Book Description

The UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) organized the Asia-Pacific POPIN (International Population Information Network) Consultative Workshop from 26 October to 2 November 1988 at Bangkok. The main objectives of the workshop were to introduce and exchange useful technologies and techniques in the areas of information processing, especially computerization and information dissemination, and to consider ways to promote those information-processing technologies and techniques, networking, technical cooperation, and training activities. The goal is to strengthen national population information centers by enabling them to become more self-reliant in their information-processing activities. 2 participants from each of the 13 countries with national population information centers and networks (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Viet Nam) took part in the workshop. The workshop recommended 1) the translation of materials by countries from English into national languages, 2) the continued generation of publications on population and various aspects of population information, 3) greater consideration of readership surveys and evaluations, 4) soliciting information from governmental and non-governmental agencies, 5) the development of computer familiarization courses for mid-level population information officers, 6) in-depth software training for technical-level personnel, 7) training in the use of computers for repackaging and dissemination, 8) training in microcomputer equipment maintenance, 9) organizing country-level POPIN workshops, 10) developing a standardized format for databases, 11) creating directories of population institutions, 12) advising governments on developing policies to minimize the loss of recently trained computer personnel, 13) identifying institutions who can use POPLINE in compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM) form, 14) promoting the use of non-copyrighted software when possible, 15) continuing to pay attention to the needs of non-computerized national population information centers.