Development of e-census system : a case study for Kenya National Bureau of Statistics

Abstract

Census in Kenya is conducted after every ten years using printed questionnaire, as a result, the Kenyan Government lacks timely and accurate data on the actual population after initial capturing of demographic data, there are no updates made to the census data. Census results are also not availed online to the public domain. This research work developed an e-census system that connects to the online questionnaire through internet-enabled handled GPS unit. Census clerk will use the device to remotely transmit census data to the central database. To ensure that the demographic database is up-to-date at all times the system integrated with birth and death registration module to e-census system, this will allow administrators to remotely record registered births and deaths in the country. Dissemination of census data was implemented using online map services where users can query demographic database on population per geographic region. This research found that, 97% of the questionnaire respondents agreed that e-census system should replace printed questionnaire and 77% also agreed that e-governance has improved on service delivery. Performance of e-census system was tested at application level and recorded zero error rates and a mean score of 4.4 in a scale of 1-5 that it can handle high data load and simultaneous transactions. The system had response time of2.06 seconds at the beginning of transactions and took 5 minutes for users to submit census data to e-census database. E-census system provides and disseminates accurate demographic data at all times hence the government will not wait for ten years to know the actual population of the country. The system will greatly assist the government in decision making and allocation of resources. As a result, this will speed up the national economic recovery strategy in line with achieving vision 2030 goals and objectives.