1/
This paper has been issued without formal editing.
Project
programme of work 1999
Introduction
The implementation of the UNFPA funded project
RAS/96/P12 began in 1997 and is due to be completed
by the end of 1999. The immediate objectives
of the project are: (i) To formulate and disseminate
recommendations and guidelines on the application
of computer technology in data capture, analysis,
storage, presentation and dissemination of population
statistics; (ii) to develop modern technology
systems to be applied in the field of population
statistics in three pilot countries; and (iii)
to increase the awareness of the role of computerization
in producing population data, and especially
of information technology in sharing information
and experience gained in the region.
The Working Party on the Application of New
Technology to Population Data was established
in January 1997. Among other things, it provides
guidance on project implementation and has already
met three times, in Bangkok (September 1997),
Singapore (April 1998) and Bali (January 1999).
Under the project, three pilot applications
are being implemented by (i) the Bangladesh
Bureau of Statistics, on uses of GPS for preparation
of census enumeration area maps; (ii) Statistics
Indonesia, on imaging technology; and (iii)
the Philippines National Statistics Office,
on uses of GIS for census operations and dissemination.
In addition, three guidelines on the application
of new technology are being developed and coordinated
by (i) the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics,
on the application of mapping and GIS technology
to population data; (ii) Statistics Indonesia,
on the applications of new technology to population
data collection and capture; and (iii) Statistics
New Zealand, on the applications of new information
technology to population data dissemination.
Three of the five project newsletters have recently
been issued on the project website: http://www.unescap.org/stat/pop-it/
An evaluation of the project was carried out
from 22 February to 5 March 1999, together with
seven other UNFPA funded projects under the
ESCAP Asia-Pacific Programme. The evaluation
presented some conclusions concerning the outcome
of the projects and offered suggestions about
future activities. Annex A provides an excerpt
from the evaluation report concerning RAS/96/P12.
Planned activities during
the second half of 1999
The implementation of pilot applications
is expected to be completed by the third quarter
of 1999; the preparation of the three guidelines
in draft form is likely to be completed by September
1999. The applicability of the guidelines will
be tested at a regional workshop on the topic
of "Application of new technology to population
data", scheduled to be held in Bangkok in October
1999. They will be subsequently revised based
on the feedback received from the workshop and
submitted for printing in December 1999. The
workshop will be attended by selected officials
from developing countries, including the member
countries on the Working Party, the coordinators
of the guidelines and resource persons/consultants.
For more details, please see document STAT/WPA(4)/8.
The secretariat proposes that in conjunction
with the October 1999 workshop, the Working
Party should hold short meetings before and
after the workshop. Thus the fifth and sixth
meetings of the Working may be held in Bangkok
on 11 and 21 October 1999, respectively.
Table 1 provides a tentative schedule of future
activities. The Working Party is requested to
review it and give its recommendations.
Table
1: Tentative Schedule of Future Activities
Project RAS/96/P12
Activity/output
Organizer/ coordinatior
Remarks
Fourth meeting of the Working
Party, Manila, 6-9 July 1999.
ESCAP
On schedule.
Fifth meeting of the Working
Party, Bangkok, 11 October 1999.
ESCAP
One-day meeting before the
workshop on applications of information
technology to population data. Agenda will
include preparation of the workshop, scheduled
to be held during 12-20 October 1999.
Sixth meeting of the Working
Party, Bangkok, 21 October 1999.
ESCAP
One-day meeting after the workshop,
to discuss and adopt strategies for completing
unfinished work under the project.
Workshop on applications of
information technology to population data,
Bangkok, 12-20 October 1999.
ESCAP
The project will support the
participation of selected developing countries,
the members of the Working Party and resource
persons/consultants. Other countries will
be invited to attend at their own expense.
Newsletter of application of
information technology to population data,
issue 4, August 1999.
ESCAP
Focusing on the experiences
of three pilot countries.
Newsletter of application of
information technology to population data,
issue 5, October 1999.
The website will be updated
regularly until the end of the project.
Subsequent maintenance will depend on the
availability of resources. An attempt to
incorporate links to relevant websites will
be made.
Awareness package. Fourth quarter
of 1999.
SIAP
See paper STAT/WPA(4)/10 by
SIAP.
Report on the pilot application
on the use of GPS for preparation of census
enumeration area maps. Fourth quarter of
1999.
Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics
See paper by Bangladesh Bureau
of Statistics.
Report on the pilot application
on imaging technology. Fourth quarter of
1999.
Statistics Indonesia
See paper by Statistics Indonesia.
Report on the pilot application
on the use of GIS for census operations
and dissemination. Fourth quarter of 1999.
National Statistics Office
of the Philippines
See paper by National Statistical
Office of the Philippines.
Guidelines on the application
of new technology to population data collection
and capture (Final manuscript ready by 15
December 1999).
Indonesia
The first working draft will
be ready by September 1999 for use in the
workshop.
Guidelines on the application
of modern mapping and GIS technologies in
census operations (Final manuscript ready
by 15 December 1999).
Bangladesh
The first working draft will
be ready by September 1999 for use in the
workshop.
Guidelines on the application
of new technology to population data dissemination
(Final manuscript ready by 15 December 1999).
New Zealand
A draft has already been circulated
for comments. The first working draft will
be ready by September 1999 for use in the
workshop.
Annex
A
RAS/96/P12 - Application
of New Technology in Population Data Collection,
Processing, Dissemination and Presentation
Objectives:
To formulate and disseminate
recommendations and guidelines on the application
of modern information technology in the field
of population statistics such as data capture,
geographic information systems (GIS) and development
of population databases, and to disseminate
them to the countries of the region;
To develop modern technology-based
application systems in the field of population
statistics in three pilot countries (Bangladesh,
Indonesia and the Philippines); and
To promote effective
use of information technology (IT) for the
production and dissemination of population
data.
A working party consisting of eight experts
from Australia, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Japan,
Macau, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand,
was formed to identify priorities and provide
guidance in the application of computer technology
in producing population statistics. New Zealand
became a member of the working party in 1998.
The Team noted with concern that there were
no female members of the working party.
The working party has identified three core
areas as the major focus of the project: GIS
in census and survey applications; imaging and
data capture technology; and application of
Internet-based technology. Three sets of guidelines
are being produced: (1) on the application of
new technology to population data collection
and capture, coordinated by Indonesia; (2) on
the application of modern mapping and GIS technologies
in census operations, coordinated by Bangladesh;
and (3) on the application of new technology
to population data dissemination, coordinated
by New Zealand with Singapore as backup (Objective
1). A pilot application of Global Positioning
System (GPS) and aerial photography/satellite
imageries for the preparation of census enumeration
area maps is underway in Bangladesh. Indonesia
is developing the pilot application of data
capture technology, specifically the Optical
Character Reader/Optical Mark Reader (OCR/OMR)
systems in preparation for the conduct of the
year 2000 population census. The pilot application
using GIS for tracking census operations will
be part of the overall system being planned
for the Philippine Census 2000 (Objective 2).
In Bangladesh three major censuses are being
planned for in the next three years: an Economic
Census in 2000, a Population and Housing Census
in 2001, and an Agricultural Census in 2002.
The project brings together the resources of
BBS and of other agencies with map-making skills.
The following steps in the project have already
been completed: the development of a conceptual
framework, pretesting in five selected areas
(two urban and three rural), the drafting of
an application design and implementation procedure,
and its finalization after examination by a
technical committee. As part of the project,
they have already begun the enlargement of the
aerial photos, the verification ("ground truthing")
of the maps, and the updating of maps with identifiable
landmarks. Later steps will involve the preparation
of control area maps for supervision and thematic
maps for dissemination, and the preparation
and presentation of a report on this project.
Three meetings of the working party, each of
three days, have been arranged so far. At the
first meeting in Bangkok in September 1997,
the working party identified the topics and
sites for the three pilot projects. The second
meeting was held in Singapore in April 1998
and discussed internet applications. The third
meeting was held in Bali in January 1999 and
dealt with data capture, coding, verification
and work flow. A fourth meeting will be held
in Manila in June 1999 and will focus on applications
of mapping and related technologies.
The representative from Bangladesh found the
three meetings held so far extremely useful.
The meetings provided an excellent opportunity
for interaction with specialists from several
advanced countries. As a result, he was able
to develop new ideas which could be adopted
in Bangladesh. The meetings had inspired this
particular participant to push the government
and donors for more funds in order to improve
their mapping operation, so as to produce high
quality maps. They are now receiving substantial
funding from UNDP for making aerial photos,
and further funding from UNFPA to modernize
their cartographic activities, so as to convert
their traditional sketch maps into computerized
and digitized maps.
The second area where the meetings have proved
extremely useful is in developing understanding
about how to apply imaging technology. Using
the technologies already developed by South
Korea, Japan and Australia, the Bangladesh representative
is confident that the use of this technology
will result in better-quality data from the
field and faster processing. UNDP have promised
$3 million, which will be used to purchase 6
OMR and 6 ICR (Intelligent Character Recognition)
machines. Bangladesh plan to hold a small evaluation
workshop in Dhaka in May 1999, to review the
work the project team have done so far. They
plan to invite some of the key members of the
working party to this meeting.
As a result of the mid-term review carried
out in ESCAP in July 1998, it was decided that
greater emphasis should be placed on capability
building in the areas of new technology identified
in the project. Accordingly an additional workshop
has been scheduled for October 1999 on the application
of new technology to population data.
Country experiences in the development of IT
in the population field were supposed to be
shared through a regional newsletter (Objective
3). The first newsletter is now being prepared
and will be released very soon. The project
web site has only been established very recently.
The secretariat was urged by the working party
to give these activities a high priority. Recognizing
the influence of policy and decision makers
in prioritizing budget allocations, the working
party recommended that an awareness package
could be prepared and that its content should
stress the importance and purpose of census
taking, including the necessity of making available
census data quickly to the users. The contents
of the package could focus on strategies and
application of technology in the various phases
of census operations with a focus on speedy
processing and timely dissemination of census
data. The package could be in the form of a
short video with supporting documents, in time
for the 2000 round of censuses.
