Listing town infrastructure

This article is accompanied by sample forms and dataset definitions saved in this folder. For help on deploying the workflow, skip to 2. Deploy the workflow now!

1. Overview

Assessing the availability and the details of infrastructure helps to identify problems and needs, and establish priorities in the context of humanitarian assistance. In this workflow, we will demonstrate how SurveyCTO can be used for a baseline survey of schools, water, and transport infrastructure in towns, from registering towns to managing infrastructure information. A case management system will facilitate this data flow, allowing you to register and close cases (i.e. towns), and manage the forms that need to be filled out for the completion of the case.

This use case covers the following sections:

  1. Deploying the workflow
  2. Understanding the workflow
  3. Workflow Components
  4. Customization and improvements

In this workflow, you will be able to:

surveycto_icon.png Register cases (i.e. towns)
surveycto_icon.png Assign forms to each case
surveycto_icon.png De-assign forms once they are completed
surveycto_icon.png Close cases once all forms are completed

 2. Deploying the workflow

Click below to view this workflow in the Hub and install it on your server.

Install Workflow

Note: This is a case management workflow. To test it, follow these steps after deploying the workflow. The cases dataset name is "Town Infrastructure Cases".
Advanced users can find the sample workflow files in this folder. For help with manual deployment, check out our support article Deploying form definitions and server datasets.

3. Understanding the workflow

To be able to effectively test this workflow you can follow these outlined tasks:

Step_1.png

Prepare SurveyCTO Collect to work on this workflow:

  1. Enable Manage Cases. To learn how, see Guide to case management part 3: Collecting data using case management, section On a mobile device.
  2. From the main menu of SurveyCTO Collect, open Get Blank Form, and download the forms related to this workflow (see under the section 4. Workflow components)
Step_2.png

Register one town: In SurveyCTO Collect, click on Fill Blank Form, open the form Ex 1: Town Infrastructure V1 - 01 Enrollment and complete it

Step_3.png Enter the infrastructure information of that town: Open the Manage cases menu. Here, you should see the town that you just registered. Click on it and select a form to complete the town information either about schools, water pumps or transport stations.

If you click on a newly registered town, you will see the 3 forms.

Once you complete a form, it will be de-assigned.

Step_4.png Manage the infrastructure information of that town: In the server console, you will see that the information collected is stored in separate datasets so that you can easily manage your towns, schools, water pumps, and transport stations’ data.

4. Workflow components

This workflow has 4 forms, 1 cases dataset, and 3 server datasets. Below, you can find a diagram showing the relationship between these components, as well as a non-comprehensive list of all components, the correspondent files and main purposes.

Workflow Component Files
Click on the section to access the files.
Forms
Name Ex 1: Town Infrastructure V1 - 01 Enrollment
File(s) Definition: B. Ex 1: Town Infrastructure V1 - 01 Enrollment
Description This form is where it all begins. Fill it out to add / enroll a new town before collecting its infrastructure details.
Name Ex 1: Town Infrastructure V1 - 02 Schools
File(s) Definition: D. Ex 1: Town Infrastructure V1 - 02 Schools
Description Register all the schools available in a certain town.
Name Ex 1: Town Infrastructure V1 - 03 Water Pumps
File(s) Definition: F. Ex 1: Town Infrastructure V1 - 03 Water Pumps
Description Register all the water pumps available in a certain town.
Name Ex 1: Town Infrastructure V1 - 04 Transport Stations
File(s) Definition: H. Ex 1: Town Infrastructure V1 - 04 Transport Stations
Description Register all the transport stations available in a certain town.
Server Datasets
Name Schools
File(s) Definition: E. schools_definition.xml
Description Contains the list of schools of each town.
Name Water Pumps
File(s) Definition: G. water_pumps_definition.xml
Description Contains the list of water pumps of each town.
Name Transport Stations
File(s) Definition: I. transport_stations_definition.xml
Description Contains the list of transport stations of each town.
Cases Datasets
Name Town Infrastructure Cases
File(s) Definition: C. cases_definition_example.xml
Description Tracks towns’ infrastructure registration process.

5. Customization and improvements

SurveyCTO has endless possibilities, so this workflow is only the beginning. Feel free to modify and expand on this workflow to fit your own needs. Here are some ideas on what you can add:

  • Publish datasets in long format for easier GIS and data analysis: Currently, the Schools, Water Pumps, and Transport Stations datasets are published in wide format, where each row represents a single town. You could switch them to long format, where each row represents an individual infrastructure (e.g. single school), which can simplify GIS programming, automated reporting, and analysis when multiple entries exist per town.
  • Add repeat infrastructure monitoring: You could expand the workflow to collect infrastructure information periodically, such as every few months. This would allow you to track changes in schools, water pumps, and transport stations over time, supporting trend analysis and more informed decision-making.
  • Add conditional questions for more context: For example, you could ask whether a school or water pump is currently operational, under maintenance, or planned for upgrade. This can give a more nuanced picture of infrastructure functionality.

Do you have thoughts on this support article? We'd love to hear them! Feel free to fill out this feedback form.

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