07/08/2020
With support from the European Union, they are merging their statistical and geographic information for use by the government, the academic sector and Cuban society
The National Statistics Office of Cuba, also known as Oficina Nacional de Estadística e Informacion (ONEI) and its Centre for Population and Development Studies (CEPDE) are working on the National Geostatistical Framework, a facility with integrated statistical and geographic information to be used to provide georeferencing statistical information services to the government, the State, the academic sector, and Cuban society.
The National Geostatistical Framework is a unique system that correctly references statistical information from censuses and surveys with their corresponding geographic locations. This system enables the geostatistical division of an entire national territory in successive levels of separation.
The Cuba-EU experience exchange programme, managed by FIIAPP and funded by the European Union, has been assisting the ONEI with this process for some years by organising different workshops in Cuba and exchanges with corresponding institutions in various countries.
Despite the difficulties caused by COVID-19, there have been meetings between the ONEI and Costa Rica’s National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INEC) by video conference. The sessions dealt with topics such as the structure of the Geostatistical Framework of the ONEI-Cuba, preparation and creation of the digital cartographic database, methodological procedures and theoretical and methodological aspects of the use of technology in the pre-census stage.
Both institutions were pleased with the outcomes of the virtual meetings and will continue to progress work along these lines until in-person workshops can be resumed. This will enable the parties to continue working on the methodological and technological details necessary for the practical implementation of the National Geostatistical Framework in Cuba.
