Using latest technology that captures and analyzes earth data, a group of 18 secondary school students successfully collected statistical data from 444 households in Kigali City, which is expected to be useful in the country’s next census.

The students collected the data during a one-week camp which was organized by the Ministry of Education and ESRI Rwanda, a sister firm to ESRI Germany, which distributes Geographic Information Systems (GIS) tools for earth data collection.

According to a statement from ESRI Rwanda, the students captured the households and used 30 different questionnaires to provide 13,320 responses, which helped to visualize statistical data on an electronic map.

"In one week, the students collected data in four villages in Kigali via Global Positioning System (GPS). They then used the information to generate digital content by using the ESRI software,” the statement reads.

The students also received support from experts from the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR) and utilized data from the National Land Centre.

At the closure of the camp that was held in Kagugu, a Kigali Suburb, last Friday, the ICT Advisor at NISR, Rajiv Ranjan, commended the students for their efforts, saying that technology is key for the 21st century in search of accurate information for programme implementation.

"NISR and many other public and private institutions in Rwanda will have a growing demand of GIS experts in the near future; it will be an honor if some of these students are among them,” Ranjan said.

ESRI Rwanda Ltd was registered in the country in August 2010 as the official distributor of land and geography software to Rwanda and Burundi.

The company expects to cooperate with local institutions to offer on-the-job training and consultancy to local and regional researchers in the use of the new technology.

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