Oman Observer: e-Census 2020 wins a digital transformation award

Written by Nortal | May 7, 2024 11:15:00 AM

As highlighted in the Oman Observer, the census – a flagship initiative for both the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI) of Oman and Nortal – allowed the Sultanate to run the population count with minimal human effort in less than 7 days.

– Taavi Einaste, CEO for Middle East and Africa, Nortal

We extend our heartfelt congratulations to the NCSI for their well-deserved triumph. Oman e-Census 2020 is a great example of how technology can accelerate public services.

The award was received by Dr. Khalifa bin Abdullah al Barwani, the CEO of NCSI, during a ceremony held on 6 May 2024 under the auspices of HH Shaikh Meshaal al Ahmad al Jaber al Sabah, the Emir of the State of Kuwait. During the acceptance, Dr. Barwani spotlighted the efforts that the NCSI has made in recent years to digitally transform national statistics to support decision-making.

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 during the previous population count in 2010. 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.

A fully register-based census

In today’s ever-changing world, where data-driven decision-making is key, a census is one of the most critical surveys a state conducts. At the end of a tumultuous year of COVID restrictions and lockdowns in 2020, the Sultanate of Oman completed a fully register-based census on their first try.

View full post