Chapter 4 Outsourcing
Detailed information on outsourcing collected in the UNECE survey is available in the Outsourcing section of the UNECE 2020 Census Round dashboard.
4.1 Introduction
102.
102. This chapter is dedicated to the census services or activities that in the 2020 round were outsourced: that is, performed or provided by a supplier or organization other than the NSO or census office.
103.
103. Outsourcing some census activities is an option that is considered frequently, especially by countries employing any form of direct enumeration for their census, in particular for activities that may require emerging or complex technologies for which NSOs do not possess technical experience and expertise, or when some activities require heavy workload in a short period of time (e.g. printing or processing census questionnaires).
104.
104. The value of doing so is that external suppliers bring with them considerable technical experience and expertise which would otherwise be unavailable to census takers. This allows NSOs to focus on their main task of carrying out the census rather than developing in-house procedures and skills that are not part of their core competencies. Furthermore, the 5 or 10-year cycle for the traditional census activities, the short processing timetable and extensive data systems required, mean that outsourcing provides the opportunity for efficiencies and value for money.
105.
105. Countries conducting a fully register-based census generally have little or no need to outsource any census services. In the survey, only two countries with register-based census reported having outsourced some census services or activities. Austria outsourced translation, printing and transport of questionnaires and field materials for the post-enumeration survey, to save costs and reduce time spent. Lithuania outsourced the development of the census IT infrastructure to utilize resources and expertise not otherwise available.
106.
106. Those countries employing any form of direct enumeration for their census generally have a greater need to outsource some activities. Among the countries that in the 2020 census round conducted a full field enumeration, 12 countries reported having outsourced some services or activities, and 4 countries reported no outsourcing (Georgia, Kazakhstan, Malta and Turkmenistan). All the countries with a combined census outsourced some services or activities. Estonia outsourced only public relations, social media and other communications services.
4.2 Activities outsourced
107.
107. The census activities reported by most countries as outsourced in the 2020 census round are presented in Table 18. The activities that were outsourced by most countries (two thirds or more of those reporting) are: printing of documentation and materials other than questionnaires (23 countries); translation (21); delivery of questionnaires and materials (18); public relations, social media or other communications services (18); call centre/telephone help line (17).
108.
108. Printing of questionnaires, that in the 2010 census round was the activity outsourced by most countries (30 out of 37, that is 81%), in the 2020 round was outsourced only by 16 countries (57%), since fewer countries use paper questionnaires for the whole population.
Table 18
Census activities outsourced, by type of census (number of countries)
Census activities outsourced, by type of census (number of countries)
|
Activities
|
Total
(out of 28 countries) |
Type of census
|
|
|
Field enumeration
(12 countries)
|
Combined
(16 countries) |
||
|
Printing or production of other documentation and/or materials
|
23
|
9
|
14
|
|
Translation
|
21
|
8
|
13
|
|
Transportation of questionnaires and/or field materials before enumeration (delivery)
|
18
|
10
|
8
|
|
Public relations, social media or other communications services
|
18
|
7
|
11
|
|
Call centre/telephone help line
|
17
|
6
|
11
|
|
Printing or production of questionnaires
|
16
|
10
|
6
|
|
Transportation of questionnaires and/or field materials after enumeration (collection)
|
16
|
7
|
9
|
|
Design and/or provision of online response technology
|
13
|
6
|
7
|
|
Online/web access design
|
12
|
4
|
8
|
|
Primary data capture and coding (including scanning and automatic computer coding)
|
11
|
4
|
7
|
|
Design and/or provision of questionnaire tracking technology
|
10
|
4
|
6
|
|
Production of digital media
|
10
|
3
|
7
|
|
Questionnaire destruction
|
10
|
5
|
5
|
|
Mapping services: field operational areas
|
9
|
3
|
6
|
|
Recruitment of field staff
|
8
|
2
|
6
|
|
Training of field staff
|
6
|
1
|
5
|
|
Payment of field staff
|
6
|
2
|
4
|
|
Data linkage
|
5
|
1
|
4
|
|
Secondary data processing: editing
|
4
|
2
|
2
|
|
Secondary data processing: tabulation
|
4
|
1
|
3
|
|
Data storage
|
4
|
0
|
4
|
|
Data quality assurance
|
4
|
1
|
3
|
|
Data archiving
|
4
|
3
|
1
|
|
Evaluation of security and /or confidentiality
|
4
|
2
|
2
|
109.
109. Some countries outsourced more activities than others. Slovakia led the field by outsourcing 23 different activities, and the United Kingdom also undertook an extensive outsourcing programme with 19 different activities.
4.3 Reasons for outsourcing
110.
110. But why did countries outsource? As noted above, the main value of doing so is that external suppliers bring with them considerable technical experience and expertise which would otherwise be unavailable to census takers. In their responses to the survey many countries acknowledged this.
111.
111. Almost all reporting countries (27 out of 28) cited the utilisation of resources and expertise not otherwise available as a reason for outsourcing. Outsourcing also provides an opportunity to reduce operational timescales, as reported by half of the countries (14). Other reasons for outsourcing were reported only by few countries: to improve coverage or response (5 countries), to improve data quality (4), to save costs (3).