National housing data system planned
The new system will serve as a planning tool for housing development and policy formulation in the country.
The Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) and the ministry of urban and rural development (MURD) have embarked on a process to develop a national housing information system to support various ministries' functions using the updated data.
MURD executive director Daniel Nghidinua and NSA statistician-general Alex Shimuafeni issued a joint media statement regarding the project.
Shimuafeni said the NSA will be collecting data during the census mapping and give it to MURD to help facilitate the capturing of data, management, sharing and dissemination in support of effective spatial planning and socio-economic development. He said the system will be updated with data as collected and generated by all institutions and stakeholders involved in the updating of housing data in Namibia including the NSA. The housing information system will provide important information on the housing sector that will contribute to housing in Namibia's economic growth through information and statistics gathered.
“It will have a centralised housing information system where all housing-related data in the country are compiled, processed, stored and disseminated for various purposes and guide decision-making.
“The housing information system will additionally provide an accessible resource of all houses constructed through various government-funded housing programmes or initiatives through a single, centrally managed platform as well as compile housing needs information per localities,” said Shimuafeni.
Planning tool
He added that the new innovation will also serve as a planning tool for housing development and policy formulation in the country as well as for monitoring, evaluation and reporting on national and international development plans and agendas.
“As you can imagine, the benefits of this system are many and should serve us well. Examples of these are an online data processing and analysis platform for various uses such as researchers, investment decisions, monitoring, evaluation and improved reporting of housing in Namibia as well as keeping data updated,” explained Shimuafeni. He said the system will be released in mid-March 2021 and support national efforts towards addressing housing challenges in the country. Although various projections on the current housing backlog and need in the country are available, it has been observed that there is no consistency in the data reported and this has created a statistics vacuum, Nghidinua said. Despite government efforts to alleviate the problem, Namibia is still faced with a huge housing deficit which is more visible through the rapid proliferation of informal settlement areas, specifically in urban areas, he said.
- Nampa
MURD executive director Daniel Nghidinua and NSA statistician-general Alex Shimuafeni issued a joint media statement regarding the project.
Shimuafeni said the NSA will be collecting data during the census mapping and give it to MURD to help facilitate the capturing of data, management, sharing and dissemination in support of effective spatial planning and socio-economic development. He said the system will be updated with data as collected and generated by all institutions and stakeholders involved in the updating of housing data in Namibia including the NSA. The housing information system will provide important information on the housing sector that will contribute to housing in Namibia's economic growth through information and statistics gathered.
“It will have a centralised housing information system where all housing-related data in the country are compiled, processed, stored and disseminated for various purposes and guide decision-making.
“The housing information system will additionally provide an accessible resource of all houses constructed through various government-funded housing programmes or initiatives through a single, centrally managed platform as well as compile housing needs information per localities,” said Shimuafeni.
Planning tool
He added that the new innovation will also serve as a planning tool for housing development and policy formulation in the country as well as for monitoring, evaluation and reporting on national and international development plans and agendas.
“As you can imagine, the benefits of this system are many and should serve us well. Examples of these are an online data processing and analysis platform for various uses such as researchers, investment decisions, monitoring, evaluation and improved reporting of housing in Namibia as well as keeping data updated,” explained Shimuafeni. He said the system will be released in mid-March 2021 and support national efforts towards addressing housing challenges in the country. Although various projections on the current housing backlog and need in the country are available, it has been observed that there is no consistency in the data reported and this has created a statistics vacuum, Nghidinua said. Despite government efforts to alleviate the problem, Namibia is still faced with a huge housing deficit which is more visible through the rapid proliferation of informal settlement areas, specifically in urban areas, he said.
- Nampa
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