Sharjah Uses Robots to Make Numbers Attractive at SIBF 2017

The Sharjah Department of Statistics and Community Development (DSCD) is at the 36th Sharjah International Book Fair, and is attracting a lot more attention than the average census generators in town with snazzy robots and other interactive digital technologies.

In a bid to sensitise the UAE community about their role in community development and welfare protection, DSCD has introduced two new age robots, Ahmad and Khalid, to interact with fair visitors and tell them about who they are, what they do, and more importantly, making the citizenry understand the importance and effectiveness of statistical data in the development and advancement of societies and peoples.

“As visitors to the fair are passing along an attractive DSCD stand at SIBF 2017, most of them are intrigued by the two robots and stop to satiate their curiosity about who they are and what they can do. And that is our opportunity to introduce ourselves to the community and tell them about the functions of the department,” said Sheikh Mohammed Bin Humaid Al Qasimi, Director of DSCD.

“This is a great opportunity for us to introduce our latest project, Tahdeeth, the-first-of-its-kind at the level of statistical innovations in the region, which will provide accurate and latest census data, which is being collected within the present context of demographic changes and living conditions that have altered since 2015, reflecting the statistical makeup ​​of 2017. People's housing changes, their new addresses, updated population count, their characteristics and special composition, will all be reflected by the new project,” he added.  

The DSCD stand is screening a live broadcast of the work that is happening behind the scenes at their call centres, which shows the team of 60 Emirati women who have been exclusively appointed to collect sensitive data for Tahdeeth. The project continues until December 4, and will update information on 25,181 Emirati households, involving more than 179,000 Emiratis with the objective of establishing a central data source that will provide the basis for enhanced community development. 

A series of creative workshops, and intellectual activities like solving crossword puzzles that introduce statistical terms like ‘census’, ‘table’, ‘research’, ‘source’ and many others in attractive ways are being organised at the stand. At their storytelling corner, My Birthday Party by Noura Matar Al Suwaidi, is being read out to children – a short story with a message about the important role the nation plays in gathering accurate data about the population, and how these numbers ensure that they roll out policies and services that take care of everyone.

More than 1.5 million titles and 1,650 publishing houses from 60 countries are participating at this edition of SIBF. It runs from November 1-11 at Expo Centre Sharjah, under the theme ‘A World in My Book.’ For the first time ever, SIBF is allocating a special pavilion titled ‘The Future Zone’ in Hall 1 that will bring together 10 leading companies specialised in digital books to showcase their experiences and latest publications.