USE OF MOBILE TECHNOLOGY IN THE COLLECTION VALIDATION

USE OF MOBILE TECHNOLOGY IN THE COLLECTION, VALIDATION AND TRANSMISSION OF RETAIL PRICES FOR USE IN THE COMPILATION OF CONSUMER PRICE INDICES KNBS Presented by Mr. Evans Munene– Kenya National Bureau of Statistics is ISO 9001: 2008 Certified

Background Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) is a Semi-Autonomous Government Agency established under the Statistics Act No. 4 of 2006. Its role includes coordinating the National Statistical System (NSS) and; developing and maintaining a socio-economic data base to serve users both locally and internationally. Among key statistical outputs of the Bureau, Consumer Price Indices (CPI) and corresponding inflation statistics are compiled and disseminated every month. The Collection of retail prices to be used in the compilation of the CPI is currently carried out every month in 25 data collection zones located in 13 urban centres. Each of these 25 zones is manned by a price collector while the County Statistical Officers (CSOs) and some headquarter staff do supervision. Nationally, a total of over 12, 000 price observations are made every month from a sample of over 4, 000 outlets. Kenya National Bureau of Statistics is ISO 9001: 2008 Certified

Background cont. . Prior to February 2009, prices collected from the outlets were written on paper questionnaires and posted to the CPI office at the KNBS headquarters. This process was discontinued because it not only involved spending money on courier services, but also as a common phenomenon, every month some field returns were not received on time. For the current CPI series, price collectors key in the prices in an Excel data collection sheet and send the same to the headquarters through Email. The CPI there after disseminated to various stakeholders. Kenya National Bureau of Statistics is ISO 9001: 2008 Certified

Background cont. . CPI figures have a number of uses. These include: 1. Deflation of monetary values. 2. Indicator macroeconomic performance, 3. Determination of supplier/debtor price variations, 4. determination of employer/employee wage negotiations and 5. Indexation of pension benefits. In view of the foregoing, it is essential to put in place a more efficient tool to collect, transmit, validate, analyse, disseminate and store the data in a cost effective manner while utilising scalable and suitable technologies. Kenya National Bureau of Statistics is ISO 9001: 2008 Certified

Piloting of mobile technology Market Price data collectors were trained to use the mobile technology to collect data from the field. The collected data is edited, saved offline on the device and later submitted when the device is connected to the internet. To enable testing of the use of technology, parallel data collection using PAPI and CAPI was carried out. Mobile Network Connectivity These devices needed to have internet connection at certain time of the project to submit the collected data. Thus we needed to study and understand the coverage and services provided by telcos operating in Kenya National Bureau of Statistics is ISO 9001: 2008 Certified

Advantages of using mobile technology in CPI data collection 1. Geo-referencing coupled with a record of actual time periods when prices are observed was very instrumental in instilling professionalism on the part of price collectors in that they all have to visit outlets assigned to them and make actual observations. 2. Consistency in item specifications Using mobile technology, pictures of items to be priced is loaded into the system in a way that the same appears on the screen at the time the enumerator makes the price observations. Similarly substituted item varieties are photographed and put into the system. This greatly enhance comparison of like with like in the CPI compilation. Kenya National Bureau of Statistics is ISO 9001: 2008 Certified

Advantages of using mobile technology in CPI data collection 3. Conversion to Standard units of measure Instead of the price collector having to move around with calculators, the system is programmed to do the computations and thereby give the equivalent prices for standard units of measure. This has not only been convenient to the price collector, but has also minimize possible calculation errors. 4. Transmission and merger of data The system transmits raw data to the supervisors and then to a centralized server through the internet. This has greatly assisted the price statisticians at the head office, supervisors and coordinators to know exactly how, where and when prices’ data are being collected. Kenya National Bureau of Statistics is ISO 9001: 2008 Certified

Advantages of using mobile technology in CPI data collection 5. Publication of Reliable average prices There is an assurance that item specifications are applied correctly and consistently. The Bureau therefore is able to add average prices as well as a corresponding picture gallery as two other outputs which could be displayed at the website in addition to the CPI and inflation numbers. 6. Reduction of data entry errors Once correctness of item specifications is fixed, it is possible to predetermine an acceptable range of prices for every price observation even with seasonal adjustments. If an enumerator inadvertently enters the wrong price, the system is set to prompt the officer to confirm or correct the price entry. This ensures correct price relatives which in turn ensure correct elementary and higher level indices. Kenya National Bureau of Statistics is ISO 9001: 2008 Certified

Advantages of using mobile technology in CPI data collection 7. Substitution of obsolete item varieties and closed down outlets Increased online interaction between field data collectors, supervisors and the price statisticians has been enhanced through use of mobile technologies. The system has made it possible for the supervisor to promptly effect the substitutions and to confirm outlet geo-referenced coordinates for the substitutes. Once these substitutions are reported from the field, the price statistician is able to promptly carry out the appropriate adjustments for quality change which could affect the weight. Kenya National Bureau of Statistics is ISO 9001: 2008 Certified

Advantages of using mobile technology in CPI data collection 8. Cost reduction The overall cost of conducting the survey is reduced, this is attributed to very minimal printing done, transportation cost is reduced due to data transmission via the net and no hiring of warehouses for questionnaire storage. 9. Authentication The system assigns unique code for enumerators, supervisors and coordinators. The data collection point are also uniquely mapped. Kenya National Bureau of Statistics is ISO 9001: 2008 Certified

Challenges 1. Time constraint It’s often the case that there is no sufficient time to test the devices due to project timelines. It’s often necessary to conduct updating of the system during the first month of data collection. Keeping track of the CAPI system versions is very necessary when the software is updated. This enables reformatting the data because of the new changes. Updating CAPI system to new versions need be done systematically otherwise enumerators will be using different versions of the system and there will be data mismatch. Kenya National Bureau of Statistics is ISO 9001: 2008 Certified

Challenges 2. Sometimes enumerators loose data due to mishandling of devices and at times the system stops working interrupting data entry process. It happens for those who did not master the training on use of the device. Devices breakdown in the process and reserve devices are often required for replacements and migrating the data from a defective device. 3. Some areas of data collection often have no internet coverage and data cannot be transmitted. CAPI system is created in two different modes; the offline and online mode. It makes it possible to store the data in a local device and synchronize the data when internet is available. Kenya National Bureau of Statistics is ISO 9001: 2008 Certified

Challenges 4. Screen resolution could hamper the data collection especially when the interview is done in a place where there no shade. Questions are not very visible and enumerators would strain. 5. Few cases of device theft attempt reported and especially in some urban areas. 6. Battery life. This was mitigated by use of power bank. Kenya National Bureau of Statistics is ISO 9001: 2008 Certified

Device choice Selecting which mobile device to use was an issue, we had to take into consideration several concerns: 1. The screen size(since it’s a touch screen device), 2. The battery life (since it will be used in the rural area where electricity is an issue) 3. The body of the device (the device will be expose to rain, dust, mud and sand) 4. The Operating system that best works with the system, among other things. Kenya National Bureau of Statistics is ISO 9001: 2008 Certified

SYSTEM Architecture Kenya National Bureau of Statistics is ISO 9001: 2008 Certified

Implementation Plan No. Activity 1 Recommend TRI partner(s) for the project. 2 Transfer of funds by ECA to KNBS. 3 Transfer of funds by KNBS to UON for the agreed activities. 4 Document the current status of the use of mobile technologies for data collection in Kenya. 5 Discuss and agree on project personnel and implementation logistics. Kenya National Bureau of Statistics is ISO 9001: 2008 Certified Agency KNBS Status Completed ECA KNBS Done UON, KNBS, Stakeholde rs

Implementation Plan No. Activity 6 Organize national workshop for all the project implementing partners to identify and to agree on the modalities of implementation and to clarify roles and expectations. Submit workshop report to ECA. 7 Procure handheld devices and provide logistics for data collection fieldwork. 8 Agree on list of indicators to be submitted by selfenumerators, including frequency of data submission. Customize, adapt or develop applications for self-enumerators to report data, with automatic time stamping and geo-coding. Submit report to ECA. 9 Prepare guidelines, user manuals and training manuals for using the applications. Kenya National Bureau of Statistics is ISO 9001: 2008 Certified Status Agency UON, KNBS, Done ECA, Stakeholders ECA Done UON, KNBS, Done Stakeholders

Implementation Plan No. Activity 10 Upgrade servers and software at KNBS to receive data and integrate it with existing systems. 11 Participate in Regional conference on mobile data collection in support of evidence- based decision making and monitoring of development outcomes. 12 Organize national training workshop on the developed technology. Submit workshop report to ECA. Status Agency KNBS, ECA Completed KNBS, ECA Done UON, KNBS, Completed ECA, Stakeholder s 13 Undertake and coordinate data collection UON, KNBS, Completed fieldwork. Submit report on the experience Stakeholder to ECA. s Kenya National Bureau of Statistics is ISO 9001: 2008 Certified

Implementation Plan No. Activity 14 Launch advocacy campaigns (media coverage): Develop strategies to announce launching and also the result of the survey using Regional and Federal Mass Media, and other appropriate means. 15 Undertake midterm internal evaluation of the project 16 Undertake external evaluation of the project 17 Organize a project closing meeting Kenya National Bureau of Statistics is ISO 9001: 2008 Certified Agency KNBS Status Pending KNBS, Stakeholders ECA Pending UON, KNBS, ECA, Pending stakeholders

Way forward 1. Switching our CPI data collection rom PAPI to CAPI 2. The technology has been adopted in on-going KIHBS survey 3. Adding more modules to roll out other regular surveys e. g. partial market survey 4. Adopted a policy of use of the new technology in the upcoming ad hoc surveys. . MSE 5. Sensitize data producers on the new technology Kenya National Bureau of Statistics is ISO 9001: 2008 Certified

Photo gallery Kenya National Bureau of Statistics is ISO 9001: 2008 Certified