Govt pushes for application of new technology to reduce operational costs

MAUREEN ODUNGA

THE National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the Chief Government Statistician (OCGSZanzibar) need to make use of the new technological advancements to reduce costs incurred by the government using papers to obtain official statistics instead of using papers to obtain official statistics.

Deputy Minister of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children, Dr Hamis Kingwangala, made the call when he was presenting a speech on behalf of the Finance and Planning Minister, Dr Philip Mpango, at a commemoration of the African Statistics Day in Dar es Salaam yesterday.
“Use of technology will help reduce costs incurred by the government and the burden of having to make photocopies and transport the materials in the regions,” said Dr Kingwangala. He also noted that technology would increase quality of the data needed in planning for the development of the people as well as reduce inconsistence and errors.
“Partnership with stakeholders is also paramount in the preparation and distribution of quality statistics in the country to eradicate all forms of inconsistence,” he noted. Dr Kingwangala urged them to embark on more awareness creation to the public on the use of official statistics in planning and evaluating development strides taken in the country and the continent at large.
“You should educate the editors on the importance and the use of official statistics so that they would assist us in awareness creation within and outside the country,” stressed Dr Kingwangala. The importance of improving quality economic statistics in regional integration in the continent will bring changes in the economies and in the implementation of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Africa 2063 Development Agenda and the Five Years Development Plant (FYDP).
The NBS Director General (DG), Dr Albina Chuwa, said the role of improving the mode of collecting quality official statistics was inevitable.
Therefore, it is important to venture into new undertakings to improve the field. She said, “At this time when Tanzania is implementing it FYDP economic statistics are very important because the country is a member of several regional integrations. It will therefore need to get data on investment, markets and so on.
” The development of countries is measured through official statistics. On the other hand economists say improving the country’s statistics is to improve the economy of that particular country.