Electronic Data Collection System

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Electronic Data Collection System

• Howard Hamilton

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Contents

• What is eDaCS?
• Why eDaCS?
• How will it benefit STATIN?
• How the system works?
• Who will own it?
• Where are we now?
• When did eDaCS go into production?

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What is eDaCS?

• A data collection system
• Will utilize portable/mobile devices such as
  Tablet Computers to collect data
• First Phase
• Consumer Price Indices (CPI)
• Producer Price Indices (PPI)
• Labour Force Survey (LFS)

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What is eDaCS?

• Second Phase
• Survey of Living Conditions (SLC)
• Household Expenditure Survey (HES)
• Adhoc Surveys

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Why eDaCS?

• STATIN has always been a paper-based operation

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A paper-based operation
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It greets you in the walk way
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In the individual offices
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Gets Worse!!!
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Then we try to put some order to the paper!!!!
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Still more order!!!
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We vacuum the paper!!!!
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It started in the field
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Difficult to check.
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Difficult to manage.
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Why eDaCS contd?

• There is high demand for more timely data and
  information
• Some questionnaires are complex and require a
  significant amount of paper and data processing
  resources
• STATIN is in the process of redesigning and
  reengineering its business processes
• Using the technology enables the innovation and
  automation of the business processes
• We are in an information and technology era
  which if leveraged effectively could reduce
  agency costs

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How will eDaCS benefit STATIN?

• Two major dimensions of benefits
• Internal - STATIN
• External the public clients

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How will eDaCS benefit STATIN?

• Internal Benefits Include
• Enables a greener organization use less paper
• Reduction in cost
• Improve the quality of data and information
• More timely delivery of final results from
  surveys
• More accurate data from the field
• Improved skill sets for field staff
• Training and use of technology
• Easier to backup data paper becomes vulnerable
  in disasters paper becomes fuel for fires
• May be able to administer more than one survey
  simultaneously if necessary
• Lift the profile of the interviewers and
  ultimately the Institute

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From..
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To Less Paper.
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Less Paper
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How will eDaCS benefit STATIN?

• External Benefits Include
• Higher quality statistical products
• Improved timeliness and accuracy
• Ability to meet international standards such as
  the special data dissemination standard (SDDS)
• Need to produce LFS within 12 instead of current
  16 weeks
• CPI is on time and meet international standards
  but we will also realize time savings here
• PPI needs to be improved in terms of timeliness
  4 weeks from 8 weeks
• Expect that an interview should take less time,
  therefore reducing interviewee fatigue

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STATIN WAN
How the system works?
Remote Office
Remote Office
STATIN Head Office
Remote Office
Remote Office
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How the system works?
LFS
Upload Data to Server
CPI
Interviewers collect data on Tablet Computers
PPI
Servers at Remote Sites
PPI
Download Data from remote sites
CPI
LFS
Data stored
STATINs Databases
IT Staff
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Data Collection
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Data Collection
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Who Will Own eDaCS?

• The Field Services Division will take ownership
  of the system
• IT Division will maintain and support the system
• Other areas will use the outputs from eDaCS

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Where are we now?

• System Development completed
• Training done during Nov .19 Dec 7, 2012
• Remote offices setup and configured
• Wide area network (WAN) also established
• Interviewers equipped
• Now in the field collecting data for the start of
  2013
• IT staff prepared to offer support

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When Did eDaCS Go Live?

• eDaCS went into production on January 2, 2013
  first work day of 2013.

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Looking Forward to IT!!!
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Thank You !!!