Data Collection

• Kobo Toolbox
• Open Data Kit (ODK)

Kobo Toolbox

An Open-Source Tool for Data Collection for Challenging Environments. Open source doesn’t mean the data collected is accessible by everyone, it only means the source code of KoboToolBox is.

It is  a comprehensive platform for data collection, management, and visualisation, enabling worldwide research and social good initiatives. It offers open source data systems and technology to support humanitarian action, development, environmental protection, peacebuilding, and human rights initiatives.

Kobo ToolBox is a free tool that can be used by nonprofits for various purposes. It enables organisations to create surveys and forms, it is also accessible through mobile phones and tablets, manage data, and analyse results. It also allows organisations to create surveys in multiple languages, share surveys with others, and export this data in various formats. The tool can be used to collect data for research and evaluation, raise public awareness, assess public opinion on an issue, track projects, and more.

NPOs can use Kobo Toolbox to efficiently and accurately collect data that can be used to inform decisions, measure impact, and track progress.

Note: Nonprofits can use its source code for free.

Features of the tool

• Creating robust forms.

• Collecting and analysing data.

• Managing projects and teams.

• Highly secure and flexible.

Benefits for NPO’s

• Helps to create forms that are tailored to their specific needs and ensure that the data collected is accurate and up-to-date.

• Quickly and easily collect and analyse data, helping make informed decisions and track progress.

• The tool can be used to plan and manage projects.

• They can be sure that their data is safe and secure, and that their forms are flexible and easily adjusted to meet their needs.

Reasons to use Kobo ToolBox

• Easy to use and understand.

• No internet connection required.

• Compatible with all devices.

• Permanently free.

Graphical Representations:

Fig. 1. Kobo Toolbox form development Interface.

It enables organisations to quickly and easily create digital forms to collect data from their target populations, whether it be surveys, registration forms or evaluation questionnaires. Users can customise their forms to meet their own specific needs and create their own data validation rules and logic, ensuring only valid and complete data is collected. This form development interface will be an invaluable tool to make the most of data collection operations.

Fig. 2. Kobo Toolbox data collection & analysis Interface.

An innovative data collection and analysis interface can be incredibly beneficial for NPOs. It enables to quickly and easily collect, store, analyse, and visualise data from a variety of sources. This includes online surveys, face-to-face interviews, and other methods of data collection. The tool users can gain valuable insights into their target audiences, enabling them to better understand their needs and design better services and programs.

 

Fig. 3. Kobo Toolbox Project & team management Interface.

It can be used for project and team management tools to easily share projects and data with fine-grained permission options, dynamically connect data collected from multiple projects, integrate with other tools via powerful API (application programming interface), add an unlimited number of data collectors and project collaborators, and create an unlimited number of projects for free.

 

 

Fig. 4. Kobo Toolbox secure and flexible interface.

Kobo ToolBox is a secure data collection platform that uses end-to-end encryption and allows for user authentication and authorization. Additionally, it is a flexible tool that supports various types of data collection methods and allows for customization of forms and surveys. The interface is easy to use and provides features such as customizable forms and surveys, automatic data backups, offline data collection, and real-time reporting. It can be used to quickly and securely collect data from remote locations, and to monitor and evaluate activities.

 

Conclusion

In conclusion, Kobo Toolbox is an open-source tool that is simple to use, secure, and flexible, making it an ideal choice for data collection in no coverage areas.

 

 

Open Data Kit (ODK)

An Open-Source Tool lets your organisation build powerful offline forms that collect data in serverless zones. 

ODK is an open-source mobile-user-friendly data collection platform that can be used by nonprofits to collect data offline which will then upload when you’re online. This data can then be used to measure the success of nonprofit initiatives, enable data-driven decision making, and track progress and outcomes. It also provides powerful data cleaning, analysis, and visualisation tools. It is a secure, reliable, and scalable platform that is suitable for organisations of all sizes

It supports the collection of a wide range of file extensions that can include text, images, audio and video clips. 

Features of the tool

• Build powerful forms.
• Collect data offline.
• Analyse with ease.
• Community support.
• GPS tracking.
• Open-source software.

Benefits for NPO’s

• ODK can use powerful forms to easily collect data from their donors, volunteers, and beneficiaries. These forms can include photos, locations, skip logic, calculations, external datasets, and multiple languages. This allows them to streamline their data collection process and ensure accuracy. Additionally, can use these forms to capture repeatable data, play videos, and scan barcodes. All of these features are designed to make data collection easier and more efficient.
• All of this works entirely offline. NPOs (nonprofit organisations) can use the mobile app or the web app. Forms and submissions are synced in the cloud till they’re in a coverage area..
• Once the data is collected, it’s easy to analyse. Connect tools like Excel, Power BI, Python, or R directly to ODK, quickly build live-updating dashboards and reports. 
• It is proven to be an effective tool for use in public health, global development, crisis response, climate monitoring, and more.
• ODK is trusted by more than 2 million people to handle their data collection and analysis needs, and is used to send over 200 million submissions every year from all over the world.
• The open-source software gives NPOs complete control of data collection, with the ability to use  as-is or customised to your specific needs.

Reasons to use ODK

• Its an open source tool
• Easy to use and understand.
• No internet connection required.
• Compatible with all devices.

Graphical Representation:

Fig. 1. ODK form builder interface.

ODK form builder is a powerful tool to quickly and easily create forms for collecting data. With this, one can create forms that are tailored to their needs and can be used to collect data on the field with the ODK Collect App. This data can then be used to track activities, measure outcomes, and inform decisions. It can also be used to create surveys, allowing one to plot feedback according to demographics from those they serve to make data-driven decisions.

Fig. 2. ODK Main Menu mobile Interface.

These shortcuts allow you to quickly and accurately collect, manage, and analyse data to help NPOs make informed decisions.

Fig. 3. ODK Form mobile view

ODK Forms is a free and open-source mobile data collection tool, making it an ideal solution for NPOs with limited budgets. Additionally, the mobile view feature allows users to easily access and update information from anywhere, allowing for more efficient data collection in the field.

Conclusion:

Overall, ODK is an excellent open-source tool to easily collect and analyse data. It is secure, reliable, and scalable, making it ideal for organisations of any size. It allows for the collection of a wide range of data types and provides powerful data cleaning, analysis, and visualisation tools. It is trusted by millions and used to send over 200 million submissions every year. With ODK, NPOs can easily collect data from their donors, volunteers, and beneficiaries and use it to measure the success of their initiatives, make data-driven decisions, and track progress and outcomes.