Isn’t there an App for that?

Managing marine resources heavily relies on data, but in many contexts, including Pacific Island countries, data deficiency in fisheries and other marine resources prevents informed management decisions. Manual, paper based reporting system are widely used, even though these are typically burdensome, resource intensive and error-prone. Furthermore, data often remains locked away in spreadsheets and results are not measurable, visible or accessible.

In this context, the MACBIO project that assists its partners in effective approaches of marine management, was requested in 2015 to support data collection on locally managed marine areas in Fiji – in particular with the design and development of open-source mobile solutions. Thorough research and testing of existing platforms and proven examples identified Open Data Kit (ODK), as suitable free and fully open source solution – especially in combination with KoBo Toolkit.

Beyond this, MACBIO aims at collaborating with national and regional stakeholders to develop lasting solutions and standards for the use of open-source mobile applications in support of sustainable marine resource management and conservation.

Find here the full documentation of smartphone app use and development for (marine) resource management:

→ Isn’t there an App for that? Smartphone Apps in (marine) resource management (Background Paper)

 

→ The spectrum of Smartphone Apps in natural resource management (Slide show, incl. overview of existing apps globally and in the Pacific)

→ A guide for App Development (Slide show)

→ Open Data Kit for data driven marine management in Fiji in combination with KoBo Toolkit (Slide show, incl. step by step tutorial)

 

 

→ Panorama Solution: Isn’t there an App for that?

 

Explore an ODK-based example App for data collection on local marine resource management in Fiji: