Consumer & Producer Price Data
Collection Using Mobile Technologies
THE GAMBIA EXPERIENCE
PLACE: ADDIS ABABA
PRESENTER : MR. MOMODOU LAMIN FADIA
GAMBIA BUREAU OF STATISTICS (GBOS)
TH
DATE : 13
OCTOBER 2015
Introduction
The Gambia is privilege to be chosen as a pilot country
for West Africa on the mobile technology for data
collection.
The Gambia Bureau of Statistics (GBoS) as an
implementing partner, worked with the University of The
Gambia TRI, to successfully implement this pilot project
on “Mobile Data Collection Techniques”.
CPI & PPI are the most frequently collected data by
GBoS at the moment, hence the rationale for choosing it
for this pilot project to enhance timely & quality data
production.
Objectives
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Use Mobile devices to collect statistical data
Work closely with TRI for the implementation and
possible future collaboration.
Rollout the use of mobile technologies for data
collection in future censuses and surveys.
Sensitize stakeholders of the intention of use of mobile
technology for future data collections.
Eventual Migration and graduation from traditional use
of paper for data collection
Scope
1. Importance of CPI & PPI
2. Key Milestones
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Stakeholder’s workshop and project kick-off meeting
Software Development
Training of data collectors
Data Collection
Server Infrastructure Upgrade
Mobile Devices and Accessories
3. Lessons Learnt
4. Strength and weakness of the technology
5. Opportunity and threats of the technology
6. Way Forward
7. Conclusion
Importance of CPI & PPI
 Institutions such as the International Monetary
Fund (IMF), United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP), World Food Programme
(WFP), World Bank (WB), and Food Agricultural
Programme (FAO), UNICEF, UNHCR, Diplomatic
Missions and the private sector notably the
commercials banks, national institutions such as
Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, use CPI
regularly.
 The Central Bank of The Gambia for example
monitors the impact of money supply and
changes in exchange rate on CPI. The Ministry of
Trade monitors the prices of certain commodities
on a weekly basis while Ministry of Agriculture
collects prices of food items on regular basis
Key Milestones
1.
Conducted stakeholder workshop and project kickoff meeting.
2.
Developed Android application and web interface
platform for Consumer Price Index (CPI) and
Producer Price Index (PPI).
3.
Conducted Training for field workers.
4.
Conducted price data collection field work.
5.
Upgraded Server Infrastructure.
6.
Reports completed and submitted to ECA.
Data Collection
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Data was collected for 207 items.
The data collection covered 28 different market
centres spread across all regions in the country.
Data Collected from the field is synchronized to the
cloud server.
The Cloud and Local server are synced on a regular
interval.
Discussion on using national cloud on going
Lessons Learned
 Data production duration is shorten with the use of the
mobile data collection
 The new data collection method implemented by
the GBoS has met the required objectives
 GBoS can replicate the technology developed to
collect and integrate data for other surveys in a way
that strengthens the data collection method.
 There were few occasions during the data collection
process where it was difficult to synchronize data to
the main server due to weak GSM signal strength.
Strength and Weakness of the
Technology
Strength
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It is cost effective, fast and convenient.
Turn around result duration shorter.
Use of inbuilt GPS and time stamps for location and
time tracking.
Weakness
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Resistance to change
Longer duration for developing and learning the
technology
Devices can be misplaced
Opportunity and Challenges of the
Technology
Opportunity
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Reduce inefficiency and enhance services
Use technology as an enabler for timely data
production.
Conduct more data collection annually
Challenges
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Trust in data collectors
Data security
Fear of redundancy (Editing, Data Entry and Coding)
Way Forward
 Develop more applications to accommodate other
surveys.
 TRI to conduct academic research on the introduction
of mobile technology for data collection in The
Gambia; and findings be published for wider
consumption
 Greater collaboration be established between GBoS
and TRI for post implementation review.
 GBoS to encourage regular Training of Trainer short
courses (TOT) on the efficient use of mobile data
collection.
Conclusion
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The use of mobile devices for data collection is the
way forward.
GBoS will push to adapt the technology gradually into
data collection process.
The use of the technology will help the NSO enhance
its data production capability
Collaboration with TRI for effective implementation is
crucial for ensuring continuity
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Thank you for your kind attention
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