Geospatial Technology Helped Anguilla Plot Its Future with Census Data

Leaders at the Anguilla Statistics Department knew they needed to use technology to modernize their processes to get an accurate Population and Housing Census count in 2022. In fact, the results will shape the island nation's future.

Planners with the government of Anguilla use census data to help them recognize trends such as population shifts and understand who their clients are as demographics change across this small island nation. Demographic data also provides information to help planners better understand how to prioritize services needed for the more than 11,000 residents as well as Anguilla's tourists, who contribute considerably to the economy as they visit to experience the island's culture, relaxed atmosphere, and stellar beaches.

In other words, census information guides most decisions about government policies and provides the means for measuring progress toward goals.

"Anguilla and similar island governments are not going to keep up if we don't get in the big game, and the big game is about data," said Lori-Rae Alleyne-Franklin, Anguilla's chief statistician. "We can't just pull things out of the air and hope that they work. The world is moving away from that, and if we want to keep up or we want to be just as good, we really need to start using data."

For prior counts, the government of Anguilla's census team collected data using pencil and paper. The Statistics Department developed and printed an electronic questionnaire, which enumerators carried door to door. Completed questionnaires would be scanned and saved, and the data would be edited and validated manually in a computer system.

Those processes opened the door to human error and backlogs for data entry, editing, and validation. The 2011 Population and Housing Census questionnaire allowed enumerators to bypass questions that were not relevant for the person responding. For example, if a respondent had no children, that person might skip several questions about dependent household members. During the process of collecting information, these "skip patterns" caused considerable errors, such as describing a 10-year-old as having a full-time job. By using modern computer-assisted personal interviews (CAPI), Anguilla’s census team could improve data quality as well as increase efficiencies in the data collection and administrative operations.

"After the experience with the Population and Housing Census 2011, we needed to find something better," Alleyne-Franklin said. "The count was less successful than expected. We looked for something that would take human error out of our processes as much as possible, instead of everybody having their own way to do this."

A successful Population and Housing Census 2022 would require strong community engagement; operational efficiency; and reliable systems for collecting, editing, validating, and reporting data.
 

Alleyne-Franklin and her team moved to a digital platform with support from Esri's Official Statistics Modernization Program, which serves the Caribbean community and island nations elsewhere around the world. ArcGIS Pro and ArcGIS Online are now the foundation of the department's work. This geographic information system (GIS) technology is built around dynamic digital maps that organize volumes of data by location. GIS technology's spatial context is essential for planning and enhancing visibility over daily operations once a project launches.

GIS maps were used to designate work zones, called census enumeration areas. In ArcGIS Dashboards, those maps and the location data overlaid on them provide a near real-time view of daily operations and display a tally on progress in the census count. As a complement, ArcGIS Field Maps allows the department to automate surveys and set up quality controls within them.

"We looked for a solution that would give us all of the products we need," Alleyne-Franklin said. "Administratively and strategically, it makes sense because if you have a problem, there is a body of knowledge around that issue. You can call in the whole cavalry to help you."

Alleyne-Franklin and her team began working in 2019 to develop a methodology for the count and a project document. They worked with Esri and Spatial Innovision to configure the questionnaire and ensure that its skip patterns were reliable.

Enumerators receive tablets to carry into the field. They can see their enumeration area and the buildings that they will visit on maps. Geofencing prevents enumerators from working outside their assigned enumeration areas, sending alerts to their mobile device.

"I needed to be comfortable that my quality could be improved and, going forward, my products could be released a little faster," Alleyne-Franklin said. "I wanted to monitor the enumerators and see how they are doing in the field."

When the coronavirus 2019 pandemic swept the globe beginning in 2019, officials in Anguilla reacted as other nations did: the government shifted funds from various programs to support its COVID-19 response and the COVID-19 lockdown. In Anguilla, that put reporting from the field on hold until funds became available again. Development and testing of the survey continued for nearly a year, as the questionnaire has about 130 questions.

Data collection from the field is currently scheduled to be completed in 2022.
 

The Anguilla Statistics Department gained a range of benefits by choosing to have a single, end-to-end system for statistical operations. Already the number of households counted has exceeded the total recorded for Population and Housing Census 2011. By working exclusively with GIS, the department reduced its need to have staff move information from one technology platform to another. That means more people are available to focus on priorities.

Automation also has allowed the team to become more proactive. Working with software developers, the team identified and addressed redundancies and pain points during planning, and streamlined processes to improve operations.

In addition to speeding up the delivery of questionnaires, GIS provides tools that manage workloads for enumerators and improve data accuracy by automating data collection. Changes to the system and survey can be made quickly, reducing downtime and faulty reporting.

"With a paper-based system, the work would take weeks and months," Alleyne-Franklin said. "If you see mistakes, you can clean them up quickly. All of the work we did at the front end means now we can really look at the numbers."

With accurate, up-to-date reporting available through a dashboard, policy makers have a keener sense of existing conditions as well as the changes that have occurred since the last count. For Alleyne-Franklin, the data is sketching a portrait of economic conditions, ethnicity and religion, and education level by sex and other characteristics. And other key findings are emerging.

"There is more outward migration than inward migration, and the population is an aging one," Alleyne-Franklin said. "You need to start looking at who will pay for your society down the road."

Recognizing trends early can help officials in government adopt policies that encourage islanders to remain in the country, especially younger residents.

"The data helps policy makers manage the economy," Alleyne-Franklin said. "We can look at the data and see what we need to do to improve."

The team will use this same platform for dissemination of data once the count is complete. Sharing information is an essential part of the process for making Anguilla a better place for all residents.