Under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Emir of the State of Kuwait,  His Excellency Dr. Khalifa bin Abdullah bin Hamad Al-Barwani, CEO of the National Centre for Statistics and Information, (NCSI)   received the award of His Highness Sheikh Salem Al-Ali Al-Sabah Informatics Award in its 23rd edition, which the NCSI has won it, in the category of (Digital Transformation in Sustainable Development) , through the 2020's project of the  Electronic Census of Population, Housing and Establishments.

 During the award ceremony, held at Bayan Palace in   Kuwait, the capital of the state of Kuwait, HE  the CEO of the NCSI, emphasized that the award was considered an appreciation for NCSI's efforts in the field of digital transition in statistical, informative tasks, digitizing data,  boosting knowledge and supporting decision-making in line with Oman Vision 2040.

His Excellency the CEO clarified that the 2020 e-Census created a renewed information system linking various government entities that enabled us to implement a census of population, housing, and establishments in the years 2021, 2022, and 2023, with minimal human effort, without financial cost, and in a period not exceeding seven working days.

He pointed out that, the e-Census also created a number of advantages, including enhancing the Centre's capability to perform future analyses, monitoring changes and developments at various stages of time, and contributing to the field of environmental sustainability, through its reliance on digital platforms and dispensing with paper forms and documents. It has also created a safe work environment due to the lack of need to go out for fieldwork, etc. This is accompanied by working conditions and hardship for workers.

He stressed that this award is an appreciation for the efforts of creativity, innovation and diligence to achieve high ambitions aspiring to build a smart digital society that uses knowledge as a path to achieving sustainable development goals.

 It is worth noting that, the 2020's project of Electronic Census of Population, Housing and Establishments, which was implemented by the Sultanate of Oman, by Royal Decree No. (15/2015) and Royal Decree No. (33/2020), has contributed to create specialized laboratories by the latest techniques of reviewing, analyzing, and correcting data, while about five hundred and sixty million records of studying the coverage and the quality of population, housing, and establishment data have been processed.

In addition to that, more than nine million records have been matched and corrected before uploading them into the census system, which includes administrative records belonging to twenty government entities, covering nearly a thousand variables, where the census system is distinguished by its updated information and integrated databases that serve decision-making in the Sultanate of Oman and contributes to strengthening the targets of Oman Vision 2040.