International Recommendations on
Contemporary Practices in Census
Cartography and use of Geographic
Information Systems (GIS)
and
Handbook on Geospatial Infrastructure in
Support of Census Activities
Regional Workshop on the 2010 World Programme on Population and Housing Censuses: International standards, contemporary
technologies for census mapping and data processing
Minsk, Belarus, 8-12 December 2008
Outline
 Work and Recommendations of the EGM
 Background for the Revision
 Reasons for the Restructuring
 Conclusions & Recommendations
 Main Points
Regional Workshop on the 2010 World Programme on Population and Housing Censuses: International standards, contemporary
technologies for census mapping and data processing
Minsk, Belarus, 8-12 December 2008
Overview of the EGM
 29 May-1 June 2007
 United Nations, New York
 Organized by the Demographic Statistics
Section of the United Nations Statistics Division
(UNSD), Department of Economic and Social
Affairs (DESA)
 Participants from 22 Member Countries
 Final Report issued mid-June 2007
Regional Workshop on the 2010 World Programme on Population and Housing Censuses: International standards, contemporary
technologies for census mapping and data processing
Minsk, Belarus, 8-12 December 2008
Attendees of the EGM
 Representatives of:
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national statistical offices
national mapping offices
academic/research institutions
private sector companies, and
international and regional organizations
 Member Countries:
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Australia , Brazil, Canada, China, India, Indonesia, Jordan,
Kenya, Latvia, Mexico, Morocco, Namibia, Oman, the
Philippines, Portugal, Russian Federation, Sierra Leone,
South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Ukraine, and the
United States of America
Regional Workshop on the 2010 World Programme on Population and Housing Censuses: International standards, contemporary
technologies for census mapping and data processing
Minsk, Belarus, 8-12 December 2008
Other Participants
 Academic/research institutions:
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Florida State University
George Washington University
 Private Sector companies:
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GeoSpace International and ESRI
 International and regional organizations:
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United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
CPS - Secretariat Général de la Communanté du Pacifique
 Final Report:
http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/meetings/egm/
CensusMappingEGM07/default.htm
Regional Workshop on the 2010 World Programme on Population and Housing Censuses: International standards, contemporary
technologies for census mapping and data processing
Minsk, Belarus, 8-12 December 2008
Recommendations - General
 The meeting recommended and strongly
supported the use of geo-spatial and
Geographical Information Systems technologies
for the 2010 round of population and housing
censuses, taking into consideration national and
local circumstances.
Regional Workshop on the 2010 World Programme on Population and Housing Censuses: International standards, contemporary
technologies for census mapping and data processing
Minsk, Belarus, 8-12 December 2008
Recommendations - General
 National Statistical Organizations should:
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Develop and set-up institutional and organizational structures to
implement a census geography programme;
Ensure the availability of adequate resources to that end;
Institute and maintain training programmes for national staff;
Develop mechanisms for retaining GIS trained staff; and
Actively participate, in partnership with other national
authorities, in the development of a national geographical
information capacity, including the National Spatial Data
Infrastructure (SDI).
Regional Workshop on the 2010 World Programme on Population and Housing Censuses: International standards, contemporary
technologies for census mapping and data processing
Minsk, Belarus, 8-12 December 2008
Recommendations - General
 United Nations Statistics Division should:
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Continue to facilitate exchange of national experiences
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Introduce on-line facility including e-learning material for
exchange and sharing of knowledge
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Compile lessons learned emphasizing advnatges and limitations
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Develop guidelines for census geography
Regional Workshop on the 2010 World Programme on Population and Housing Censuses: International standards, contemporary
technologies for census mapping and data processing
Minsk, Belarus, 8-12 December 2008
Recommendations - Use of contemporary
technologies for census geography
 Applying these technologies (satellite imagery,
aerial photography, GPS, GIS) is beneficial to
the efficiency and quality of the population and
housing census, specifically for
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Delineation of enumeration areas
Supervision of data collection
Dissemination at small area level
 Single solution does not fit all
 Significant investment in hardware, software
and human capital
Regional Workshop on the 2010 World Programme on Population and Housing Censuses: International standards, contemporary
technologies for census mapping and data processing
Minsk, Belarus, 8-12 December 2008
Recommendations - Geo-coding for statistical
purposes
 Geo-coding: Associating geographical to features
such as structures, buildings, dwellings, streets,
addresses, enumeration areas
 Different methods – GPS, PDA, satellite imagery
 National statistical agencies need to consider geocoding approach for 2010 round of censuses
 Geographical coding schemes – harmonization and
uniformity
 Dwelling Frame/Address Registry
Regional Workshop on the 2010 World Programme on Population and Housing Censuses: International standards, contemporary
technologies for census mapping and data processing
Minsk, Belarus, 8-12 December 2008
Recommendations - Geographical databases
and data dissemination
 Significant value of geographical database for
census data collection, processing and
dissemination for small areas
 Inclusion on non-census items such as schools,
roads, rivers, settlements …
 Long-term and significant commitment is
crucial
 National statistical agencies should develop
web-based mapping tools
Regional Workshop on the 2010 World Programme on Population and Housing Censuses: International standards, contemporary
technologies for census mapping and data processing
Minsk, Belarus, 8-12 December 2008
Recommendations - Handbook on geographic
information systems and digital mapping
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Current issue – still valuable
Requires updates and review
Putting a focus on censuses
Emphasizing continuous character of census
geography programmes
Regional Workshop on the 2010 World Programme on Population and Housing Censuses: International standards, contemporary
technologies for census mapping and data processing
Minsk, Belarus, 8-12 December 2008
Handbook on Geospatial Infrastructure/Census
 Held and Expert Group Meeting to Review the Draft
Handbook on Geospatial Infrastructure in support
of Census Activities on 7 – 10 April 2008 at HQ, New
York
 Brought together 8 experts from NSOs, the consultant
responsible for preparing the draft Handbook, and
representatives from WHO, OCHA and ECA
Regional Workshop on the 2010 World Programme on Population and Housing Censuses: International standards, contemporary
technologies for census mapping and data processing
Minsk, Belarus, 8-12 December 2008
Background reasoning for the revision
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Due to new technological developments, approaches and
applications
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Requests from countries to focus more on the use of geospatial
tools for census mapping operations
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Recommendations from P&R, EGM and Workshops underscored
the fact that census mapping gain to be a geo-centric and
continuous process
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NSOs needed to have some practical guidelines on how to
integrate GIS, GPS, RS and other geospatial technologies with
census mapping operations
Regional Workshop on the 2010 World Programme on Population and Housing Censuses: International standards, contemporary
technologies for census mapping and data processing
Minsk, Belarus, 8-12 December 2008
Reasons for the structuring of the Handbook
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Reo-organize the sequence of sections of the Handbook that
better reflect the integration of GIS and other geospatial tools
into the census mapping process
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General comments:
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Target both census practitioners and the heads of statistical
agencies
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Inclusion of an introductory executive summary aimed specifically
at heads of statistical agencies
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Be simple, address main concerns and be written in a selfcontained “cookbook” format that targets both technical and
managerial census personnel
Regional Workshop on the 2010 World Programme on Population and Housing Censuses: International standards, contemporary
technologies for census mapping and data processing
Minsk, Belarus, 8-12 December 2008
Reasons for the structuring of the Handbook
 General Comments (cont.)
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Emphasize results and efficiency gains from developing a
geospatial infrastructure for census activities
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Efficiency arguments be merged with cost benefits
(investments and benefits)
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Critical success factors for geospatial implementation be
expanded
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Re-organize the sequence of the Handbook to better reflect
the integration of GIS and other geospatial tools into the
census mapping process
Regional Workshop on the 2010 World Programme on Population and Housing Censuses: International standards, contemporary
technologies for census mapping and data processing
Minsk, Belarus, 8-12 December 2008
Conclusions & Recommendations
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A number of detailed suggestions for revision of the draft were made
by the Group
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Focus of the handbook
Target Audience
Structure of the handbook
Institutional collaboration
Planning
Metadata
Quality Assurance
Technology
Dissemination
Handbook Timeline
Addressing Systems
Regional Workshop on the 2010 World Programme on Population and Housing Censuses: International standards, contemporary
technologies for census mapping and data processing
Minsk, Belarus, 8-12 December 2008
Conclusions & Recommendations
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Focus of the handbook
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Target Audience
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focus on the geospatial infrastructure and techniques to support the
census process
provide technical guidance and best practices in the implementation of
the census process, and heads of statistical agencies to advocate for
the use of geospatial technologies for the census and other statistical
activities.
Structure of the handbook
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be simple and as practical as possible, and expressed the need for the
handbook to attract a wide range of users and to appeal to both
census mapping practitioners and executive decision-makers
Regional Workshop on the 2010 World Programme on Population and Housing Censuses: International standards, contemporary
technologies for census mapping and data processing
Minsk, Belarus, 8-12 December 2008
Conclusions & Recommendations
 Institutional collaboration
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Highlight collaboration and partnerships for building and
maintaining the geospatial infrastructure to support census
activities
 Planning
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Ensure that the geospatial tools serve all aspects and stages
of the census process, the plan should start from the outputs
and services of the census and then work backwards through
the stages and activities to the beginning
 Metadata
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The development of metadata should take into account two
key us communities- external and internal users.
Regional Workshop on the 2010 World Programme on Population and Housing Censuses: International standards, contemporary
technologies for census mapping and data processing
Minsk, Belarus, 8-12 December 2008
Conclusions & Recommendations
 Quality Assurance
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Developing standard protocols for geospatial data processes to
enhance the quality of the geospatial infrastructure
 Technology
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define the required functionalities needed in a
software/hardware technology for census mapping rather than
citing specific technology options
 Dissemination
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dissemination strategy should consider the widest scope of
uses and needs with special attention to disaster management
and humanitarian response
Regional Workshop on the 2010 World Programme on Population and Housing Censuses: International standards, contemporary
technologies for census mapping and data processing
Minsk, Belarus, 8-12 December 2008
Conclusions & Recommendations
 Addressing Systems
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Attention to the development of address systems and
dwelling frames to guide some developing countries
 Handbook Timeline
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Circulate them among the experts for review and integrate
their comments and recommendations as quickly as
possible for wide dissemination as quickly as possible in
light of the 2010 round of Population and Housing
Censuses
Regional Workshop on the 2010 World Programme on Population and Housing Censuses: International standards, contemporary
technologies for census mapping and data processing
Minsk, Belarus, 8-12 December 2008
Conclusion
 The new revised Handbook is titled:

Handbook on Geospatial Infrastructure in Support of
Census Activities
 The Handbook is under editing
 The Handbook will be published in the next few
months
Regional Workshop on the 2010 World Programme on Population and Housing Censuses: International standards, contemporary
technologies for census mapping and data processing
Minsk, Belarus, 8-12 December 2008