What 36MDC is

36MDC is a mobile data collection platform for teams whose work happens in the field. It replaces paper forms, spreadsheets, and aging data-collection tools with one system built for the phone in a field worker's hand.

The product is in active development, with a 1.0 launch planned for 2026. This post explains what it does, who it's for, and how to follow along until it's available.

The problem we're solving

Mobile data collection tools today fall into one of two camps.

The first is the sprawling enterprise ecosystem — a data-collection module bolted onto a much larger platform that forces you to adopt identity, reporting, billing, and integration tooling you didn't ask for, at a premium that only makes sense if you're using all of it.

The second is the legacy holdover — a tool that was good a decade ago and is still functional, but is showing its age. It hasn't kept up with how teams build software now, and just keeping it running quietly becomes its own job, separate from the data collection you actually need to do.

Either way, the day-to-day looks the same:

Forms that stop working when the phone loses signal.
Data that arrives days late because it was written on paper first and re-keyed in the office.
Repeat visits because someone transcribed the wrong identifier or address.

36MDC is the third option. Simple — just data collection, no ecosystem to buy into. Full-featured — builders can compose forms with conditional logic, lookups, formulas, subforms, and offline-first sync.

What it does

Captures data on a phone, with or without signal. Records save to the device the moment they are entered. When the phone reconnects, everything syncs on its own. Field staff do not wait for spinners, and work is not lost to a dropped connection.

Gives managers one place to design, deploy, and review. Build a form in the web app. Assign it to a team. Watch records come in and catch problems early. Update the form when the questions change, without breaking past records.

Scales across projects and departments. Run one form or fifty — each with its own team, its own data, and its own reports. Access is controlled by role: field staff see what they need to fill in, managers see what they need to manage, leadership sees the rollups.

Fits your existing stack. Records can flow into the systems you already use through standard integrations, so 36MDC adds capture without forcing a rip-and-replace of your reporting or billing tools.

Who it's for

36MDC is built for teams that send people out with a job to do and a phone in their pocket:

Field service and operations leaders running inspections, audits, meter reads, asset checks, or maintenance visits.
Research and survey organizations — academic research groups, NGO program leads, public-health survey directors, post-disaster assessment teams.
Public-health teams capturing intake, follow-up, or screening records.
Environmental, agricultural, and utility programs that need to geolocate, photograph, and log what's in front of them in the field.

If your team is on Fulcrum, KoboToolbox, or ODK Collect today — or still on paper — 36MDC is designed to be a clear step forward.

What's different

We are not trying to be the most feature-dense tool on the market. We're trying to be the one your team actually trusts on a bad day in the field:

Offline as a default, not an afterthought. Every design choice starts from the assumption that the phone can't reach the server.
Honest interfaces. Records show what happened and when. Errors say what failed and what to try. No cheerful ambiguity.
We adapt to your ecosystem, not the other way around. No mandatory identity provider, no bundled CRM, no required reporting layer. Connect 36MDC to the systems you already run and leave the rest of your stack as it is.
Modern tooling. Built on current web and mobile foundations, so new capability can ship without re-platforming every few years.

When you can use it

1.0 launch: 2026. Deployment options and onboarding details will be published here as they firm up.
Early access. A small number of teams will run real projects on 36MDC before the public launch. If your team is a fit, get in touch at hello@36mdc.com.
More posts. Short, plain-language write-ups on how the product works and how it fits into operational workflows will appear here as they publish.

This page will be updated as each milestone ships.