From Paper Forms to Real-Time Data: How the Abrolhos Islands Management Council Digitized its Operations with a No-Code Application
- Written by Jeff Kuo, Founder and CEO, Ragic Inc.
Modernizing and updating legacy technology systems is a struggle that many organizations are undergoing. Whether it is migrating documents and records to the cloud, digitizing the entire operation for more efficiency, or just keeping up with “the technology Jones”, it is no walk in the park. This was the case for the Abrolhos Islands Management Council, a small organization with a small budget and staff (including one salaried employee and a handful of volunteers).
As technology quickly advances, the need for more efficient and secure IT solutions for smaller companies and organizations is mandatory. But not every small business or organization is able to afford sophisticated developers or expensive software IT licenses to accomplish their goals.
This was the case with the Abrolhos Islands, a group of islands spanning between 60 and 100 kilometers west of Geraldton, Western Australia. In 2007, the government entered into a lease agreement with the rock lobster fishing community, allowing them to occupy the islands, build camps, and undertake fishing activities. Approximately 97% of the archipelago is designated as a national park, while the remaining 22 islands are a reserve subject to this lease agreement, managed by the Abrolhos Islands Management Council.
Mathew Khun, the sole executive officer, is responsible for the management of all 22 islands as well as processing member applications, fishermen activities, and lease agreements with the government.
As part of government regulations and for safety reasons, the fishing community needs to notify Mathew and his volunteer team before making a trip to the islands for recreational and commercial fishing, maintenance, and tourism activities. Other functions under Mathew’s jurisdiction include negotiating leases with the government, processing approval requests for invitees, camp transfers, jetty usage, helicopter landings, and emergency responses, among others.
Given all these duties, Mathew found he did not have sufficient technology to support his various workflows, and turned to Barry Mitchell, a volunteer, to help him in the endeavor to digitize the department.
Previously, Zoho users, the Abrolhos Islands Management Council, hired an external professional to build, design, and make changes to their database system. While this was a workable solution in the beginning, it soon became a challenge for the team as the database became more complicated and difficult to update. Anytime the Abrolhos team needed to make even the smallest changes to the database, they had to hire professional help, which became costly and challenging.
That is when Mathew and Barry searched for a new solution to take matters into their own hands.
Since the current database was becoming too complicated for self help, the team wanted to simplify their processes, especially since it would involve many external users such as the fishing community who may or may not have technology skills.
Most importantly, Mathew and his team required a system that could help solve any safety or emergency issues that could emerge such as inclement weather or accidents that could become a challenge for fishing professionals.
That is when they discovered a no code solution for developing sophisticated databases called Ragic and from there, their ability to run the department more efficiently and communicate with the fishing community became a whole lot easier and became citizen developers.
The Rise of Citizen Developer
Over the past decade, low and no-code solutions have proliferated, allowing anyone of any IT skill level to create technology solutions for their businesses. Many smaller businesses and organisations that do not have the budget to support expensive software licenses or a development and IT staff are leveraging the trend, and finding solutions such as no code databases to help them digitalize several work streams.
The term “citizen developer” was coined in 2009 but only recently with the advent of developer shortages and the rising costs of software licenses, has it become more popular. Unlike shadow IT (which means people developing unsanctioned applications within their company), citizen development is usually approved by the management.
Another term that has become popular, thanks to the emergence of Large Language Models (LLMs) and associated products, is vibe coding. Vibe coding allows people to rely on AI to generate code based on natural language prompts and create applications. For smaller organizations, this is especially an ambitious endeavor for those trying to create products or applications that can help their businesses run more efficiently.
Unfortunately, there have been several issues with vibe coding. For instance, an app-building platform's AI went rogue and deleted a database without permission during a code freeze.
The upshot is that many experts say that having limited experience as a developer could prove a challenge when asking an AI to write software. Average power users without any development experience can possibly create a solution, but understanding how to deal with the bugs and security issues can prove to be a challenge for non-coders. Additionally, maintenance also means that organisations are adapting to changes in development environments and evolving user needs, such as performance and feature adjustments. In reality, maintenance often takes up more time than initial development.
Low and no-code solutions have security built in and other safeguards for non-IT professionals. The upshot is that no-code solutions are easier to maintain in the long run, since their visual and intuitive interfaces make changes and ongoing adjustments much simpler.
Why Databases?
Today, many smaller organizations and businesses use tools such as Excel or Google Sheets in lieu of a database or ERP and CRM software to track business data and workflows. Why? These tools are intuitive and relatively affordable to use. The problem is that spreadsheets are not designed to be multifaceted databases that can track work streams, and many smaller departments or businesses become saddled with dozens of spreadsheets that do not integrate with each other.
Any government department or small business needs to track licenses, employee records, community documents, accounting and more, requiring the use of a database. The problem with using spreadsheets in lieu of a database is that spreadsheets become irksome when they are not used in the proper way. Studies show that using spreadsheets as a database can be hazardous, as 90% of spreadsheets are prone to errors that compromise accuracy and productivity, according to sources.
Another part of maintaining a database is the ability to collaborate with your colleagues and outside communities. When different team members create spreadsheets based on their own formats and preferences, managers often spend significant time consolidating data, which can lead to manual errors and raise concerns about data accuracy.
In 2026, citizen developers are becoming a grassroots movement fueled by accessible, affordable no-code platforms that put real power in the hands of nontechnical employees.Now smaller organisations can build their own applications.
Creating a new and intuitive database
Once Barry and Mathew started working on Ragic and creating a new and more intuitive database, their interactions with the local community became much easier.
Barry also explained that as a non-profit organization, pricing is important, and Ragic’s affordable and cost-efficient pricing, along with its ability to cater to unlimited free external users allowed them to work with the local fishing community with minimal issues or disruptions.
However, it was the application's simplicity and ease of use that ultimately they were able to design and set up their notification system for the fishing community on their own, without an external professional’s help, in just a few days. From there, the duo was able to find more built-in functions within the application that were able to help minimize manual processes and improve efficiency.
“I think one of the things that we initially started to use the application for was purely for our members to notify us, which is a requirement under the lease when they're occupying or attending the islands. I'm no computer expert at all— I can sort of manage to bumble my way and navigate through, sending emails from the application. What we saw pretty early on was there was actually a significant opportunity to use Ragic to build other forms and become more efficient. I think it is very intuitive to use and it's a pretty functional system.”
A Simplified Process with Minimal Keystrokes
Previously, the fishing community did not need to notify the council every time they made a trip to the islands. They just needed to scribble some notes on a bit of paper and send them to the fisheries at the end of the week. However, due to the change in data needs and requirements from the new lease, the Abrolhos Islands Management Council anticipated challenges in convincing the fishermen to adapt to the changes.
During their annual meeting with the fishing community, Barry demonstrated the ease of using the application, while Mathew explained the benefits they would be getting from this change. Compared to their previous process, the new Notification Form would enable the fishing community to perform the following:
- Enabled non-technical users, including fishermen with limited digital experience, to submit time-sensitive notifications.
- Provided the fishing community with a history and record of their trips.
- Allowed the management council to quickly download reports from Ragic for government regulators or whenever anyone was to encounter any issues.
- Eliminated the need to hire an additional administrative staff member.
- Prevented any fines and penalties for the fishing community in case of any disputes and disparities with government regulators.
- Improved responsiveness for safety incidents, approvals, and emergency situations.
- Reduced long-term IT costs and operational friction.
Mobile App:
Another breakthrough for the Abrolhos Islands Management Council was the ability to offer the fishing community a mobile app, allowing them to fill in the forms while on the go, even on a fishing boat.
By keeping everything fairly simple, easy, and accessible, the Abrolhos Islands Management Council was able to successfully convince the fishing community to come on board with the new process.
