicate execution/delivery, and KPIs
Defines the scope and retention period of operation logs and audit trails, measures to prevent duplicate execution and duplicate delivery, and KPIs for performance measurement.
Data & Systems
Data and Systems Used
Human-in-the-loop
Where Human Approval Is Required
- Clearly define, by role, the verifiers of outputs that lead to allocation of relief supplies, priority setting, and safety judgments for emergency transport
- Obtain confirmation from specialists/legal when handling personal information and location information
- Clearly define the approvers of outputs involving reports to municipalities or transport companies and delivery requests
- Obtain approval from logistics/transport responsible persons for granting authority across staff, volunteers, and transport companies
Measurement
KPI
In the Refine STEP, define candidate KPIs to be verified in Build & Validate
Target level of primary classification time for transport requests
Time targets for transport request classification
Lead time until approval
Time from output creation to human approval
Number of detections of authority violations or duplicate delivery candidates
Number of operations exceeding defined authority ranges or detections of duplicate delivery candidates
Checklist
Requirements definition checklist
- The target region, goods category, and transport process (including and excluding tasks) are documented
- Input data and outputs (classification results, draft reports, draft communications) are defined
- Classification of handled data (personal information, location information, etc.), purpose of use, subject consent, and legal basis are confirmed
- Access rights for reading and writing are defined separately
- Responsibility boundaries of NGOs, local governments, transport operators, and local bases (data sharing scope, report approval process) are confirmed
- Separation of authority for staff, volunteers, and transport operators is defined
- Escalation destinations and flows to responsible personnel are defined
- Responsibility for explaining the use of outputs is defined
- Scope and retention period of operation logs and audit trails, and measures to prevent double execution or duplicate deliveries, are defined
- KPIs used for effect measurement are defined
Pitfalls
Common Pitfalls
Omit checking data classification
If you proceed without checking data classification, significant backtracking related to handling personal information and location data may occur later.
Proceed with the approver unclear
If you determine the approver by individual name rather than position, operations may halt during transfers or retirements.
Do not specify the location of the final decision in writing
It is necessary to clearly define responsibility boundaries so that AI outputs are not treated directly as resource allocation or safety decisions.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Who should lead requirements definition?
It is recommended that the logistics/transportation manager of the target area and the information systems personnel (including concurrent roles) jointly lead, and if it involves personal information, location data, or transmission to local governments or transport operators, specialists, legal personnel, local government representatives, and transport operators should also be involved.
How detailed should authority design be?
At a minimum, clarify the read/write scope by region and process, and specify the approvers for outputs related to delivery destination information. Adjust the level of detail according to the risk of the target operations.
How to confirm the responsibility boundaries of NGOs, local governments, and transport operators?
It is recommended to individually confirm with relevant parties the data sharing scope and the approval process for reporting/delivery requests, based on outsourcing specifications, agreements, and transport contracts.
Shall we organize requirements, authorities, and approval design together?
You can concretize target regions, supply categories, transportation processes, data classification, responsibilities of NGOs, local governments, and transport operators, authorities, and approval flows through consultation on the official LP.