The seventh national census, which will be the first entirely digital in Pakistani history, will begin early by starting of next month February. The Census is one of the most important national statistical projects. Its results influence the Formulation of many political, economic, and social policies, in addition to the implementation of essential programs for raising the standard of living.
For the 7th Population and Household Digital Census of Pakistan, NADRA provided a comprehensive "IT solution" for the first time in Pakistan. This activity is taking place across the entire country, which is based on 628 tehsils and approximately 185,000 census blocks. Android-based smart devices with house listing and enumeration apps that are synced with GPS and GIS will be used to carry out the activity. The digital census application for Android supports online and offline use with capabilities for easy data synchronisation. The pre-census, census stage, and post-census stages of the census will all be supported by the system for the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). PBS's technological partner for the initial digital census project is NADRA.
The 7th Census of the nation will be conducted digitally. The procedure up until this point entailed visiting each household and completing paperwork. This year, door-to-door salespeople will have tablets or cellphones with digital data entry capabilities.
There is a self-enumeration option for this, a mobile app for data collection, and a census site for managing and tracking various census-related activities.
A population census must be conducted every ten years, according to Pakistan's constitution. The outcomes of censuses are utilized in Pakistan for future policy planning, resource distribution, sampling strategies, constituency delineation, and apportionment.
Censuses were conducted in the years 1951, 1961, and 1972 (which was postponed by one year due to the war in 1971), and in 1981 following Pakistan's independence in 1947. However, due to partisanship and instability, the ensuing censuses weren't held until 1998 and 2017, respectively. The country had a total population of 213.2 million as of the most recent census, which was conducted in 2017. Pakistan's population increased by 1.91% from 2021 to 2022, reaching 235,824,862. Pakistan had a population of 231,402,117 in 2021, up 1.85% from the previous year.
Rapid digitalization is being experienced, particularly since the COVID-19 outbreak, when social distancing was necessitated and the nation was vulnerable to widespread lockdowns to stop the disease's spread. In order to cut expenses and boost sales while preventing the transmission of disease, there has been a lot of attention paid to digitising financial services and moving toward e-commerce. In a similar manner, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) recently announced the country's first digital census, which would gather crucial data for a developing Pakistan.
To maintain consistency and quality throughout the process, PBS conducted in-depth training for census enumerators in 27 districts around Pakistan. The population growth, urban-rural ratio, gender, age, literacy, languages, religion, disability, migration, ethnicity, and economic activity would all be well covered by data from Pakistan's first digital census. According to PBS, this endeavor would make it simpler to oversee each step of the process and would be committed to a precise, inclusive, and error-free procedure. The Chief Statistician visited Thar and Karachi to supervise the testing of the census application in order to ensure the success of the project.
In Karachi, the Chief Minister of Sindh met with a delegation led by Chief Statistician to inform him about the first digital census and PBS's commitment to an inclusive, accurate, and transparent digital census process. Functions of the PBS Population Census Wing.
The following are the key responsibilities of the Population Census Wing:
1. Decennial Population and Housing Census planning and execution.
2. The compilation and dissemination of Census Reports, which are data reports.
3. Evaluating census data and demographic studies.
4. Assessment of census results
5. Studies or surveys using intercensal samples in linked fields.
6. Provision of census data to data users.
7. Data tabulation to satisfy particular data consumer demands
The results of the 2017 census, which used a paper-based questionnaire and traditional methodology, were called into question.
Pakistan is taking a significant step by deciding to switch to a "digital census" after only a few months of preparations. Other countries have greatly evolved since then in both technology utilisation and strategy. Turkey has made headway in integrating the combined census approach, whereas neighbouring Iran and Egypt have successfully conducted digital censuses. Improved urban area representation in censuses has also been exceptionally beneficial in Bangladesh and India. However, all of these nations underwent long periods of preparation and iterative testing, according to experts who attended the 22nd Annual Conference of the Population Association of Pakistan.
Iran spent two full years designing and planning the 2016 electronic census, with the help of 20 dedicated workgroups and committees. The 2017 e-census in Egypt took two years to organize, prepare, and launch the pilot testing phase. How solid are our foundations for conducting the digital census in 2022? Is the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) confident and ready to make the transition to the age of computers, or is it only moving out of political expediency?
A census needs to have a strong planning phase. In 2021, a technical committee for the census was established, and in a record-breaking three months, it was required to finish its proposals for the following census. PBS has already made the suggestions public. The actual census will be managed by a National Census Coordination Center, which has been announced. The census does not yet have an action plan that details all of its phases. Either nothing has been prepared for this or nothing has been made public. If the full census is to be conducted, after the pilot testing in August, a complete dress rehearsal is needed.
The United Nations Statistical Commission (UNSC) defines a completely digital census as one that uses satellite data, aerial photography, a geo-referenced address registry, and geographic information systems (GIS) for enumeration maps. These tools are essential for census mapping. As a result, the automation (e-census/digital census) would involve the demarcation of enumeration regions during the pre-enumeration phase using digital maps at all scales. These maps would greatly increase everyone's confidence that their domains are sufficiently covered if they were widely distributed to the general public and political leadership.
The United Nations Statistical Commission (UNSC) defines a completely digital census as one that uses satellite data, aerial photography, a geo-referenced address registry, and geographic information systems (GIS) for enumeration maps. These tools are essential for census mapping. As a result, the automation (e-census/digital census) would involve the demarcation of enumeration regions during the pre-enumeration phase using digital maps at all scales. These maps would greatly increase everyone's confidence that their domains are sufficiently covered if they were widely distributed to the general public and political leadership.
While the PBS plans to transfer data gathered during in-person interviews using a handheld data collection instrument, other steps like using GIS facilities for data collection, as well as editing and cleaning data, require a trained staff of experts and a qualified internet network to enable direct transfer of data from the handheld instruments to the central data center. It is unclear if the Support Services Wing of PBS's GIS Wing has the infrastructure in place to adhere to the UNSC's standards and fulfill Pakistan's first-ever digital census obligations.
In order to improve accuracy and the ability to visualize enumeration areas using imagery, it is claimed that the National Statistical and Spatial Data System can provide a map-digitizing capability. If these maps are made available to the general public, they will alleviate many of our fears that some areas of the country will be overlooked inadvertently.
August will see a preliminary exam. Testing the questionnaire in the areas around big cities won't be sufficient to evaluate the difficult new approach of the upcoming census.
Iran and Egypt conducted two pilot tests before the e-census was officially launched and put into use. The first pilot test was carried out in 2014 for the 2016 Iranian census in order to verify the information that was already accessible and to compare early findings. The prerequisites were examined, verified, and tested again in 2015.
The expected response rate is the main source of concern. What may be expected of Pakistan, where there is a significant rate of illiteracy, particularly among women? After all, the 2017 census, which was conducted using conventional paper interviews, was misinterpreted and is currently under question. The survey's online completion rate in Iran received a reassuringly high response rate. Only 68 percent of respondents in highly educated Canada completed the online component in the third iteration of this type of census.
Based on the experience of other nations, the switch to digital and self-enumeration needs to be gradual. People are already asking questions about the census scheduled for 2023.
Above all, the public deserves to be fully informed about the efforts that are being made and to have faith in the system through open communication leading up to the census. There is a huge difference between surveys and censuses, yet PBS has effectively used computer tablets in its two most recent large-scale initiatives. The results of the census cannot be repeatedly challenged because they are related to political boundaries and financial resources. Lessons from the last census in 2017 show that doing things in two lengthy bursts is unhelpful. The enumeration step must be brief and continuous in nature.
Additionally, complete transparency in data collection and processing, with respect to the provinces, should be guaranteed.
There's no doubt that incorporating technology into every aspect of the census would help reduce skepticism and foster faith in the results.
By involving the provinces, various ministries, and universities, a high-level advisory group might be constituted. Like the one in Egypt, it should be led by a federal minister and comprise members of civil society and government experts. Above all, the 2022 Census Action Plan needs to be discussed in advance with lawmakers, major political parties, and the media in order to avoid the risk of the results being disregarded even before the pricey and time-consuming census process begins.
The National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) has handed over the final batch of 126,000 Android tablet devices to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics as a significant step toward the launch of the first-ever digital population and housing census. But it's still unclear whether new boundaries will be drawn in time for the upcoming general elections. NADRA gave PBS-secured devices. The distribution of 126,000 tablets was a crucial part of the seventh Population and Housing Census. By using 40 containers and five batches of 21,600 tablets each, NADRA has assured that the hardware is assembled and delivered on time.
The NADRA Chairman also paid a visit to the PBS headquarters' dispatch center, hardware hardening assembly line, and software development facilities.
The distribution of these tablets across the 495 census districts in the nation proved to be a difficult task. In nine days, NADRA successfully completed the large exercise that was meant to supplement the specialized training of almost 90,000 enumerators at 932 locations.
The efforts of the NADRA team, comprised of 100 experts, in quickly assembling and distributing 126,000 tablet computers were a significant milestone. At the manufacturing facility, the team successfully ruggedized and hardened the huge quantity of tablets.
No doubt, the digital census is a step that lifts Pakistan out of its ancient past and opens the door to a modern future. A step towards a digital Pakistan is going from handwritten responses on millions of sheets of paper to real-time authenticated data in applications on safe devices with satellite imagery. The big data from the digital census would serve as the cornerstone of Pakistan's system for developing evidence-based policies. Using contemporary agile methodology, NADRA created the digital solution for a digital census in just three weeks.
Data center services, call center services, the establishment of technical support centers at each tehsil level, as well as an online web portal for the general public and other allied services, are all included in the comprehensive digital solution. The house listings and enumeration applications developed and deployed on Android are coordinated with a global positioning system (GPS) and geographic information system (GIS). The digital census application for Android supports online and offline use with smooth data synchronization. The pre-census, census stage, and post-census stages of the census will all be supported by the system for PBS.
PBS's technological partner for the initial digital census project is NADRA. NADRA's role in this massive national exercise is to offer IT-related services in order to make the census activity a stunning success. As a result, the census process will be more open, and utilizing technology and digitization, it will guarantee that the complete population is documented.
On December 16, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) established a link between the conduct of a new delineation and the official notification of the final results of the first digital census exercise, which has not yet begun, by March 31, 2023. After determining the least amount of time needed under constrained time constraints, a choice was made, and it was communicated to the government. In the event that the final notification of the census results is released after December 31, 2022, the ECP has already ruled out new delimitation.
Although NADRA has finished its work before the deadline, it is uncertain if the digital census exercise, which has not yet started, will be finished by the end of March. In the first week of March, the fieldwork would be finished, and data validation would follow. Data at the block level may need to be validated for two to three weeks before being presented to the Council of Common Interest (CCI) for approval.
Even if it were expected that the final notification would not be given by March 31, general elections could still be held based on the results of the last census under Article 51(5) of the Constitution. According to Article 51(5) of the Constitution, each province and the federal capital will receive a certain number of members in the National Assembly, based on the population as reported in the most recently published official census.
For the 7th Population and Household Digital Census of Pakistan, NADRA provided a comprehensive "IT solution" for the first time in Pakistan. This activity is taking place across the entire country, which is based on 628 tehsils and approximately 185,000 census blocks. Android-based smart devices with house listing and enumeration apps that are synced with GPS and GIS will be used to carry out the activity. The digital census application for Android supports online and offline use with capabilities for easy data synchronisation. The pre-census, census stage, and post-census stages of the census will all be supported by the system for the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). PBS's technological partner for the initial digital census project is NADRA.
The 7th Census of the nation will be conducted digitally. The procedure up until this point entailed visiting each household and completing paperwork. This year, door-to-door salespeople will have tablets or cellphones with digital data entry capabilities.
There is a self-enumeration option for this, a mobile app for data collection, and a census site for managing and tracking various census-related activities.
A population census must be conducted every ten years, according to Pakistan's constitution. The outcomes of censuses are utilized in Pakistan for future policy planning, resource distribution, sampling strategies, constituency delineation, and apportionment.
Censuses were conducted in the years 1951, 1961, and 1972 (which was postponed by one year due to the war in 1971), and in 1981 following Pakistan's independence in 1947. However, due to partisanship and instability, the ensuing censuses weren't held until 1998 and 2017, respectively. The country had a total population of 213.2 million as of the most recent census, which was conducted in 2017. Pakistan's population increased by 1.91% from 2021 to 2022, reaching 235,824,862. Pakistan had a population of 231,402,117 in 2021, up 1.85% from the previous year.
Rapid digitalization is being experienced, particularly since the COVID-19 outbreak, when social distancing was necessitated and the nation was vulnerable to widespread lockdowns to stop the disease's spread. In order to cut expenses and boost sales while preventing the transmission of disease, there has been a lot of attention paid to digitising financial services and moving toward e-commerce. In a similar manner, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) recently announced the country's first digital census, which would gather crucial data for a developing Pakistan.
To maintain consistency and quality throughout the process, PBS conducted in-depth training for census enumerators in 27 districts around Pakistan. The population growth, urban-rural ratio, gender, age, literacy, languages, religion, disability, migration, ethnicity, and economic activity would all be well covered by data from Pakistan's first digital census. According to PBS, this endeavor would make it simpler to oversee each step of the process and would be committed to a precise, inclusive, and error-free procedure. The Chief Statistician visited Thar and Karachi to supervise the testing of the census application in order to ensure the success of the project.
In Karachi, the Chief Minister of Sindh met with a delegation led by Chief Statistician to inform him about the first digital census and PBS's commitment to an inclusive, accurate, and transparent digital census process. Functions of the PBS Population Census Wing.
The following are the key responsibilities of the Population Census Wing:
1. Decennial Population and Housing Census planning and execution.
2. The compilation and dissemination of Census Reports, which are data reports.
3. Evaluating census data and demographic studies.
4. Assessment of census results
5. Studies or surveys using intercensal samples in linked fields.
6. Provision of census data to data users.
7. Data tabulation to satisfy particular data consumer demands
The results of the 2017 census, which used a paper-based questionnaire and traditional methodology, were called into question.
Pakistan is taking a significant step by deciding to switch to a "digital census" after only a few months of preparations. Other countries have greatly evolved since then in both technology utilisation and strategy. Turkey has made headway in integrating the combined census approach, whereas neighbouring Iran and Egypt have successfully conducted digital censuses. Improved urban area representation in censuses has also been exceptionally beneficial in Bangladesh and India. However, all of these nations underwent long periods of preparation and iterative testing, according to experts who attended the 22nd Annual Conference of the Population Association of Pakistan.
Iran spent two full years designing and planning the 2016 electronic census, with the help of 20 dedicated workgroups and committees. The 2017 e-census in Egypt took two years to organize, prepare, and launch the pilot testing phase. How solid are our foundations for conducting the digital census in 2022? Is the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) confident and ready to make the transition to the age of computers, or is it only moving out of political expediency?
A census needs to have a strong planning phase. In 2021, a technical committee for the census was established, and in a record-breaking three months, it was required to finish its proposals for the following census. PBS has already made the suggestions public. The actual census will be managed by a National Census Coordination Center, which has been announced. The census does not yet have an action plan that details all of its phases. Either nothing has been prepared for this or nothing has been made public. If the full census is to be conducted, after the pilot testing in August, a complete dress rehearsal is needed.
The United Nations Statistical Commission (UNSC) defines a completely digital census as one that uses satellite data, aerial photography, a geo-referenced address registry, and geographic information systems (GIS) for enumeration maps. These tools are essential for census mapping. As a result, the automation (e-census/digital census) would involve the demarcation of enumeration regions during the pre-enumeration phase using digital maps at all scales. These maps would greatly increase everyone's confidence that their domains are sufficiently covered if they were widely distributed to the general public and political leadership.
The United Nations Statistical Commission (UNSC) defines a completely digital census as one that uses satellite data, aerial photography, a geo-referenced address registry, and geographic information systems (GIS) for enumeration maps. These tools are essential for census mapping. As a result, the automation (e-census/digital census) would involve the demarcation of enumeration regions during the pre-enumeration phase using digital maps at all scales. These maps would greatly increase everyone's confidence that their domains are sufficiently covered if they were widely distributed to the general public and political leadership.
While the PBS plans to transfer data gathered during in-person interviews using a handheld data collection instrument, other steps like using GIS facilities for data collection, as well as editing and cleaning data, require a trained staff of experts and a qualified internet network to enable direct transfer of data from the handheld instruments to the central data center. It is unclear if the Support Services Wing of PBS's GIS Wing has the infrastructure in place to adhere to the UNSC's standards and fulfill Pakistan's first-ever digital census obligations.
In order to improve accuracy and the ability to visualize enumeration areas using imagery, it is claimed that the National Statistical and Spatial Data System can provide a map-digitizing capability. If these maps are made available to the general public, they will alleviate many of our fears that some areas of the country will be overlooked inadvertently.
August will see a preliminary exam. Testing the questionnaire in the areas around big cities won't be sufficient to evaluate the difficult new approach of the upcoming census.
Iran and Egypt conducted two pilot tests before the e-census was officially launched and put into use. The first pilot test was carried out in 2014 for the 2016 Iranian census in order to verify the information that was already accessible and to compare early findings. The prerequisites were examined, verified, and tested again in 2015.
The expected response rate is the main source of concern. What may be expected of Pakistan, where there is a significant rate of illiteracy, particularly among women? After all, the 2017 census, which was conducted using conventional paper interviews, was misinterpreted and is currently under question. The survey's online completion rate in Iran received a reassuringly high response rate. Only 68 percent of respondents in highly educated Canada completed the online component in the third iteration of this type of census.
Based on the experience of other nations, the switch to digital and self-enumeration needs to be gradual. People are already asking questions about the census scheduled for 2023.
Above all, the public deserves to be fully informed about the efforts that are being made and to have faith in the system through open communication leading up to the census. There is a huge difference between surveys and censuses, yet PBS has effectively used computer tablets in its two most recent large-scale initiatives. The results of the census cannot be repeatedly challenged because they are related to political boundaries and financial resources. Lessons from the last census in 2017 show that doing things in two lengthy bursts is unhelpful. The enumeration step must be brief and continuous in nature.
Additionally, complete transparency in data collection and processing, with respect to the provinces, should be guaranteed.
There's no doubt that incorporating technology into every aspect of the census would help reduce skepticism and foster faith in the results.
By involving the provinces, various ministries, and universities, a high-level advisory group might be constituted. Like the one in Egypt, it should be led by a federal minister and comprise members of civil society and government experts. Above all, the 2022 Census Action Plan needs to be discussed in advance with lawmakers, major political parties, and the media in order to avoid the risk of the results being disregarded even before the pricey and time-consuming census process begins.
The National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) has handed over the final batch of 126,000 Android tablet devices to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics as a significant step toward the launch of the first-ever digital population and housing census. But it's still unclear whether new boundaries will be drawn in time for the upcoming general elections. NADRA gave PBS-secured devices. The distribution of 126,000 tablets was a crucial part of the seventh Population and Housing Census. By using 40 containers and five batches of 21,600 tablets each, NADRA has assured that the hardware is assembled and delivered on time.
The NADRA Chairman also paid a visit to the PBS headquarters' dispatch center, hardware hardening assembly line, and software development facilities.
The distribution of these tablets across the 495 census districts in the nation proved to be a difficult task. In nine days, NADRA successfully completed the large exercise that was meant to supplement the specialized training of almost 90,000 enumerators at 932 locations.
The efforts of the NADRA team, comprised of 100 experts, in quickly assembling and distributing 126,000 tablet computers were a significant milestone. At the manufacturing facility, the team successfully ruggedized and hardened the huge quantity of tablets.
No doubt, the digital census is a step that lifts Pakistan out of its ancient past and opens the door to a modern future. A step towards a digital Pakistan is going from handwritten responses on millions of sheets of paper to real-time authenticated data in applications on safe devices with satellite imagery. The big data from the digital census would serve as the cornerstone of Pakistan's system for developing evidence-based policies. Using contemporary agile methodology, NADRA created the digital solution for a digital census in just three weeks.
Data center services, call center services, the establishment of technical support centers at each tehsil level, as well as an online web portal for the general public and other allied services, are all included in the comprehensive digital solution. The house listings and enumeration applications developed and deployed on Android are coordinated with a global positioning system (GPS) and geographic information system (GIS). The digital census application for Android supports online and offline use with smooth data synchronization. The pre-census, census stage, and post-census stages of the census will all be supported by the system for PBS.
PBS's technological partner for the initial digital census project is NADRA. NADRA's role in this massive national exercise is to offer IT-related services in order to make the census activity a stunning success. As a result, the census process will be more open, and utilizing technology and digitization, it will guarantee that the complete population is documented.
On December 16, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) established a link between the conduct of a new delineation and the official notification of the final results of the first digital census exercise, which has not yet begun, by March 31, 2023. After determining the least amount of time needed under constrained time constraints, a choice was made, and it was communicated to the government. In the event that the final notification of the census results is released after December 31, 2022, the ECP has already ruled out new delimitation.
Although NADRA has finished its work before the deadline, it is uncertain if the digital census exercise, which has not yet started, will be finished by the end of March. In the first week of March, the fieldwork would be finished, and data validation would follow. Data at the block level may need to be validated for two to three weeks before being presented to the Council of Common Interest (CCI) for approval.
Even if it were expected that the final notification would not be given by March 31, general elections could still be held based on the results of the last census under Article 51(5) of the Constitution. According to Article 51(5) of the Constitution, each province and the federal capital will receive a certain number of members in the National Assembly, based on the population as reported in the most recently published official census.