1. Application of Information Technology in the 2011 Population Census of Macao, China Government of Macao Special Administrative Region Statistics and Census Service

2. 2011 Population Census • Conducted in August 2011, for the duration of 15 days • 13 work branches, distributed geographically • A total of around 240,000 building units covered, in which 28,000 using long forms

3. Data collection • Short form: • Paper-based questionnaires, scanned and recognized at each work branch • Web-based e-questionnaire • Long form: • Interactive enumeration software system

4. Application of Information Technology (IT) • CATI call centre • OCR & marks recognition • SMS • E-questionnaire • Tablet PC

5. E-questionnaire • Immediate validation • Submission through SSL encryption • 9% of the building units using e­questionnaire for data submission

6. Benefits: e-questionnaire • At the convenience of households • No more time restriction • Higher response rate • Better data quality

7. Use of tablet PC • Feasibility study started in 2009 • Tablet PC processing power • Wi-Fi reliability • Battery life • Data security

8. Tablet PC: hardware • Dual Core low power CPU • 10.1” touch screen • Solid state storage drive • Wi-Fi connectivity • 0.97kg weight • Battery life is enough for a full work shift

9. Integration of the subsystems

13. Partially completed Completed Could not be contacted Test data for demo purpose

16. Test data for demo purpose

17. Test data for demo purpose

18. Test data for demo purpose

19. Test data for demo purpose

20. Test data for demo purpose

21. Benefits: tablet PC • Improving data quality • Facilitating skip pattern of the questionnaire • Maps and photos of entrances • Tight integration with other subsystems to get up-to-date information (e.g. appointments, remarks) • More efficient work and progress monitoring

22. Challenges: tablet PC • Data security • Battery life • User interface

23. Data security • Data at rest stored on the tablet PC storage media • Data in transit during synchronization

24. Data at rest • Login password protection (OS and enumeration system) • Basic user privileges for census officers • Use of the enumeration software system • Data synchronization • File system level encryption of the local database files • Census officers do not have access to the decryption key • USB flash drives disabled

25. Data in transit • From tablet PC to work branch • Wi-Fi 802.11n WPA2 • IPsec/L2TP VPN using digital certificates • From work branch to HQ • Private network infrastructure • IPsec VPN tunneling

26. User interface • Colour-coded questions • Appropriately distanced buttons for touch operation • Touch friendly keyboard • Questions grouped in tabs instead of scrolling • Experience and feedback from pilot census

27. Printed reports Digital reports Geographic Information System (GIS) Data dissemination

28. Future development • Possibility of full time connectivity • Reduce use of SMS • Speed up notifications • Two-way communications • Broader use of tablet PC • In other surveys • Devices of other form factors