GHANA’S FIRST DIGITAL CENSUS RECEIVES INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION

The Deputy Minister of Information Ms Fatimatu Abubakar, delivered the speech on behalf of the Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah and said, International organizations have hailed Ghana for a successful conduct of first digital 2021 Population and Housing Census (2021PHC).

She noted that, the successful release of the results within 44 days of exiting the field is commendable and had received international interest in the lessons learned from the implementation of the 2021 PHC.

Deputy Minister noted this at a four day workshop organized by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) in partnership with the UK Office of National Statistics (UK-ONS) in Accra,

The workshop hosted by the Ghana Statistical Service seeks to provide the platform for sharing valuable lessons from the 2020 round of Population and Housing Census (PHC) across the African States and to explore the use of new technologies to improve data collection under the theme “Good Practice in Digital Censuses”.

The workshop brought together over 70 experts from 17 countries, including the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), UNECA and Office for National Statistics (UK). The workshop gave the participants the opportunity to have extensive access to officials involved in the just ended Ghana census to deepen their knowledge of the Ghanaian lessons and build wider relationships for future collaboration.

Professor Samuel Kobina Annim, the Government Statistician, noted that, during the 2021 PHC, GSS deployed different Technological interventions, including virtual training, Online Recruitment System, real time data monitoring, CAPI technology for data collection and many others. GS said “We are championing a South –South learning platform where other countries will learn from Ghana’s Census exercise and replicate same in their respective countries to ensure that the continent has accurate data,”.

Mr William Muhwava, Chief, Demographic and Social Statistics Section, African Centre Statistics, in speech stated that, Development Partners have expressed readiness to assist African countries to conduct digital censuses. He said, it was very important to receive serious intervention like sourcing of IT devices; software and ICT infrastructure; mapping; questionnaire construction, data security in remote transfer of cases, to address the challenges of COVID-19.

What we have learnt so far is that the use of technology, especially mobile devices such as tablets, has become part of the 2020 Round in Africa, he added. “The expansion in mobile connectivity in Africa and mobile devices with Global Positioning System capability is providing new opportunities.”

Mr Muhwava announced the introduction of computer applications developed by UNECA, which were being used by some African countries to facilitate the use of technology in census processes.

In his final statement, he noted that, electronic dashboards have been deployed in countries to monitor progress and quality of the census enumeration, and tablet-sharing programme is established to enable other countries access IT equipment from those that had completed the censuses”.

However, Ghana’s population stands at 30.8 million people, compared to 24.7 million people recorded in the 2010 Census.