Achievements

These five important breakthrough innovations improved upon and applied in the 2019 Census, generated strong results and set a good foundation for future censuses and surveys. The key results were as follows:

Improving quality of statistical information

The 2019 Census used the CAPI and Webform e-questionnaires to help control the EA information collection process, reduce the workload for enumerators and households, and ease the workload for enumerators by reducing the number of documents they had to carry and store. The software automatically checked for skips and created alerts for enumerators to check information

4848 | / RESULTS - THE VIET NAM POPULATION AND HOUSING CENSUS OF 00:00 HOURS ON 1 APRIL 2019RESULTS - THE VIET NAM POPULATION AND HOUSING CENSUS OF 00:00 HOURS ON 1 APRIL 2019 while still at the household. As a result, the information quality of the 2019 Census was strong. The assessment and appraisal of results in section 3.1 of this chapter details the effectiveness of the Census, partially due to the application of CAPI and Webforms.

Shortening the time for statistical information production

The convenience of electronic questionnaires using CAPI and Webforms helped shorten the time required to collect information for each questionnaire, leaving enumerators more time to check and complete the questionnaire.

Information collected from the Census was synchronized immediately following completion of each questionnaire. Thus, at the conclusion of the interview, the synchronized data was immediately available on the central server. The 2019 Census data was available one year earlier than the traditional survey method, which processed data with an intelligent character recognition tool. The preliminary results of the 2019 Census were published earlier with more detail and were promptly in the service of the National Assembly, the Government, Ministries, line-ministries and localities.

Transparency in direction, management and monitoring of the implementation of the Census The 2019 Census data was centrally managed and disseminated by Steering Committee members and supervisors from central to local levels. With about 10,000 people authorized to access the system during data collection, progress and data information was made public to ensure timely and effective management and implementation of the Census. As a result, the emulation movement in the Census among local Steering Committees at the same level was strengthened, helping improve the overall information quality and implementation progress of the Census.

Improving IT application capacity

Given the innovations in IT applied across the Census, participating staff from enumerators to supervisors had to meet basic application requirements. For enumerators, in addition to the basic requirements of conducting a regular survey, they also needed to have access to mobile electronic devices such as tablets or smartphones and knowledge on how to use the basic features of these devices for data collection. Supervisors were required to be familiar with using CAPI software and clearly understand the process of verification and supervision via the Operational Website.

During the 25 days of the Census, supervisors monitored the EA data collection process daily through the Operational Website. This process helped supervisors direct and adjust as necessary to improve information quality, improve skills in software use and address raised issues. The capacity of Steering Committee members and supervisors at all levels in using the software strengthened, demonstrating that advanced learning through work was effective.

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IT application in the Census improved quality, shortened the time needed to publish data, and reduced costs as follows:

- No printed questionnaires cut down on the costs of printing, transporting and storing documents.

- Reduced the duration of training courses: The 2019 Census reduced the maximum number of training days but ensured the quality of training courses at all levels. Compared to the 2009 Census, and despite the increase in IT training, the number of training days at all levels of the 2019 Census decreased between 30% and 55%.

- Drawing only commune/ward base maps in the 2019 Census helped reduce the workload that had previously required 197,000 detailed EA maps.

- Reduced the time to review households prior to the survey: Although the average household size in each EA in 2019 increased compared to the 2009 Census, reviewing and updating the information from households registered to self-enumerate using Webforms significantly reduced the time required to conduct interviews in each EA. The resulting reduction from 2 days to 0.5 days also conserved Census resources.

- Reduction in the number of team leaders: Due to the IT application in data collection, the number of team leaders mobilized for the 2019 Census decreased markedly compared to 2009, approximately tenfold. This contributed significantly to the reduction in wages and conserving Census resources.

- Reduced cost of checking and finalizing questionnaires at all levels: The IT application in data collection enabled immediate data checking and finalizing on the Operational Website, contributing to saving resources. In 2009, the Central Acceptance Teams alone had to work within one month continuously to carry out acceptance tests in 63 provinces and cities directly under the Central Government.

- Reduced communication costs: The 2019 Census used many effective forms of communication, including communication through messages sent to more than 120 million mobile subscribers across the country. The cost of sending text messages was supported by the network operators.

- No purchasing of machinery and equipment for processing paper-based Census questionnaires: The 2019 Census mainly used electronic questionnaires to collect information, negating the need to buy an intelligent character recognition (ICR) device (specialized photo scanner) and copyright programs for scanning images.

5050 | / RESULTS - THE VIET NAM POPULATION AND HOUSING CENSUS OF 00:00 HOURS ON 1 APRIL 2019RESULTS - THE VIET NAM POPULATION AND HOUSING CENSUS OF 00:00 HOURS ON 1 APRIL 2019 - Tablets and smartphones for enumerators: The decision to mobilize personal smart phones and laptops belonging to enumerators for the 2019 Census helped to save budget by eliminating the need to purchase about 125,000 devices.

However, due to the IT application, a number of investment items in building software and upgrading information technology infrastructure system arose compared to the traditional paper-based method. In particular, there was an increase in costs for equipping minimum server systems, renting data receipt systems and transmission lines, as well as establishing software application programs.

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PART II