Merits of digital census highlighted.

ISLAMABAD -- Digital census for the first time in Pakistan in 2023 would be a great success as merits of digital census include time reduction, geographic information system (GIS)-based monitoring, real-time progress analysis, instant data availability and online task allocation.

Speakers highlighted this during a seminar themed 'Census 2023: All You Want to Know About' at the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) on Thursday.

Chief statistician of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) Naeem uz Zafar said that all preparations were rolled out and the team was ready for a gigantic task. 'The effort is entirely indigenous; all the systems devised and tools created are by our own experts,' he said.

He shared that census was an important national activity that was linked with resource allocation to provinces, representation in national/provincial assemblies and the delimitation process.

He apprised the audience that after the results of the latest Census 2017 were approved in the 45th Council of Common Interests (CCI) meeting held on April 12, 2021, the CCI gave directions for the next census to start as early as possible and it should be according to international best practices through use of the latest technology.

Dr Naeem uz Zafar said that following United Nations (UN) guidelines, it was decided that there ought to be clarity regarding the primary objectives of census policy and planning.

The chief statistician also added that a National Census Coordination Committee (N3C) has been developed at the national level in the House of PBS. N3C can be imagined as the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) that was set up during the pandemic.

N3C would have centralised decision making, a control room with dashboards showing real-time...