Oman embraces digitalization by completing a fully register-based census

In the past 20 years, Oman has put a strong emphasis on digitalization. As a result, the country’s eGovernment Development Index has risen from 0.3548 (rank 98) in 2003 to 0.7749 (rank 50) in 2020. The one-click census is another excellent example of this digital transformation journey.

The transformation of the census in Oman

Oman conducted its first census in 1993, with subsequent censuses in 2003 and 2010. The traditional census has two main drains — time and money. It costs a lot to conduct and takes time to get the results.

The 2010 census combined door-to-door visits by enumerators and an online questionnaire. In total, close to 6,600 people were involved in the process, with costs ranging from salaries, transportation, and per diems to post-census analysis and publication costs. In addition, much of the data entry and processing was manual, opening it up to errors.

For the 2020 census, Oman was forward-thinking and embraced innovation fully. We worked closely with the National Center for Statistics and Information to create a data processing strategy, architecture design and to develop the e-Census project. As a result, the Sultanate became one of a few countries at a global level and the first in the Arab world to conduct a census that relied entirely on data collection through administrative records. The data obtained and the indicators provided by the census are vital for enhancing Oman Vision 2040 and have important implications for the developmental planning of all sectors of the Sultanate.

A fully register-based census

This approach takes advantage of the input received from various administrative registers. The data is cross-referenced using advanced extract, load, and transformation practices to obtain the necessary information for census readiness.

A key goal of the e-Census 2020 project was to implement population, housing, and establishment hubs that update in near real-time — as soon as an entry is made into the administrative registers. Together with the ambitious team at National Center of Statistical Information (NCSI), Nortal successfully established common data exchange standards, which were used by 24 administrative registers that provided data for the census.

Using state-of-the-art technology, the e-Census 2020 solution can ingest millions of records from various administrative registers. Statistical classifications are applied using the metadata, followed by technical and logical data validation checks. The statistical authority in Oman works with aggregated data, therefore maintaining the privacy of its citizens and residents.

Eventually, census methodology is applied to the data from registers, and geospatial data is processed to support the census. The output is then disseminated through the e-Census online portal.

The entire process is fully automated, enabling Oman to execute an on-demand census at any time.

First in the Arab world

On December 14, 2020, His Majesty Sultan Haitham Bin Tarik endorsed the results of the e-Census 2020 of Population, Residences and Establishments, which showed that as of December 12, 2020 the population of the Sultanate stood at 4,471,148. Despite the outbreak of COVID-19, the e-Census 2020 was executed on schedule.

Oman became the first nation in the Arab world to count successfully and simultaneously all three of its main registers in a single census on the first attempt. The United Nations Population Fund describes Oman’s census as a global model for the transition from traditional censuses based on field surveys to censuses based on national administrative records.

Oman’s fully register-based census boasted data quality of 95%, with more than 100 million records processed. It has been theorized that about 23 million USD was saved by switching to a fully-register-based census, most of which resulted from having just 74 employees working on the census compared to 6,000+ staff in 2010.

Oman became the first country in the GCC to achieve a 100% register-based census in 2020.

The e-Census is only the first step. It provides policymakers with crucial information for understanding population changes in different regions and categories to be able to plan for the future.

Furthermore, it allows the government to communicate with its citizens proactively, based on their needs, preferences, and life events, such as marriage or birth of a child. For example, birth data allows the government to automatically share information about benefits and other helpful information for new parents. Or in relation to higher education, the government can use data about university students and their specializations to plan jobs and other employment enablement plans for the youth entering the job market.

Designing and implementing proactive services allows the government to increase engagement and offer excellent value to its citizens and residents.