Regional training workshop on the development of REDATAM applications for the dissemination of population and housing census data

Introduction

REDATAM is a software programme supported and developed by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). It has been used by many countries for the online dissemination of data from censuses and surveys particularly in Latin American and now it is increasingly being used by national statistical offices (NSOs) in the Caribbean, Africa, Asia and the Pacific. The REDATAM software makes it possible to provide public access, via the Internet, to census data sets in a way which permits much wider access but still protects the confidentiality of individual census records. REDATAM has greatly expanded access to Latin American census data, for example in 2014, 8,400 unique visitors passed through ECLAC’s REDATAM portal to access data (this doesn’t include users who accessed data directly from NSOs using REDATAM). In addition to census data, REDATAM can also be used to provide online access to survey data sets such as living conditions surveys. In the long term, improved online access to these data sources will encourage their use in research, development planning and evidence-based policymaking.

Objectives

The overall objective of this regional workshop is to train statisticians, experts in statistical computing, and IT specialists from Suriname, Guyana and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in the use of the REDATAM software for web dissemination of census and survey data. During the workshop, prototype applications for the dissemination of data from the 2010 round of population and housing censuses will be developed. The intention is that after the workshop these applications will be finalised and made available online.

Format of the workshop

The workshop will be conducted over a period of nine days, from Tuesday 11 October to Friday 21 October 2014. Daily sessions will run from 08:30 hours to 12:30 hours and 13:30 hours to 16:30 hours. Participants will be trained in the use of three core modules of the REDATAM software, namely Create, Process and Webserver.

In the first week: Create, the module used for the creation of REDATAM databases; and Process, the module used for processing databases e.g. to tabulate data and create indicators and maps. In the second week: Webserver, the module used to develop web-based applications for online dissemination.

The material covered in the second week builds on that covered in the first. The workshop will have a practical orientation and include sessions that will allow participants to work with their respective national census data sets.

Workshop Facilitators

The sessions will be conducted by experienced trainers/software developers from CELADE (the Latin American and Caribbean Demographic Centre – Population Division of ECLAC) who are based in Santiago, Chile and from ECLAC subregional headquarters for the Caribbean in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.

Participants

There will be 12 participants: 8 from the General Bureau of Statistics of Suriname and The Institute for Graduate Studies and Research of Anton de Kom University; 2 from the Bureau of Statistics of Guyana; and 2 from the Statistical Office of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

Expected outcomes

(a)        Increased capacity of participants to use REDATAM for the storage, processing, analysis and dissemination of census and survey data;

(b)        Development of prototype web-applications for dissemination of national census data sets;

(c)        Following the workshop, these prototype applications will be reviewed and finalized before being made available online.