DPE chose ITQAN for this project as it has been the IT service provider for the National Census in 2005 and has accumulated considerable experience in the field of conducting statistical surveys.

The Department of Planning and Economy (DPE) is responsible for proposing the economic and commercial policy of the Abu Dhabi Emirate and preparing the plans and programmes required for implementing such policy. It is also responsible for conducting the necessary studies to encourage and promote the private sector. The Department of Planning and Economy provides commercial licensing and trade name registration. It also participates in economic and trading seminars and conferences, locally and internationally.

Business needs

To achieve these objectives, one of the projects initiated by the DPE is the household expenditure and income survey – 2007/2008. This survey aims to depict the pattern of consumption and expenditure prevailing in the UAE society. It will help to conduct studies on the living standards, inflation rates and minimum wage level in order to secure a proper and dignified living for the population, as well as help in formulating policies that improve their various social and economic aspects.

ITQAN’s Mohd Abdel Hamid, the project manager, is equally enthusiastic about working with DPE: “It is an excellent opportunity for us to work for such an esteemed client and be part of a project that will help understand the region’s current and anticipated growth better.”

Solution

To meet DPE’s objectives, ITQAN provided more than 500 personal digital assistants (PDAs) which will be used in the data collection phase of more than 420 families participating in the household expenditure and income survey. This phase is currently underway. Data collected will be fed into the PDAs, which are supported by Microsoft .NET system, and are readily downloadable into or synchronised with the computers at eight support centres (using Oracle Mobile Server). These centres are directly linked with the main server in the department. All these support centre computers and the main server store data on Oracle Database Version 10.2.

Hamid explains how ITQAN conducted training for 25 DPE employees on the technology usage. He adds, “These employees, in turn, will train some 160 researchers who are conducting the actual survey. ITQAN will also provide a team of technicians and supervisors to DPE, who will oversee the technical operation of the project.”