The Government of Iraq’s (GoI) Central Organization for Statistics and Information Technology (COSIT) is responsible for gathering information regarding population, transportation, trade, and other topics. This is critical data for helping the Ministry of Planning to implement development projects that range from crop harvesting to employee databases.
Just a few years ago, COSIT had no computers or software to run even basic processes. It no longer was able to produce the statistics that Iraq needed to make important policies and decisions such as preparing for the upcoming national census, the country’s first in 12 years. Until 2007, labor statistics were measured annually at both the national and Governorate level. Now, thanks in part to USAID/ Tatweer’s assistance, COSIT and the GoI will be measuring labor statistics every month at the national level, quarterly at the Governorate level and annually at the Qadah (districts within Governorates) level.
USAID/ Tatweer has assisted the COSIT organization in several ways. First, the program made a significant investment in state-of-the-art IT equipment to conduct statistical studies. Second, it built a software-training system in which COSIT trainees learned the tools to write up-to-date applications using Oracle. Third, USAID/ Tatweer provided a six-week course in Oracle during which COSIT participants used their own computers and applications, allowing a seamless transfer of skills back to COSIT.
The trainees are involved in four statistical applications: National Employee, Parallel Education, Crop Harvest, and Heavy Industries databases supervised by COSIT. To date, use of the software has allowed the team to finalize the Parallel Education Application, which tracks vocational education institutions and students in Iraq, as well as the Heavy Industries Application.
Finally, USAID/ Tatweer created a critical new application - the Employee National Database – to allow the GoI to access information on its employees in a unified electronic system. This database has the capacity to hold information on 2.5 million civil servants. Each employee will be assigned an employee number, similar to a social security number, used to track educational and employment information.
“Through USAID/Tatweer’s help, COSIT’s national statistical capacity ranking, according to the World Bank, improved from 28 to 47 on a scale of 100 points in one year,” said Dr. Mahdi Alallak, Chairman of COSIT.
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COSIT staff prepare for specialized software training
“Through USAID/Tatweer’s help, COSIT’s national statistical capacity ranking, according to the World Bank, improved from 28 to 47 on a scale of 100 points in one year.”
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