The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) has selected telecom operator Robi as the digital connectivity provider to deliver the country's first digital census data.

The BBS will conduct the sixth population and housing census digitally from 15-21 June this year.

Md Dilder Hossain, project director of National Population and Housing Census 2022, and Adil Hossain Noble, chief enterprise business officer of Robi, signed an agreement Sunday.

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Under the deal, Robi will provide around 4 lakh connections, data, SMS bundles and other digital solutions to the BBS to support the digital census. 

Around 3.7 lakh enumerators will collect the population census data from across the country using Robi's network and send them to a central server for processing. 

Data will be collected from each household using a computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI) system, geographic information system, and tablet computers with data connectivity.

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Robi will also support the BBS's zonal operations and preparedness training. Besides data connectivity, SMS, location tracking, and e-CRM for monitoring call centre support will be used for a smooth census operation.

Dr Shahnaz Arefin, secretary at the Statistics and Informatics Division, said: "Accuracy of census data is extremely important to decide on policy measures that support the country's socio-economic growth."

"In this connection, we found Robi the most suitable partner to provide digital connectivity support for the first digital census of the country."

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M Riyaaz Rasheed, acting CEO and CFO of Robi, said: "Robi is proud to be associated with the first digital population census of the country. We look forward to supporting this high priority national project with our innovative digital solution."