Statistics authority praises public’s co-operation in census process

The Planning and Statistics Authority has praised the co-operation of citizens and residents in the conduct of the first phase of the census that began in mid-November. The first phase of the Qatar 2020 census seeks to complete the database of buildings, facilities, and residential units.It will include data on the number of families and the size of families.Phase one will provide the option for people to receive a census worker or to fill the information online.Phase one also helps the census workers complete the data they already have available from the administrative records.Assistant Director of the Department of Censuses, Surveys and Statistical Methods Saoud al-Shammari said at a press conference yesterday that the co-operation of citizens and residents reflects the society’s awareness of the importance of this process.He added that the meeting between the census worker and the family takes no longer than three minutes.The visits take place in the afternoon from 15:30 to 19:30.He noted that there are 14 different governmental bodies that are co-operating with the authority to complete the project.He also noted that they were using advanced technology in the process of collecting and verifying data.He said that these systems allow the census worker to send the data he obtained immediately to the database, with no other party able to view it, including the census worker himself.He also said that the workers received intensive training to use these advanced systems.Al-Shammari said that these data are important indicators to policymakers.Data on housing and facilities for example reflect the prosperity of a society.Other data collected during the census also make a contribution to enhancing the status of a country internationally, in areas such as the Global Competitiveness Report and other similar reports.Saoud al-Shammari called on citizens and residents to co-operate more in the remaining days of phase one, and in the second phase which begins in March.