Zambia on Friday received its first batch of tablets to be used in conducting the first-ever electronically conducted population and housing census.
Chola Chabala, Ministry of National Development Planning Permanent Secretary, said the ministry has received 8,520 tablets of the 30,000 tablets to be used during the census this year.
More tablets are expected to be delivered over the weekend and the remainder in coming weeks, he added.
“The Zambia Statistics Agency, which is in the Ministry of National Development Planning, has so far received 8,520 tablets and we expect to receive about 4,260 in the next few days which will bring the total to 12,780 tablets. We will receive the rest soon in readiness for the census,” he said, according to a release.
The government, he said, has bought the tablets and financed the census so far, a confirmation of its commitment to ensure the successful holding of the census.
The 2020 census will be the first of its kind to be conducted using electronic data collection methodology, he added.
According to him, the usage of the tablets would enhance real-time monitoring of fieldwork, thereby minimizing errors and help speed up the processing of results.
The government has so far completed the mapping and listing exercise.
Zambia conducts a census of population and housing every one decade. The last census was conducted in 2010.
