Skogforsk – Field Data Platform

The challenge

Skogforsk needed to modernise two systems used daily in the field: SDI for trial and inventory data, and STS for forestry time studies.

Both ran on handheld computers with Windows CE and Windows Mobile – platforms discontinued long ago. The workflow also depended on field technicians and researchers manually passing files between them, which made it hard for several technicians to work on the same trial at once.

The challenge was not only changing technology. The specialised working methods the research requires – with their own measurement protocols, validation rules and data structures – had to come along into the new solution.

The solution

Myfront helped design and develop a modern field data platform consisting of mobile field applications, web-based administration, backend APIs and cloud infrastructure.

The applications are built offline-first. Field technicians can collect research data deep in the forest with no coverage at all – data is stored locally and synchronises automatically as soon as connectivity returns. Several technicians can therefore work on the same trial without anyone passing files back and forth.

The solution also integrates directly with the measurement equipment used in the field, and readings are validated the moment they are captured. Visual and audible feedback helps the technician spot incorrect or unusual values while still standing at the sample plot.

Researchers manage trials, studies, collected data and import/export through web-based administration systems.

Integrated measurement equipment

• Electronic calipers
• GNSS/GPS receivers
• RFID
• Barcode and QR identification
• Bluetooth-connected equipment

Two systems on one platform

• SDI Field – collection of trial and inventory data
• STS Field – forestry time studies with mobile data capture, web administration and import/export workflows

The result

The result is a connected flow all the way from measurement in the field to finished research data.

Manual file handling is gone, several technicians can work in parallel on the same trial, and incorrect readings are caught out in the forest rather than during later analysis. At the same time the systems are back on a platform that can be maintained and developed over time.

My role

I worked as solution architect and senior developer across the whole solution:

• Solution architecture
• Mobile field applications
• Web administration
• Backend APIs
• Offline architecture and synchronisation
• Hardware and device integrations
• Azure cloud infrastructure
• CI/CD and deployment
• Continued technical development