Fujitsu provides datacentre and tablets for Egyptian digital census 2017

Fujitsu announced that it is supporting the Egyptian government in conducting the first population census to be based entirely on digital processes. Fujitsu will provide hundreds of Stylistic tablet devices plus datacentre services for the collection and analysis of vast amounts of data. Automating and digitalising the census process is expected to halve the time it takes to gather and evaluate data from Egypt’s population of around 94 million, as well as increasing data accuracy and reliability.

The Egyptian census takes place every five years. Starting in February and running over several months, the 2017 census is managed by Egypt’s official statistical agency, the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics CAPMAS. The final report is expected as soon as July 2017, which will represent the fastest-ever turnaround for a census of this magnitude.

Fujitsu Stylistic Q555 tablets will be used to collect population data, going door to door visiting Egyptian households. Data will be transferred via LTE, 3G connections, and centrally stored and analysed in the new CAPMAS datacentre in Egypt. The datacentre, which went live in 2016, has been delivered, installed and is being supported by Fujitsu and includes Fujitsu Primergy RX2540 M2 servers and Eternus DX storage systems, as well as Fujitsu Eternus CS800 for backup.

The Fujitsu tablets that will be used in the census were chosen for their ability to withstand demanding usage over long periods, and provide all-day operation even under difficult conditions, such as extreme temperatures and dusty environments.

AboBakr ElGendy, President of CAPMAS, comments: “As this is the first time that we will conduct a census that is fully based on digital technology and does not use paper ledgers at any stage in the process, it was very important to us to select a technology partner capable of supporting this major project. We selected Fujitsu because of its all-round capabilities, in building and operating our new datacentre, and the Fujitsu Stylistic tablets for their robust, lightweight design, high reliability and enterprise-grade security features.”

Ayman Abdel Rahman, Managing Director of Fujitsu Egypt, said: “Supporting the census is a high-profile element of our role in helping digitalise services provided by the Egyptian government, and we are excited to be supporting this milestone project. Holding a census is a huge undertaking when you think about the sheer volume of data that needs to be gathered, and the fact that it literally comes from all over the country. By digitalising census processes, the government will save significant amounts of time. With its first fully digital census, Egypt is leading the way in making the gathering and evaluation of statistical data more efficient and reliable.”

Following the completion of the census, the Egyptian government is planning to provide the tablets to schools for educational purposes.