Open Data Kit 2.0

Abstract

In resource-constrained communities, organizations often use information and communication technologies to amplify their limited resources to improve education, health, and economic opportunity. Over two-thirds of the world's population have mobile phones, yet less than half are connected to the Internet [23]. Organizations helping disadvantaged populations often rely on mobile devices as their primary computing resource because of their availability in resource-constrained contexts. However, to reach under-served populations, mobile applications often operate in areas with no connectivity or challenged network environments. Unfortunately, many mobile application frameworks are generally not well-suited for long periods of disconnected data collection and management. Furthermore, mobile application frameworks are generally aimed at users with significant technical skills and resources. In this paper, we discuss our experiences building, deploying, and refining the Open Data Kit (ODK) 2.0 tool suite. ODK 2.0 is a modular application framework that facilitates organizations with limited technical capacity to build application-specific information services for use in disconnected environments. We discuss ODK 2.0's flexible abstractions that enable users of varying technical skill levels to create customizable mobile data management solutions. We present ODK 2.0 case studies involving multiple organizations and discuss lessons learned from building a service-based mobile application framework for disconnected data management.

The PRECISE (PREgnancy Care Integrating translational Science, Everywhere) database: open-access data collection in maternal and newborn health

“…Second, the MedSciNet software required continuous connectivity for data entry, but this is not available at our sites. We considered Open Data Kit, a mobile data management application that has been widely deployed in more than 130 countries [48]; however, the application (app) cannot handle frequent changes to the data model and we sought a resilient system for future use [49]. We considered Open Medical Record System, created as an open-source health software for low-resource settings [50]; while widely-used for HIV care, this is not the case for antenatal and postnatal care of mothers and babies.…”

Smartphone app for neonatal heart rate assessment: an observational study

“…Data on Apgar and weight were double-entered using Android devices running the Open Data Kit V.2.0 tool suite. 29 Written and oral information was given to all parents on maternal admission, and deferred consent was obtained post-hoc in cases needing resuscitation. 27 Patient and public involvement It was not appropriate to involve patients or the public in the design, or conduct, or reporting or dissemination plans for the study.…”

Activity-specific mobility of adults in a rural region of western Kenya

“…The answers to these questions were scored to obtain a basic index of household wealth which was used to compare relative wealth between households. The answers to the survey, including collection of GPS coordinates to determine household location, were collected on a tablet using a custom-designed survey built with OpenDataKit (ODK) (Brunette et al, 2013) software and uploaded to a secure server once an internet connection could be established.…”