Planning and Development Minister Camille Robinson-Regis is clarifying misconceptions that the Central Statistical Office (CSO) has finalized a budget for the planned 2022 Trinidad and Tobago Population and Housing Census. This is definitely not the case, as there has been no Cabinet approved or finalized figure.
The amount that was quoted to the Joint Select Committee on Finance and Legal Affairs on February 18 is an initial estimate based on the traditional methods used to undertake the national survey, which entailed highly labour intensive processes. Costs for field officers, data entry clerks, other levels of staff, stationery, data storage via expensive servers, security, uniform related costs and a slew of other details carry expenses that the public especially does not see. A survey the magnitude of the Population and Housing Census is more than just individuals coming door to door to ask questions.
Having said this, Minister Robinson-Regis is reiterating for public knowledge that this initial figure is not final. The Ministry of Planning and Development is working with the CSO to provide a moderate final budget with measures that will significantly reduce the cost. One such measure is the use of technology.
Consultations are ongoing with the Ministry of Digital Transformation to utilize cloud computing storage solutions for secure data storage, eliminating the reliance on physical servers which carry exorbitant costs.
The Central Statistical Office is also exploring the incorporation of Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) technology into its data collection processes for the Census. CAPI, which is still face to face, facilitates the use of electronic devices by interviewers to record direct responses. This will allow a quicker data upload process, reducing the need for separate individuals to be employed to upload data from paper.
Computer Assisted Web Interviewing (CAWI) is also an option to enable online responses as part of the National Census. CAWI will allow respondents to submit their responses via their computers, tablets or other electronic devices, directly to the CSO. This has the potential to also reduce the numbers of field staff needed, which is another cost cutting variable.
Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) is another technological based format being investigated by the CSO. In this method, telephones are used to interview respondents and the information recorded on a tablet or similar device, and then uploaded for as part of the overall data collection process.
These three measures, all at once or in some hybrid format can therefore reduce costs through a possible partial or complete electronic census, which is quite possible for 2022.
The last national census, was completed at a cost of TT $83 million in 2011. Minister Robinson-Regis is convinced that better management can be implemented to guarantee that the needs of this important national census are met at a cost much lower than this and is committing to the public that the Ministry of Planning and Development is working with the CSO on this.