5th Africa Symposium on Statistical Development Dakar, Senegal 19 th – 21 st November 2009

1. 5th Africa Symposium on Statistical Development Dakar, Senegal 19th – 21st November 2009

2. Report of Pre-Conference Workshop on the ‘Theme’ by, Dr. Bolaji Taiwo…CPSS, GISP, SAG, PhD. Geo-Spatial Scientist & Census Mapping Consultant 5th ASSD, ICT Expert Group Rapporteur

3. Presentation Outline • Background • Purpose of pre-conference workshop • Highlights of workshop activities • Summary of Countries experiences with ICT • Statistical Office GIS: Key Management Considerations • Statistical Office EDP: Key Management Considerations • Pre-Conference Workshop Resolution

4. Background • Workshop took place between 19th - 21st October 2009 at Birchwood Conference Centre in Benoni, South Africa • Sponsored by UNFPA and Statistics South Africa • Delegates from 12 countries participated • Two ICT experts participated: Dr. David Beckles, Independent Consultant on Data Processing and Dr. Bolaji Taiwo, UNFPA Consultant on Census Mapping • Emerging ICT issues in Statistics Offices were identified, elaborated and discussed

5. Purpose of Workshop • 2nd in a series of workshops in preparation for the 5th ASSD • Generate and discuss topical issues as inputs into the ICT Experts report to be presented in the 5th ASSD • Focus was on use of modern ICT in Census Processes and the key issues for NSO management consideration • Provide opportunity and exposure for Young African Statisticians (YASs) to show case their research potentials • Build and foster an ICT-focused cohort of YASs as part of the ISIbalo Capacity Building Programme

6. Highlights of Workshop Activities • Presentations by Country delegates on their experiences with emerging ICT issues • Census ICT experts led discussions on emerging ICT issues • Census ICT experts inputs, view points, scenario-based commentaries and recommendations • Presentations by YASs on their research work • Commentaries, Commendation and Critique of YASs presentations by workshop participants

7. Summary of Countries Experiences with ICT • Angola: • No ccensus was conducted in the 30 years • Very limited experience with scanning technology in the survey QUICK • Angola has been advised to consider PDA’s and scanning technology • Senegal: • Senegal has not yet used the new technology for data processing • Processing for past three censuses performed manually • Senegal, not the NSO, has once used the scanning technology, following donation and funding from the World Bank • The NSO is seriously weighing its options to use new technology for the 2010 Census • There is bias towards the use of PDA’s but funding remains a challenge

8. Summary of Countries Experiences with ICT…contd. • Egypt: • Successfully used new technology to conduct Census in 2006 • Egypt stressed the importance of proper planning before conducting census • Kenya: • Used new technologies to conduct censuses in 1999 and 2009 • In 1999 Kenya used the Optical Character Reader (OCR) • For scanning purposes, the non-commercial Integrated Computer Assisted Data Entry (ICADE) system was used • OCR can also be used as an Intelligent Character Reader (ICR)

9. Summary of Countries Experiences with ICT…contd. • Lesotho: • Lesotho opted for scanning 2006 census because it was known to be faster than the manual data entry, as such; it speeds up the process of releasing the census results • Operational challenges were experienced forcing the data processing staff to manually re-enter questionnaires • Operational challenges resulted in delays in the release of census results • There was lack of capacity for census data processing within the NSO • There was also high staff turn-over between January 2007 & December 2008

10. Summary of Countries Experiences with ICT…contd. • Zimbabwe: • Zimbabwe is of the view that the scanners are very user-friendly, and will therefore be utilized in the coming 2012 Census • Zimbabwe will not recommend the use of PDA’s at this stage because PDA’s are very costly and their country is in a serious financial crisis • The Zimbabwean census staff were relatively pleased and apparently enjoyed the speed of data entry that came with scanning • Unfortunately, at some stage the scanner broke down and it took a very long time to fix the scanning machine, because the scanning machine had to be sent to the United Kingdom for repairs • Experienced high staff turn-over during census of 2002 of mostly data capturers and data processors • There was little funding from development partners

11. Summary of Countries Experiences with ICT…contd. • South Africa: • Census results are normally released electronically • Used scanning technology in Census 2001 • According to South Africa, the Scanning Technology brings with it very enormous benefits • The benefits include improving the quality of the data, saving time and reducing costs tremendously • Operational challenges were encountered causing serious delays in data processing • South Africa maintained that new technology should be able to adapt over time, especially in view of ever changing technological innovations.

12. Statistical Office GIS: Key Management Considerations Issues to Ponder: • Huge financial outlay that might not yield short-term return on investment…”$500 solution for $5 problem” • Data conversion strategy • Interoperability of spatial datasets & digital map data sharing protocols • GIS infrastructure & Software maintenance costs • Mobile data capture and ‘paperless ideology’

13. Statistical Office GIS: Key Management Considerations Issues to Ponder:…continued • Staff capacity and willingness to embrace new technology • High turnover of trained and competent GIS specialist • National spatial data set clearing house (NSDI) • Meta data and geographic coding schemes • Cartographic projections and coordinate systems • Donor funds fatigue and joint programming • Seamless integration of data capture, processing, analyses and dissemination

14. Statistical Office GIS: Key Management Considerations Summary of GIS Expert Viewpoint: • GIS is need-based and problem-driven rather than technology-driven • GIS implementation requires high-level management support • GIS needs long-term funding plan, cost-recovery and data pricing strategy • GIS needs accurate estimates of maintenance and associated costs

15. Statistical Office EDP: Key Management Considerations Issues to Ponder: • It is not scanning that causes problems in many countries but poor process design, process evaluation and process monitoring • Optical Mark Reading (OMR) is a fairly matured technology since 1960 and is very accurate with 99.99% accuracy • The way data is collected has a far reaching implication on how it is processed • Optical Character Recognition (OCR) focuses on bubbles, tick marks and check boxes

16. Statistical Office EDP: Key Management Considerations Issues to Ponder:…continued • ICR is more flexible…can perform all OCR features and more • OMR is cheaper technology when compared to ICR that is very expensive • There is an inevitable interaction between electronic data processing (EDP) and geographic information system (GIS) • Sufficient time to learn about, and pre-test the scanning technology is paramount

17. Statistical Office EDP: Key Management Considerations Summary of EDP Expert Viewpoint: • Scanning is the preferred census data processing technology for the 21st century • NSO’s should preferably develop capacity to maintain their own scanners at all times • Sharing country experiences in the use of ICT is of pivot importance to maximise the benefits that can accrue from the utilization of modern technology • Scanning should not start before the pre-processes are properly done and completed

18. Pre-Conference Workshop Resolution • The world revolves around the latest technology and there is a need for young people with skills and understanding to tackle various issues • ISIbalo Capacity Building Programme could not have been initiated and implemented at a better time than now as Africa and the world at large are currently busy measuring the Millennium Developmental Goals (MDGs) • For quite some time Africa has been apologetic about her circumstances and failed to address her problems • Africa to tackle its problems and stop depending on the first world for assistance especially on intellectual capacity • The main reason for the use of Information and Communication Technology is to increase efficiency, quality and most importantly turn-around time

19. Pre-Conference Workshop Resolution…contd. • The choice of the technology to be used must be informed by need, cost-benefit analysis, practical circumstances, skill levels in the NSO to be able to maximize the technology • The market provides a wide range of ICT solutions but the onus is on the NSO to do due diligence on the technology before procuring it • Before deciding to use technology it is important to conduct extensive research to identify the associated risks • Whilst there are various technologies to opt for to implement the different phases of the census value chain it is advisable to seek interoperability • Adopting new technology does not mean completely abandoning traditional means of quality assurance like verification of information on the ground

20. END Thank you for your attention