Sygnity (the consortium’s leader) and Polska Telefonia Komorkowa – Centertel – an Orange operator, acting jointly as a Contractors Consortium, have concluded an agreement with the Central Statistical Office based in Warsaw. The agreement consists in delivery, implementation and maintenance of an IT infrastructure and CAPI (Computer Assisted Personal Interview) software which supports conducting and management of the population and housing census carried out by enumerators with the use of mobile terminals. The value of the agreement amounts to PLN 4.7 million gross. The agreement is valid until the end of 2009, and the IT infrastructure will be activated in September 2009.

The infrastructure prepared by the Consortium Sygnity – PTK Centertel is intended to help to carry out a pilot population and housing census whose aim is to check the effectiveness of the method as well as the quality and accuracy of data gathered by the terminals.

Within the Agreement Sygnity will provide a mobile and dispatcher application to 400 terminals and will handle systems integration. Mobile terminals and their connectivity with the central and provincial census bureaus will be provided by Centertel. The Agreement assumes also ensuring data and voice transmission services for mobile terminals and provision and installation of servers and necessary systemic software, as well as conducting training courses for 500 system users and provision of guarantee and maintenance services.

The pilot General Agricultural Census will begin on 14 September 2009 and will be carried out in four counties. The GUS aims at using approximately 20 thousand mobile terminals in the General Agricultural and Population and Housing Censuses, which have been planned for the years 2010 and 2011. Owing to modern IT solutions and use of mobile terminals the GUS will be able to significantly reduce the costs of conducting general censuses.

The work connected with general censuses carried out in the years 2001 – 2002 done by 180 thousand enumerators will be done next year by only approximately 20 thousand individuals equipped with mobile terminals. Apart from significantly reduced personal costs, it is worth emphasizing the positive impact of the executed project and the planned method of obtaining statistical data on environment protection – with the use of mobile technologies thousands will not be necessary.