2017 ICT4D Conference

The migration from paper based data collection to electronic data capture systems, especially mobile data collection, makes it possible to analyze data from any location as soon as it is collected. A major hitch, especially in developing economies has been the epileptic internet availability which has hindered its implementation.

iFormbuilder is currently been used for mobile data collection by CRS Nigeria’s USAID funded Feed the Future Nigeria Livelihoods Project. Electronic data collection has been successful; however, the major challenge has been the ability to push that data forward in ultra-disconnected program areas. Field staff collecting data previously had to go through rigorous processes to ensure that monthly data was being synced to the online server for review and analysis. The ThunderPlug – a remote server - has been a veritable tool in bridging the gap, ensuring that field staff no longer travel long distances in search of internet availability to sync their data. The practice now adopted in the project is for a single partner staff to visit the field staff in their locations to sync the data to the ThunderPlug device and upload it to the cloud thereafter when they are back to the town/city. This measure has reduced the risk of conveying all project devices to the town on a monthly basis as well as mitigating the security threats of attacks by village hoodlums who take advantage of the field staff in narrow bush paths. Solutions like the Thunderplug provide their benefits and add great value like they do on this project; yet also bring their own challenges – limitations of data size being just one example. Understanding the solution and its program applicability in terms of benefits and challenges can serve as learning point for other programs.