Internet Connectivity and Event Capture (2.31.10)

Support - Assistance technique
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Several countries are experiencing difficulty syncing data while entering in data in Event Capture for our system. We are looking at finding the best way to assist/alleviate these issues. We’re currently really only on three major paths:

  1. (Chrome Add-On?) Getting better data about the internet that the teams have. (Internet Connection Monitor - Chrome Web Store)
  2. (DHIS2 App/Manual pull/Chrome Add-On?) Downloading the cache that is noted to exist in the local cache of the computer
  3. (??, possible standard reports?) For when Internet is fickle yet data is eventually synced, confirming/checking that no duplicate events exist because they were entered in multiple times

If anyone has found some useful ways to help out with the ability to enter in data through event capture with fickle internet, would be very curious to hear what your thoughts!

I should note that I am aware of the local cache and ability to “upload” data within event capture when internet connectivity is restored. In our experience, even with very stable and strong internet (testing out by manually turning off and on internet), the upload functionality is not reliable, and indeed more commonly fails than it does succeed. That said, also welcome thoughts if people have had different experiences.

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Hi @Matthew_Boddie.

I hope that someone from @dhis2-backend can provide more information on this as I am not sure how the system behave on unreliable Internet connection.

My two recommendations or paths to explore are:

  1. In case those sites have a reliable LAN you might opt for a decentralized DHIS2 set up. This means local servers syncing with a central server. The users would work “locally” and the slave DHIS2 server would connect periodically to the DHIS2 master server. You can read further here: Home - DHIS2 Documentation Please note that this will imply resources and a heavy setup but can really improve user experience.
  2. Depending on your current setup you could use the DHIS2 Android App which was conceived for places where Internet is not available. Users can enter data offline and push it to the sever whenever they want (or automatically via a schedule). Read more here: Android Overview - DHIS2

Best.

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Thanks for the response @jaime.bosque! You’re two paths make sense, and indeed are things we have touched on. The de-centralized set up does feel a bit overwhelming at first thought, but I recognize not going much further into the option to see what it would actually entail, and how feasible it would be for us. I’ll be sure to get into that.

Thanks @dhis2-backend for any other tips or follow-ups to my possible research above!