Census is the basis for reviewing the country’s progress in the past decade and monitoring the ongoing schemes of the government and plan for the future.
Aside from the answer to the question “How many are we?” there is also a need to provide an answer to “Who are we?” in terms of age, sex, education, occupation, economic activity, and other crucial characteristics, as well as to “Where do we live?” in terms of housing, access to water, availability of essential facilities, and access to the Internet.
This whitepaper presents the essential features and main significance of smart digital census. Additionally, you’ll get to know:
- The global practices of conducting census in India
- Global methods of conducting a census
- Important statistics
- Benefits of traditional census
- The limitations presented by traditional census methods
- More about digital census; its features, benefits, pros, and cons
- Why India needs to go digital
Governments are increasingly facing several challenges in conducting population and housing censuses, ranging from falling participation to increasing data collection costs.
Response rates have declined as citizens become increasingly concerned about information security and privacy and the confidentiality of information given to the government.
Also, households are becoming more diverse, dynamic, and mobile, making it a challenge to reach people and assign them to a single unique location.
These challenges are compelling governments to investigate alternative ways of implementing the census, and ultimately, to modernize and transform the traditional method of conducting a census.
Today’s information and communication technologies offer unprecedented opportunities to innovate and transform their census operations, dramatically improving performance and census results while reducing costs.
With proper planning, governance, and vision, modern technology can help to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of census processes.
Citizens are becoming increasingly comfortable with digital modes and it is expected to grow even further. We are told time and again that data is a prized commodity, but it is very easy to be big data-rich, yet still insight poor, if the information isn’t harvested and analyzed efficiently.
New approaches are allowing the collection of data with handheld electronic devices, the internet, and the telephone in a manner that is better, faster, and potentially cheaper. It’s imperative to say that digital census is the way forward for the inclusive development of society.
