Data collection can be done using very simple means such as paper forms and using very sophisticated mobile phone based apps that connect in real-time to the database and anything in between. Important is that the level of skills needed to collect data and the data collection solution chosen match those of the organisation.

For spatial data it is also necessary to collect the location of objects by getting the coordinates. This is usually done using a GPS device, which uses satellite signals to calculate the X and the Y coordinate of a specific point. You can use specialised surveying equipment and techniques (which can result in cm-level accuracy), but often hand-held GPS devices can get acceptable results for most applications. These days most standard smartphones (even the budget ones) can already obtain sufficient accuracy and there is no need even to buy separate GPS devices.

The advantage of the wide availability of smart phones is that there are a lot of Open Source tools available that make collecting data using a smart phone easy, such as ODK, Epicollect and QField. They allow you to collect not only the location data (coordinates), but also any additional information and for example pictures.

Chanzo can help you decide on a suitable approach to data collection for and support you in designing and implementing the data collection process. This was done in the following projects:

• Mapping of water supply network for several water utilities in Tanzania and Kenya
• Development of data collection tool for NGO working with smallholder farmers
• Cleaning up customer database of water companies
• Development of a data collection tool for asset management