Amman hosting UN meeting on use of technology in population censuses

AMMAN – The United Nations Technical Meeting on the Use of Technology in Population and Housing Census started on Monday in Amman with the aim of reviewing Jordan’s experience in conducting the 2015 census.

The four-day event is organised by the UN Demographic and Social Statistics Division (UNSD) in cooperation with the Arab Institute for Training and Research in Statistics.

Addressing the opening ceremony, Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Imad Fakhoury said the international meeting is held at a time after the Jordan Department of Statistics (DoS) successfully conducted the General Population and Housing Census in 2015 using “advanced technologies”.

He added that the gathering presents an opportunity to demonstrate Jordan’s “unique” experience.

“Conducting an electronic census was coupled with many challenges and difficulties due to transition from the traditional censuses using hard copy questionnaires to employing advanced technologies,” said Fakhoury.

However, he noted that the “distinguished efforts of the census team, their will, determination and clarity of vision in addition to the successful public-private partnerships with [the] Jordanian private sector turned these difficulties into opportunities.”

He underlined the important role the census plays in providing accurate figures and indicators that have been utilised in updating the action plans of Jordan’s socio-economic 2025 blueprint.

Keiko Osaki-Tomita, chief of the Demographic and Social Statistics Branch at the UNSD, praised DoS’ efforts to introduce “cutting-edge” technologies in its work, noting that these modern tools have assisted in the “smooth running of [the] Jordan census and yielded high quality outputs”.

The Amman meeting brings together “national statisticians to review national experience in, and document good practices on, the use of electronic data collection technologies in census enumeration”, according to the UNSD website. 

The meeting also provides an opportunity to review the business processes for successful implementation of electronic data collection technologies in population and housing censuses, the UNSD said. 

“The outcomes of this meeting will serve as input towards the drafting of guidelines on the use of electronic data collection technologies in censuses,” it added.