REDCap @ CaribData¶
REDCap for Electronic Data Capture¶
We've developed our REDCap platform as a regional tool to enable and encourage best-practice data handling for Caribbean data-producers.
Background to the Initiative¶
- Best-practice data handling underpins much scientific enquiry, and electronic data collection is now the de-facto norm for gathering data for evidence-creation.
- Many solutions exist for web-based data collection, with most having cost implications for data-producers or free-for-use functionality limitations.
- Faced with these barriers to use, Caribbean data-producers have regularly turned to web-based data collection infrastructures offered by international partners, with associated data fragmentation and loss of data sovereignty.
- A home-grown data handling solution has been developed by UWI researchers for Caribbean data-producers, offering a regional solution for secure web-based data collection.
Details of the Impact¶
REDCap (Research Electronic Data Capture) is a data collection system developed in 2004 by Vanderbilt University. It has been widely adopted by Universities worldwide.
In 2022, at the same time as developing the CaribData proposal, Professor Ian Hambleton set up a pilot data collection platform - and initially pilot tested within the UWI community - using the REDCap system. He started this initiative with 3 goals:
- To offer a regional, free-for-use, best-practice data capture solution for Caribbean data producers.
- To develop a system that meets all regional and international data protection standards.
- To operate a self-funding system, without the need for UWI financing.
From a handful of pilot users in 2022, the system has grown steadily through word of mouth and CaribData publicity. By mid-2025, the system had 280 active users and 729 separate projects, with 251 of these projects actively collecting data. Between mid-2024 and mid-2025 the CaribData system has been accessed from over 1,400 locations in 30 countries globally.
Data collected on the CaribData REDCap platform have so far contributed to 19 peer-reviewed publications follow this link for a list of these publications.
TABLE: Usage statistics for the CaribData REDCap data collection platform between 2022 and 2025.
Testimonials¶
Users of the CaribData REDCap platform range from large internationally-funded research projects to individual data-producers collecting data with limited resources. It has been adopted for formal teaching curricula, for short-course training programmes, and is now used widely for student research projects. For all users, the platform remains a free-for-use resource that encourages best-practice data handling.
Our REDCap Testimonials
I have used the CaribData REDCap platform to run a number of systematic reviews and multi-national quantitative surveys, and it has become a vital component of each project. Often working with teams across the globe, REDCap has facilitated more streamlined and cohesive data collection processes between settings. The 'close to home' service support has always been smooth and timely. With all the potential pitfalls in project coordination, REDCap has always been one project component that remains reliable and secure and I would be lost without it!
The CaribData REDCap database has been an important resource for our Institute, being used in US National Institutes of Health and UK Medical Research Council funded studies conducted across the Caribbean and the US. The REDCap platform also serves as our Laboratory Biorepository and is a key component of our Research Facilities Document that describes the UWIs research infrastructure when applying for grant funding. The REDCap service team is reliable and responsive to investigator needs, providing training to staff and addressing technical questions as they arise.
I've been using the CaribData REDCap to teach on the Master of Public Health programme, and it has truly transformed my teaching experience. After experimenting with various open-source database systems, REDCap has been a game-changer due to its unparalleled reliability— it consistently performs as expected, which is essential for effective teaching. Its user-friendly interface allows students to quickly grasp its functionalities, and within a few short sessions they are confident enough to use it independently for their research projects. I honestly can't imagine teaching this course without REDCap
As a lead investigator, I am ultimately responsible for ensuring that our participants truly understand what we are trying to do, and for the security of the data our projects collect. The CaribData REDCap online participant consent process is invaluable, and it’s top-of-the-line security and data-management features have been extremely important during our many successful ethics committee applications.
The Sustainable Future of our REDCap Platform¶
During our REDCap pilot phase, platform operations were funded entirely by the work of data scientists from the George Alleyne Chronic Disease Research Centre at the University of the West Indies.
In 2023 Professor Hambleton secured funding from the Inter-American Development Bank which included platform operation. With its immediate future secure, the platform is now operated by our small CaribData team (Jacqui Campbell, Ian Hambleton). Our team has now developed training for our NSO partners, and are developing a more formal roll-out for the platform.
REDCap Operations Team¶
| Team member | Role |
|---|---|
| Ian Hambleton | (1) REDcap Project Lead (2) Study Design / Analytics Advisor |
| Jacqui Campbell | (1) Database Administration (2) Front-end Support |