00:00:00 Introduction

The subject of today's webinar is when to choose ActivityInfo for mobile data collection. I have been working on ActivityInfo for 15 years, so I am a bit biased. For me, the answer is always ActivityInfo, but if we are being honest, there are cases where ActivityInfo has a lot of value and other cases where it is not as unique. We will look at some of those cases where ActivityInfo really makes a difference when it comes to mobile data collection.

Some of the things we will be looking at include the role of mobile data collection in routine project management, collecting longitudinal data (repeated measurements of the same people), linking survey data to beneficiaries, case management, and measuring impact among project programs.

00:02:00 What is ActivityInfo?

ActivityInfo is an end-to-end solution for managing your data, a one-stop shop that handles data collection, data management, and data analysis. The idea is that you might be juggling lots of different tools for M&E in your projects right now, and ActivityInfo allows you to combine all of those into one unified platform. It includes a mobile app that works on Android and iOS and is directly integrated into the application. As soon as you put data into ActivityInfo, you can see that reflected in dashboards and charts. If you make a change to any of the forms, you will see that change directly in ActivityInfo.

00:03:15 The survey workflow vs. monitoring workflow

Why does the world need another mobile data collection app? Let's consider the classic survey workflow. Large-scale surveys tend to be fairly linear affairs. You have a process to design the questionnaires and the sample, you send people out to the field with instruments, they conduct the interviews, and send the data back. It is a one-way flow from the field back to headquarters. Once the survey is done, you export the data to SPSS, Stata, or R, start the analysis phase, and publish the results. These are population-level surveys that provide a snapshot of a population at a moment in time. If this is the kind of project you are undertaking, there are many great options, and while you can use ActivityInfo, you might stick with what you are comfortable with.

However, not all work in M&E looks like this. Often, it is much more of a cycle. Instead of well-defined stages, data collection is continuous. If you are working on a humanitarian relief program or a five-year development program, you are collecting data throughout your program. You might start by identifying participants and collecting baseline information. Then, you are providing services and doing measurements continuously. You might be tracking trainings, providing cash assistance, or evaluating outcomes.

During this cycle, your questions might change, or you might add new indicators as the context changes. You do not want to report only at the end of the program; you want a dashboard for continuous reporting to understand where you are right now with your outputs and outcomes. The tools that work well for a linear survey start to break down here. If you do a baseline survey, you need to link subsequent data collection to that information. To do that analysis, you have to combine data, relating the baseline with service provision, trackers, and annual surveys.

What you really need is a relational data model. If you have to do this in Excel using VLOOKUP, you will spend a lot of time cleaning and fixing data because names might be spelled differently or IDs might not line up. You lose a lot of time pulling data out of your survey program, mashing it up in another system, and trying to make sense of it. ActivityInfo is a relational database with an integrated mobile app designed to solve this.

00:11:00 Demo: Relational database structure

In ActivityInfo, activities are organized into databases. You can design forms similar to other survey tools, adding fields for names, dates, or demographics. However, what is unique is that you can link other forms back to those cases. For example, if you have a list of individuals identified as having needs, you can track the goods you are distributing by adding a reference to the case form.

When you register that you have released goods to a person, you can link that record back to the specific beneficiary. You can use serial numbers, names, or national ID numbers as a key field. This information remains linked to the original case, so the name and date of birth are connected to the beneficiary. This eliminates the need for complex data cleaning later.

00:16:00 Demo: Mobile data collection app

ActivityInfo's mobile app works on Android and iOS. Unlike the one-way flow of a survey, managing a program requires a two-way data flow. You want to make information available to the people in the field so they can review it. If I need information about the beneficiaries I am working with, I have access to that on my phone. I can open the details and make changes from the field, which are synchronized back to the server and my colleagues' devices.

When providing goods or services, I can add a record and choose the case number of the individual. It pulls that information from the database, allowing me to verify it. I can record the support provided, take a photo, and collect a signature. This is different than just a choice list because I can also register new people at the same time. Even if I am offline, I can add a new beneficiary and immediately provide a service to them. This eliminates the step of data cleaning afterwards because as soon as I synchronize, the data is stored in the database and accessible on the web.

00:20:45 Demo: Creating dashboards

Once the data is synchronized, you can immediately create reports. For example, you can set up a pivot table to see the breakdown of services by type or count the number of unique people who have received a service. Even if the same person receives many different services, they will only be counted once if you choose to count unique IDs.

You can also visualize this data with charts, such as a bar chart showing registration progress by gender and month. This represents a full cycle of information management from data collection to visualization and validation in one system, without spending time cleaning and reorganizing data externally.

00:24:15 Tracking indicators

For M&E, you can use this data to calculate indicators for your donors. You can create a summary table or an indicator tracking table. Indicators might be simple, like the number of refugees registered, or more complex, like the number of girls under 18 registered, broken down by project year. These indicators are calculated automatically, ensuring you can review figures continuously rather than scrambling every six months.

00:27:00 Combining data sources

Another example is combining many different sources of information into a single project. You might have a project providing trainings while also conducting evaluation surveys. You can link trainings to specific courses and locations that are changing, and add a participants list. A training register allows you to track the activities, the trainer's name, and list all beneficiaries using a subform. This allows you to generate reports showing training locations, scores, and feedback live as new trainings occur.

00:29:30 Permissions and user roles

User management allows you to precisely control who is allowed to see what. You can give different roles; for example, a trainer might only be allowed to enter training information, while a donor might have a read-only view of just the reports without access to the underlying personal data. You can also share reports using publication links.

00:30:40 Translation features

We have a translation feature that combines Google Translate with manual translation. This is useful for monitoring when you might not have time for a long translation procedure. You can set the original language and add a translation, running it through Google Translate as a first pass. You can then review and edit the translation. When you invite a user, you can choose their language, and the application and forms will appear in that language on their phone, including right-to-left layout for languages like Arabic.

00:34:00 Q&A: Linking beneficiaries across departments

Audience Question: Can we relate the same beneficiary across different departments?

Answer: Yes, that works really well. You can have a central register of beneficiaries for the whole organization. You can then split the rest of the forms into different partners or departments (e.g., distribution, education, health), but have each team link back to the same group of beneficiaries using a Reference field. This allows you to track which services people have received across all partners and calculate total reach.

Audience Question: We want to relate referral data from a hotline to existing beneficiaries using names, as they don't have identifiers.

Answer: You can search for the name. If people are reporting through a hotline, you can select them from the list. If you are concerned about anonymization, you can use case numbers, but teams can be given permission to search by name to link the individual.

00:41:30 Q&A: Installation and pricing

Audience Question: Where can I get ActivityInfo to install on my laptop?

Answer: You do not need to install it on your laptop. It is fully web-based. You can sign up at activityinfo.org. We do have a self-managed version for Windows servers if you really want to run your own server, but 99% of our customers use the cloud-based version.

Audience Question: How much does it cost?

Answer: We offer annual subscriptions based on the number of users. Level one is up to 75 users for 4,800 Euros a year. It goes up to 1,000 users for 15,000 Euros a year. This includes technical support. If you are a small organization and this doesn't fit your budget, please get in touch as we work with local and national NGOs to find solutions.

00:47:15 Q&A: Data verification in the field

Audience Question: How does ActivityInfo deal with verification of data if it is captured directly in the field?

Answer: Data verification happens on several levels. First, you can set validation rules within the form, such as ensuring a date of birth is within a certain range. This is enforced automatically, even offline. Second, ActivityInfo provides relational validation. Because the mobile app holds a replica of the database, when you select a participant for a service, the app verifies that the person exists in your database. This prevents data entry errors like misspelled names that require cleaning later.

Finally, you can set key fields to avoid duplicates. For example, you can set the "Case" field as a key field in an assessment form, ensuring you can only do one assessment per case. If you try to assess the same person again, the app will block it. While offline devices cannot check against each other instantly, this structure prevents duplicates effectively once synchronized.

00:53:30 Q&A: Exporting and importing data

Audience Question: Can I export or import the database?

Answer: ActivityInfo makes it easy to export data to Excel or via the API. You can connect directly to Power BI, Tableau, Google Data Studio, or R for advanced analysis. You can also use a GeoJSON feed for GIS tools. ActivityInfo often acts as the sole source of truth, connecting to other tools for analysis.

For importing, you can import data via the API or the user interface. If you have data in a sheet or from another survey tool, you can use the import button. ActivityInfo will help you match fields and detect duplicates based on key fields. We also have a beta importer for XLSForms if you are moving from ODK-based tools.