Somalia IDP Profiling Through Mobile Data Collection 1. 2. 3. 4.
Staffing Hardware Software (open source) Things to Consider
Staffing •Management and maintenance of equipment according to SOPs • XML/ XFORMS programmer to code and test questionnaire for Android Phones (UNHCR could support) • Server side setup (Python and CherryPy) • Programmer to parse XML to flat-file (through talend or otherwise) • Analysis. (R- open source, SPSS/ Stata, mysql queries)
Hardware Phones must have the Android Operating System – – – –
G1/ HTC Dream, and Samsung Nexus are some models. Should be unlocked. More models being tested by UNHCR. Check for availabilty in Africa. Might not be available in all places.
Secure LAN or Wireless Router – –
To upload data-files from phones on a routine basis. If this is not possible, memory cards can be used, but this will require more time to upload data-file.
BATTERY Charger Stations (car, solar, etc), extra batteries –
The more the better as battery life during data collection has proven to be a few hours.
Software Phone Android Operating System Open Data Kit (ODK) Collect: Is the application that reads the .xml code and collects a variety of form data types: text, location, photos, video, audio, and even barcodes. http://code.google.com/p/opendatakit/downloads/detail?name=ODK%20Collect%20v1.1.5.apk
Building a Form ODK Build: Only works on simple forms: http://build.opendatakit.org/ Use Notepad ++ with xml plugin http://notepad-plus-plus.org/ Sample Forms: http://code.google.com/p/opendatakit/source/browse?repo=forms http://code.javarosa.org/attachment/wiki/buildxforms/training_form_4.xml Tutorials on xforms are available.
Validating XML Form ODK Validate: http://code.google.com/p/opendatakit/downloads/detail?name=ODK%20Validate%20v1.2.jar&can=2&q= JAVAROSA Validate: http://code.javarosa.org/attachment/wiki/JavaRosa-XForm-Validator/javarosa-xform-validator.jar
Software (Contin) Test your form on an Android Emulator: Guide on how to install and use the emulator: http://humanitarian-android.org/images/3/37/ODK_How2InstallEmulator.pdf http://humanitarian-android.org/images/3/39/ODK_How2UseEmulator.pdf
Server repository to manage collected data, and extract data: Instead of ODK Aggregate, UNHCR has been using
Python 2.6: http://www.python.org/download/ And Cherrypy: http://www.cherrypy.org/wiki/CherryPyDownload •Instructions on how to install the server are available.
Parse the xml data into a flat-file using Talend or other programme. http://www.talend.com/download.php
Things to Consider •Creating forms is complicated... UNHCR support in programming might be available. • Pre-test forms and process as much as possible • Be prepared for limited battery life. • Susceptible to physical damage • Phones, computers crash
Reference Materials •Welcome to Open Data Kit http://code.google.com/p/opendatakit/ • Documents on installing and using the emulator, and creating an xform: http://humanitarian-android.org/ODK •Additional information on: Xforms tutorials, Using CherryPy, Python, and Talend are available upon request.