Tom Smyth TSC Application - 2017-11-27

Community
1

Name
Tom Smyth (@tomsmyth)

Organization
Sassafras Tech Collective

What contributions (e.g., issue triage, tech support, documentation, bug fixes) have you made to the ODK community?
Bug fixes, small feature development, occasional tech support, UI design, code review

How do you believe your contributions have benefited ODK?
Making it more useable, promoting it via The Carter Center and partners

What do you believe the top priorities for ODK are?
Improving ease of use, modernizing the codebase

How will you help the ODK community accomplish those priorities?
Helping with design, coding, code review, roadmapping, planning

How many hours a week can you commit to participating on the TSC?
1

What other mobile data collection projects, social good projects, or open source projects are you involved with?
ELMO, Hollaback, Heartmob, Madeline System, etc., lots

Please share any links to public resources (e.g., resume, blog, Github) that help support your application.

2

Hi @tomsmyth! Quick question from me that I'll ask to a few other folks as well. You work on an excellent ODK-compatible server, ELMO. Given that context and that you therefore don't use Aggregate, how do you imagine you will approach conversations about Aggregate?

1 Like
3

Great question. I admit that I only really use and am familiar with Collect, so some conversations around Aggregate, Build, Briefcase, and all the others will be outside my direct realm of experience.

I think what I'll be able to offer there is:

  1. Knowledge of how to build an ODK compatible server and form designer (for the Aggregate and Build cases)
  2. Knowledge of general ODK based workflows (for the Briefcase case)
  3. General knowledge of software development and project management, as needed. Sometimes it can help to have someone who's not in the weeds to consult on such things.