Use of Handheld Electronic Devices
for Census Data Collection
Leveraging the use of electronic devices as a new
innovative and transformative tool in data collection
United Nations
Economic Commission
for Africa
___________________
Geoinformation &
Spatial Statistics
___________________
Andre Nonguierma
United Nations Regional
Workshop on the 2020
World Programme p
Dar-es-Salam, Tanzania
12 April 2017
Background
 Within its framework and mandate to promote Africa’s sustainable
development, ECA is committed to assist member States to build their
statistical capacities as well as to work with its development partners to
strengthen the National Statistical Systems (NSS) through enhancing the
National Strategies for the Development of Statistics (NSDS).
 ECA is leveraging the use of electronic devices as a new innovative and
transformative tool in data collection aimed at assisting the member states
in producing and disseminating quality data for their environment and
socio-economic development through a Development Account project.
 This initiative is motivated by the remarkable advantages of mobile devices
over traditional survey methods in data collection expressed in terms of both
efficiency (in sense of cost and time) and effectiveness (in sense of data
quality) which in turn represent the main objectives of mobile devices
systems such as those using the Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing
(CAPI) approach in data collection, data processing and data
dissemination.
Mobile Devices Hardware and Software
for Data Collection
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Mobile device is a small handheld device having computing power and a display screen with keyboard. It also has an operating
system (OS), and can run various types of application software, known as apps. Most mobile devices can also be equipped with Wi-Fi,
Bluetooth, and GPS capabilities that can allow connections to the Internet and other Bluetooth capable devices. A camera or media
player feature for video or music files can also be found on such devices.
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There are many types of mobile devices, the commonest among them being, mobile phones, smartphones, PDAs, pagers and
Personal Navigation Devices.
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Mobile phones are grouped in to two classes: feature and smart phones.
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Feature phones are limited in capabilities in contrast to smartphones. They typically provide voice calling and text messaging
functionality, in addition to basic multimedia and internet capabilities, and other services offered by the service provider.
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Smartphones on the other hand have advanced computing capability and connectivity than feature phones. They include the
features of a feature phone plus the features of a touchscreen computer, including web browsing, Wi-Fi, 3rd-party apps, motion
sensor. Smartphones also include feature of personal digital assistant, media players, digital camera, and GPS navigation unit.
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Types of mobile devices:
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Tablet PCs
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Ultra-mobile PCs (UMPCs)
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Mobile internet devices (MIDS)
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Smartphones
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PDAs
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Mobile Operating System
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A mobile operating system, also called a mobile OS, is an operating system that is specifically designed to run on mobile devices such
as mobile phones, smartphones, PDAs, tablet computers and other handheld devices.
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The mobile operating system is the software platform on top of which other programs, called application programs, can run on mobile
devices.
Mobile Devices Hardware and Software
for Data Collection
 Main
features
for a
desirable
mobile
device
Feature
Affordability
Price of the device
Interface
Battery life and
management
OS updates
Customizability
Storage/Memory
Peripheral support
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License/subscription cost
Maintenance fees
Annual/monthly renewal fees
User interfaces, colour, resolution
 Length of battery life
 One of the concerns of smartphones is battery
 How OS is regularly updated with big releases
and features
 How users can customize their experiences
including shortcuts, color schemes, keyboards...
 Storage capacity
 The ecosystem of peripherals
Data Collection System
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Mobile applications or mobile apps are applications developed for small handheld devices, such as
mobile phones, smartphones, PDAs and so on. Mobile apps can come preloaded on the handheld
device as well as can be downloaded by users from app stores or the Internet. You can find mobile
apps on both feature phones and smartphones. The most popular smartphone platforms that support
mobile apps are IOS, Android, Symbian, Windows Mobile, Java ME and Palm.
Category of mobile data collection system
Open Data Kit (ODK) is a free and open-source set of tools which manage mobile data collection
solutions.
CSEntry collects data for surveys created by the free Census and Survey Processing System (CSPro)
suite of data processing tools. CSEntry is used for computer assisted personal interviewing (CAPI) on
Android phones and tablets.
EpiCollect is a free and open source project developed by Department of Infectious Disease
Epidemiology of the Imperial College London. It is a mobile app for the generation of forms
(questionnaires) and freely hosted project websites for data collection.
iFormBuilder is a cloud based mobile data collection platform to collect data on mobile devices. It
builds forms, and collect data with online and off-line. iFormBuilder app is available for android and
iOS.
SurveyMonkey is one of the major online survey tool which has also capability on mobile devices.
SurveyMonkey provides features to create and manage surveys on mobile interfaces.
SurveyToGo is a Mobile Data Collection Software that enables you to create, conduct & manage
electronic mobile surveys. It provides both online and offline data collection support. SurveyToGo
multiple language support and images, videos and voice can be recorded along with data
collection.
FrontlineSMS has a large user base of organizations requiring SMS only forms. It can be simple to set up
in the best case, but many users report a troublesome initial experience.
ViewWorld is a simple, quick, commercial tool with cloud hosting. The Android app is built on xForms /
ODK, while the iOS version is proprietary.
Data Collection System
 Key
criteria
for
selecting
a mobile
device
Affordability
Multiple OS support
Multiple language support
Offline data collection support
GPS location capturing
Camera, video & voice recording
Interoperability and connectivity
Multimodal data collection
support
Security
Easy to user survey designer
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License/subscription cost
Maintenance fees
Annual/monthly renewal fees
Android
iOS
Local language support
Support data collection without internet and mobile network
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Can try geo location
Availability of Audiovisual recording
Server / sync module export formats
Database auto-generated? (list formats)
Export data to other statistical software
Integration with PAPI, CAPI, web
 Data encryption
 Biometrics
 Availability of survey designer functionality
Data Collection System (Cont’d)
 Key criteria Automatically synchronize
for selecting questionnaires
a mobile
device
Robust error and consistency
checking
Use reference files for panel surveys
Implement complex logic
Form features (support for features like
mandatory questions, skip patterns,
and multiple languages)
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Can sync via SMS
Interrupted sync resumes?
Runs without creating/using a Sync module
Type of sync (cloud, server type, etc.)
Data storage local or in cloud?
Bi-directional sync of data
Forms can be downloaded/updated in the field
Sync tracking manages re-synchronization
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Validation mechanisms
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Availability of reference materials
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Programming language support
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Question branching and looping
Subforms
Dropdown lists
Skip patterns
Mandatory questions
Data range & type enforcement
Help (tool tips)
Pre-selected responses
Automated calculations (for data validation)
Default values
Field length enforcement
Data Collection System (Cont’d)
 Key
criteria for
selecting a
mobile
device
Interoperability and Connectivity
(export formats and database
details)
Hardware requirements and
capabilities supported (device,
desktop, and server operating
systems; device features, like GPS,
photos, etc.)
System features and platform
characteristics (open or closed
source; user friendliness; methods
for reviewing data)
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Import/export facity to RDBMS, and common formats like CSV, ASCII,
Excel
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Device OSes supported
Desktop OS required for tool
Server/Database Platform
GPS
Pictures
Video
Audio
Bar Codes
Open Source?
Module has access/security/rights management
User friendly (forms can be modified easily)
Forms can be created without coding knowledge
Alert messages
Can browse completed records in a structured way on the device
Can browse completed records in a structured way from computer
Data can be entered from a computer
Data Collection System (Cont’d)
 Key
criteria
for
selectin
ga
mobile
device
Visualization and analysis
features, with a visualization
component (import/export
formats; graphs and charts;
reporting features, etc.)
 Is the visualization tool standalone or
integrated
 Data formats that can be imported
 Are basic graph types supported?
 Mapping built in?
 Auto-generated reporting? ... with custom
designed dashboards?
 Flexible queries?
 One way-table and graphs
 Cross tabulation
 Apply filter or strata:
 Formats that graphs/tables/maps can be
exported to
Transmission of Collected Data
 National Data Center (NDC) needs a file collection
mechanism to collect from and to send data to
the primary sampling unit (PSU) on the field.
 Regular transmission of data from the field to
Central Data Center (CDC) is vital for the
management of data collected with mobile
devices and for early detection and resolution of
potential problems. In other hand, case
assignment, questionnaire and application
updates are very important issues that can
improve logistical organization and data quality.
 Fully or Partial web model
 Flash drives based model
 Voice
 Short message service (SMS) or Unstructured
Supplementary Service Data (USSD)
MobileGIS Devices : Features
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Mobile GIS is the combination of GIS, GPS and mobile computing devices.
Mobile GIS allows for visualization of information in a digital map interface,
while interacting directly with the real world around.
Mobile GIS increases the accuracy and efficiency of data collection.
Collecting spatial data within a GIS environment in the field improves the
quality and accuracy of data.
Software designed to run on mobile computers usually have
functionalities for GIS layering, map navigation, querying and hyper
linkages.
Standard data formats permits the display, query, edit, capture and
support for optional GPS receivers functionalities and are capable to be
used in desktop computers.
Main characteristics
Mobile GIS devices must be environmental friendly, light-weighted, mission
specific, easy to configure.
Data Projections and Datum
Data Display and Data Query
Map Navigation
Map Querying
Map Display
Editing and Data Capturing
Form Creation Wizard
Supporting GPS Receivers
MobileGIS Devices : Features
 Data Capture Options
 Points mode digitalization or Stream mode digitizing. All data can be
recorded as a "track log" that is stored as a point shapefile, stored as a
point location (waypoint), or used to capture polygons and polylines in a
shapefile.
 Supporting Desktops
 Software can be customized to support desktops and handheld devices,
questionnaire forms can be designed on desktops and transferred into the
mobile GIS environment.
 Map files can be created as well as converted on desktops before loading
data into the mobile GIS environment.
 Internationals and Native Languages
 Several international and native languages are developed as part of
these devices making it possible for massive usage of these devices.
 Customization
 Applications can be customized to collect data for specific areas such as;
crime, hydrology, defends, forestry, mining etc.
 GIS Cloud Mobile Data Collection Application
 Mobile devices enable the collection of data and conducting of field
surveys faster and easier.
The Right Technology Services
 Data collection with mobile devices is based on appropriate IT
infrastructures, equipments and software.
 The right technical equipment
 Mobile devices for statistical data collection can range from simple
phone that can only be used for phone-calls, SMS’s and USSD’s, to
specialized devices such as smart phone, tablets and notebooks.
 The right software
 The software must cover at least data collection, data control and
verification, data transfer, data validation and data quality.
 Software for data collection, control, validation and transfer is
mainly required for smart phones, tablets and notebooks. It might
not required for simple phones used for sending data through voice,
SMS or USSD.
 But software for data aggregation and data quality is required
whatever the mobile device used for data collection.
 The right data management system
Thank You….