Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Country Workshop on Administrative based Censuses
Riyadh – Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
23 – 25 October 2016 

The move from traditional to administrative register Population and Housing Censuses has become increasingly common in many countries, including in the GCC region. 
Reflecting this, the GCC-Stat Board approved the GCC-Stat Harmonised Register based Census as one of the priority projects for GCC countries and GCC-Stat. 
An administrative/register Census involves taking data from population and address registers and supplementing these with information from subsidiary registers relating to specific topics. Information is extracted from the register as it reflects the situation of individuals at the pre-defined census reference date.  Data from a partial field census or surveys may then be added, to provide the full information on the characteristics of the population and their housing.
The process of an administrative or register based census involves accessing existing administrative sources (namely different kinds of registers on individuals, households and dwellings used for government operations) and linking these at the individual record level with information held on business, education, employment and other relevant registers, and transformed into statistical records. Subsequent processing and analysis of the data results in statistics about the population, households and dwellings. 
This type of census has a number of different requirements to the traditional fieldwork census (Pre-Conditions for an Administrative Census in GCC Countries).

Although the content and process of individual registers differs from one country to another, the processes for transforming administrative data into statistical data are usually very similar.
One key precondition is that access to administrative data for statistical purposes must be given by law and/or by agreement.
In addition, before any administrative register is used for census purposes; the suitability of its data in terms of definitions, concepts, content, reference date, accuracy etc., should be statistically tested by comparing it with previous census and survey results, and conducting quality and compatibility surveys. A pilot census may be used for this purpose.
The focus of work in conducting an administrative/register census moves from the traditional census approach of organizing large volumes of people, to managing data and relationships with data providers.
The General Authority for Statistics (GaStat) in partnership with GCC-STAT is holding this workshop to support the development of administrative censuses in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The workshop will bring together key participants in an administrative register census in the Kingdom.

The workshop will address a number of key themes as follows:

Day 1:
Theme 1: Frameworks for Administrative/Register Censuses

1. Introduction to Administrative/Register Censuses Concepts.
2. Harmonised GCC 2020 Census.
3. Pre-Conditions for Administrative/Register Censuses.
4. Quality Frameworks.

Day 2: 
Theme 2:Building successful Partnerships 

1. Working Together.

Theme 3:Preparing Administrative/Register Censuses

1. Dataset Preparation.
2. Creating the Registers.
3. Managing Quality.

Day 3:     
Theme 4:Implementing Administrative/Register Censuses 

1. Data Validation and Processing.
2. Managing Different Data Sources.
3. Testing and Experiments.

Theme 5:Managing Administrative/Register Censuses

1. International Experience.
2. Planning and Management.

Objectives:
The objective of the workshop is to develop and enhance practical knowledge in conducting a register-based population and housing census in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.  The specific aims of the workshop are:

1. To understand the basic pre-requirements for a register-based population and housing census. 
2. To understand the key steps to produce register-based population and housing census statistics.
3. To understand international practices in the preparation and conduct of administrative/register based censuses. 
4. To understand the statistical methods needed to conduct population and housing censuses from administrative register sources.
5. To assist participants in identifying the key activities necessary to conduct an administrative register census in KSA.

Expected Results:
Attendees will have a clear understanding of managing and planning an administrative register census in the Kingdom, including the necessary pre-conditions that must be in place to enable an Administrative Census, key factors to include in planning and budgeting and how to build and assess data quality throughout the census cycle.
Participants will also have the opportunity to understand the various statistical techniques used in the preparation and building of administrative/register censuses, including techniques for combining administrative data with data from field sources. 

Organization:
The workshop is organized by GaStat and GCC-Stat.
It will be a mixture of theoretical presentations, case studies and group discussions.

Speakers:
Experts include: 

• Lars Thygesen, International Expert in Register based Censuses. 
• Nancy McBeth, Consultant and Advisor, GCC-STAT 

Participants:
The workshop is intended for officials working on the planning, preparation and production of censuses in the Kingdom, in particular administrative register based censuses.
The workshop will be very valuable for senior officials and statisticians responsible for providing the administrative register sources that will be used in the census.  Census topics include identity, family structure, health, education, employment, housing, transport, utilities.  
Accordingly, the workshop would be beneficial to agencies such as Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Housing, Ministry of Social Affairs, Ministry of Labor, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs.
In addition, the workshop will be of interest to users of population and housing censuses, seeking to understand more about census methods.

Download: booklet Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Country Workshop on Administrative based Censuses