Kobo Toolbox Software Training, a Success in Nauru.

12 May 2023

The Pacific Center for Environment and Sustainable Development (PaCE-SD) is actively enhancing researchers’ capacity by equipping them with the necessary tools for effective research. On May 9th and 10th, 2023, a training session was conducted at the University of the South Pacific (USP) Nauru Campus. The objective was to introduce the fundamentals of Kobo Toolbox software to Change Agents and community members in Nauru.

Kobo Toolbox is a user-friendly and robust software solution for data collection, analysis, and management. It offers a web-based platform that leverages mobile devices as a digital alternative to traditional paper-based data collection methods.

According to Mr. Haseldon Buraman, involved with the Nauru DEMA GEF-7 Grant, “Kobo Toolbox is an efficient data collection tool in itself. It can be customized to fit the specific requirements of any survey.” He further adds, “As someone working on the GEF-7 project, this tool is highly valuable for me in developing survey questions and effortlessly gathering data.”

The training was funded by the USP European Union Global Climate Change Alliance plus the Scaling up Pacific Adaptation (GCCA+SUPA) project, which falls under the PaCE-SD. Mr. Jioje Fesaitu facilitated the training for 31 participants, primarily change agents from various civil society organizations, small business owners, field officers from Nauru Government departments, NGO directors and leaders, youth leaders, and community members. Of the participants, 17 were male and 14 were female.

During the training, the participants successfully set up their Android devices, created customized survey forms, uploaded survey data from Kobo Collect to the Kobo Toolbox server, and extracted data for analysis. Their exceptional output quality demonstrated the training’s effectiveness in improving their comprehension and proficiency in creating web-based data collection forms rooted in evidence.

The 4.5-year project (2019-2023) is funded with €15 million from the European Union (EU) and implemented by The Pacific Community (SPC) in partnership with the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) and USP, in collaboration with the Governments and peoples of Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Tonga and Tuvalu.