The Sharjah Department of Statistics and Community Development, DSCD, has announced it will begin a trial phase of the Sharjah Census 2015 from August 31st until September 3rd. The trial will cover four areas in Sharjah and is designed to test the efficiency of technical details and facilitation of their application.

The pilot phase includes selected areas in Al Majaz, Al Rahamaniya, Industrial area and Al Roula, where staff will visit people living in these areas to gather preliminary information, including the number of members of each family and how many families are in housing. The census staff will take the name and telephone number of the interviewed person from each property. The families involved in the pilot phase will not be visited again during the official census, scheduled to begin on October 20th, as these visits will collect sufficient data.

The trial phase will run for four days and be preceded by a three-day training course from August 26th to 30th. The pilot census will include buildings, homes and commercial properties, and will then be followed by a session on September 6th to discuss the findings. An official report will be prepared, including the results of the trial and recommendations, from September 7th-10th 2015.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Thani, Chairman of the Higher Committee for Sharjah Census 2015 and Chairman of DSCD, said, "We are excited to begin the first step in implementing the Sharjah Census 2015. It is very important that all citizens engage with the Census 2015 which has been decreed by H.H. Dr. Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, in line with H.H.'s aim to develop the emirate and prepare for large scale development. It is a national duty to ensure the success of the census which will help the development of the emirate's economic, social and cultural sectors."

Sheikh Mohammed Al Thani urged citizens and residents in Sharjah involved in the pilot phase to cooperate with the census researchers and give them all the information they need and to fill in the needed data accurately and carefully.

Sheikh Mohammed Al Thani added, "We seek, through the trial phase, to ensure the efficiency of the design of census forms, in terms of practical and technical aspects. This process will help us measure the daily rates of completion that can be achieved in both data collecting and counting, as well as to test the quality of the maps used, besides assessing the validity of the data flow from the field to the central database. It will also help examine the plan and procedures for self-counting and assessing family response to the method of self- counting."

In February, Dr. Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi issued an Emiri Decree No.07 of 2015, on conducting a general census of the population, infrastructure, housing and establishments in Sharjah. The census aims to provide accurate statistical data on economic, social and demographic sectors, and others in the Emirate of Sharjah.

The Sharjah Department of Statistics and Community Development is the only authorised statistical body in the emirate and the source of official statistical data, as well as the body mandated with all community development related policies and plans. It is a corporate body with full legal capacity to carry out and direct all works and necessary actions to achieve its objectives.