In collaboration with Engineering for Change, the DIL Mobile Data Collection Webinar Series will provide participants with an introduction to a sample of survey software tools transforming the collection of data for international development research and how they might implement each tool within their own work.

About Open Data Kit: Open Data Kit (ODK) is a free and open-source set of tools which help organizations author, field, and manage mobile data collection solutions. ODK provides an out-of-the-box solution for users to:

1. Build a data collection form or survey (XLSForm is recommended for larger forms);

2. Collect the data on a mobile device and send it to a server; and

3. Aggregate the collected data on a server and extract it in useful formats.

In addition to socio-economic and health surveys with GPS locations and images, ODK is being used to create decision support for clinicians and for building multimedia-rich nature mapping tools.

About the speaker: Waylon Brunette is one of the founders of Open Data Kit and is a current member of the ODK core development team. Waylon is currently a PhD student in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Washington. He was formerly advised by Professor Gaetano Borriello and is currently advised by Professors Richard Anderson and Magdalena Balazinska. Waylon’s research interests include mobile systems, sensing, ubiquitous computing, and data management. His work focuses on designing systems that improve the lives of underserved populations in low-income regions by leveraging mobile computing devices and sensors.