The National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR) has launched a system that will enable it to receive and distribute information using mobile phones.
The mobile platform will enable the body to send SMSs and receive information through text to make their work more efficient and accurate.
“This will not only help us have our work done in time, but also more activities will be brought on board in addition to releasing data instantly,” Oscar Sibomana, principal statistician at the NISR, said in an interview with The New Times.
The body said it would cost users Rwf 10 (US$0.015) per SMS to obtain information from their database.
“All mobile phone owners will benefit from the innovation. This means that decision-makers, individuals and institutions in the public and private sectors will be able to receive the data instantly,” Donati Nkundimana, NISR senior computer scientist, said.
“We are in negotiations with all the mobile telecoms to see how we can deliver the services at a low cost.”
Mobile phones have increasingly become tools for different trades in the giving or receiving of information.
Jana Mobile, a US-based mobile research firm which relies solely on the power of the mobile phone to conduct research, recently conducted research in Africa about the prospects of electing an African Pope.
