South Atlantic
Environmental Research
Institute

ODK: HOW IT WORKS

Whenever is possible, field data collection should embrace new technologies which help saving time back in the office and avoid transferring data from paper to a spreadsheet, interpreting somebody else handwriting, making mistakes in the transcription etc.

The advantages of using ODK are more, for example: 

The app and the form can be easily installed and downloaded as per these instructions

 The forms are relatively simple to build and can be scaled up (in terms of complexity, although keeping them simple is key! 

The large community of users means that there is a wealth of documentation online;

completed forms are submitted to a server where postgreSQL database is the main recipient. Having the forms in postgres allows using them straightaway in QGIS and webGIS projects;

the app works perfectly offline (but of course need to be connected to the internet for downloading/submitting the form;

the the app uses open standards

The main constraint of ODK is that is only available for mobile devices with an android operating system.

In the Falklands a couple of projects, the Coastal Habitat mapping DPLUS065 and in the Seaweeds Identification (led by Falklands Conservation), have been experimenting the use of Open Data Kit (ODK) as support tool.

FALKLAND ISLANDS OFFICE:
PO Box 609, Stanley Cottage North
Ross Road, Falkland Islands
Stanley, FIQQ 1ZZ
Falkland Islands: +500 27374
UK Office: +44 (0)203 745 1731
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