Regional Conference on the use of mobile technologies for data collection, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Presenter : Mr. Mbemba Hydara 14 th October 2015

Introduction Quality and timely data collection the cornerstone for an effective statistical systems. Traditional pen and paper approach is time consuming, expensive and error prone. Growing adoption of Computer assisted interviewing (CAPI) in statistical production; Speed, cost and quality source of attraction; However, the right system and technology remained a daunting challenge.

Scope GBoS Application Development Experience. Rigor Comparison Between CSPro and Native Android Applications CAPI for Rapid Statistical Data Production

GBOS Price Apps Development Framework Feasibility Study System Design Coding & Development Testing & Corrective Action Training & Documentation Deployment Maintenance

Motivation Android Software Development Kit (SDK) Software stack with all the features, functions for developing, Testing and debugging etc. Taking ownership Data Base Management System (DBMS)..more - Robust - Scalable - Secure

GBOS Android Application Divided into two Components: 1.Focused on data Collection and Synchronization mechanisms 2. Interface that enables GBOS staff to view, edit, or modify the collected data Component 1; Architecture Application on the data capture devices programmed in Java. PHP is used during synching to access the cloud database and insert collected data into SQlite database

Component 2: Architecture Cloud and Local server Architecture : Data collected is synced to the cloud server Cloud server synced collected data to local in-house server every 30 minutes depending on network availability Local servers have Unix (Ubuntu Server) installed on them. DBMS used MYSQL version Free, open source and Stable

Figure 13 An illustration of the data transmission

Infrastructure Security: Hosted on Unix base operating system – Ubuntu ver Unix base systems considered one of the most secured OS. Capable of managing heavy loads

Offline Data Storage Steps: Collection of data using android tablets is done with in-built forms Once data is collected, it is safely stored on the device Allowing data validation by supervisor before final upload to the cloud

Rigor Comparison Between CSPro and Native Android Applications Motivation and Related Work The impact of CSPro in statistical data collection, processing and dissemination is enormous. Not much scholarly work done in order to compare CSPro and other platforms.

Key Factors to Consider Data to Collect  Relationships between the sets of data being collected, variable count.  If more relationships are required Relational data storage structure might be better  Less relationship  CSPro

Key Factors to Consider Contd. Data Storage Architecture  RDBMS SQL Structured data storage Deals well with relationship Visually data can represented as rows and columns  Flat File (CSPro) Data stored in plain text format Not compliant with SQL

Key Factors to Consider Contd. Data Synchronization Native Android  Writing a script (PHP, Java, e.t.c)  Script contains codes to select all or subset data from source database and syncing it to the destination  Flow show in next slide

Key Factors to Consider Contd.

Key Factors to consider Data Synchronization CSPro Uses FTP to send data to FTP server Can send data to Drop-box Bluetooth

Key Factors to Consider Development Environment CSPro  Data Entry: Create electronic data entry forms. On the mobile version only one question on the screen at a time.  Programming Logic: Write logic for various controls on the form.

Key Factors to Consider Development Environment Android  Rich User Interface Designer Can have many questions on one screen there by saving time to move from one screen to another as in CSPro.  Programming. Java, High level, powerful and secured programming language. Platform independent

Deployment and Scalability  CSPro Updating the applications, require reloading into the mobile devices manually. Not possible to update when data collectors are in the field.  Android Users can download the latest from Google play Require internet connection

Security A major factors to consider when designing mobile application for data collection. Golden rule is that the data entry application, data in transit and at rest must be secured at all times.

Security CSPro Stores data in files as plain text; this is not very secured as access to the file will render the content readable. CSPro CAPI transfers data using FTP; FTP is unencrypted hence not secure.

Security Android Provide unique user and group ID for every android application. By means of the underlying Linux operating system, every Android apps is abstracted from other running applications SQLite follows the security standards incorporated in rotational database system Java programming language implements security provisions such as verifier, Class Loader and security manager. JAVA Secure Socket Extension (JSSE) ensures secure internet connections. SSL/TLS equivalent

Support Where to turn to when there are problems during and after development  CSPro Csprousers.com website maintained by US Census bureau Free Support available - Android Lot of support online Stackoverflow.com has numerous questions and answers on android and related problems Software developed by Google and its open-source and improved by a huge online community.

Conclusion Well developed exclusively by Gambians and tested. Given the strength and weaknesses identified in the two platforms, the decisions as to which platform to use solely depend on user preference and data collection requirement. The use of mobile technologies for statistical data collection is the future. It is efficient, ensure quality, saves cost, increase speed, enhance accuracy, functionality and security.