Open Data Kit

Open Data Kit (ODK) is a free and open-source set of tools that helps organizations to develop mobile data collection solutions.ODK’s core developers are researchers at the University of Washington’s Department of Computer Science and Engineering department and active members of Change, a multi-disciplinary group at UW exploring how technology can improve the lives of under-served populations around the world.

ODK provides an out-of-the-box solution for:
 

•     Building data collection forms and surveys
•     Collecting data on mobile devices and transmitting data to a remote server
•     Aggregating the collected data on a server and extracting it in useful formats

ODK supports the collection of geo-referenced data from devices with GPS capability. It is being used in a wide variety of applications ranging from large socio-economic and health surveys to decision support systems for mobile health workers.

RTI used ODK Aggregate to develop the first version of a new national infectious disease reporting system for Zimbabwe. ODK Aggregate provides:

• A server repository to manage collected data
• Standard interfaces to extract data (e.g., spreadsheets, queries, etc.)
• Interfaced to integrate with existing systems via web requests

ODK Aggregate is currently implemented on Google’s App Engine. This eliminates the need to establish a scalable web service to support the central data repository.

More Information

• GPRS Reporting using OpenROSA Tools