Census 2001 Goes High Tech

Contact: Ayodele Hippolyte

Wednesday, March 14, 2001 - The 2001 Population and Housing Census will be a high-tech experience. This is according to statistician Richard Harris of the Statistics Department. He says the department will be utilising a number of software and hardware packages that will reduce data processing by at least 70 %. This will also bring the department’s data storage methods in line with modern needs.

The Statistics Department will be using geographical information systems, forms processing technology using optical character recognition, global positioning systems based on satellite technology and a sustained dissemination of census information via the electronic and digital media and the internet. The department has installed the necessary equipment and programmes on its computer network to facilitate the processing of the census data.

According to Director of Statistics, Edwin St. Catherine, the use of geographical information systems will assist in making patterns and trends more easily apparent. The Census Office can then, in its dissemination of the results of the census, use maps of St. Lucia, photographs and statistical tables to more effectively illustrate the findings as contained in the Census report.

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