Open Data Kit (ODK) is an open-source and community-owned set of tools that replaces paper surveys with smartphones. The tools are
primarily used by health organizations to collect data quickly, accurately, offline, and at scale. This effort focuses on the ODK 1 suite of tools
(Collect, Aggregate, XLSForm, Build, JavaRosa) which are widely-deployed global goods that have been used to collect billions of data points.
Example projects include:
For governments working to end polio, access to accurate and timely information makes a world of difference. ODK is used in Jordan,
Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, and South Sudan as a key tool in mass polio vaccination campaign quality control.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/zROyvrvt-zk
PMA2020 uses ODK to collect a nationally representative sample of data from households and service delivery points in selected sentinel
sites. The data is used to estimate health indicators on an annual basis in 11 pledging FP2020 countries. https://pma2020.org/what-we-do
The Neglected Tropical Diseases Support Center has collected more than 50 million data points across 200 projects in 40 countries using
ODK. The data has gone to inform The Global Trachoma Mapping Project, which is the world's largest single disease mapping initiative.
https://www.taskforce.org/case-study/global-trachoma-mapping-project-det...
ODK enabled 400 data collectors to submit more than 80,000 forms in a week in an effort to build a national health map. Combined with
satellite imagery, the effort provided the most accurate health sector administrative boundaries to date for Cameroon.
https://forum.opendatakit.org/t/9273
Doctors without Borders collected vital mapping and village information to improve ebola response in the 2015 outbreak in Sierra Leone by
mobilizing a local community with self-owned smartphones using ODK. https://forum.opendatakit.org/t/11328
ODK has been designed for novice users in challenging environments and its robustness in these environments has driven the platform’s
adoption and evolution. Additionally, the choice to build an active open-source community around ODK has allowed it to benefit from users,
implementers, and developers.
Over the last year, the ODK project has transitioned from a single “owner” to community ownership and the project has experienced
extraordinary growth during that time. We wish to build on that growth and address long-standing issues with ODK Aggregate, the widelydeployed
ODK server. Aggregate is a key component of ODK that if improved would enable a more contributable codebase and greater
integrations with the broader health ecosystem.