There are numerous potential challenges that need to be taken into account with censuses. They are costly and time-consuming to undertake, they can be victim to fraudulent behaviour and it can be difficult to access certain sub-populations or groups. Because of some of these issues and for other reasons, many countries have transitioned towards register-based censuses. However, this is not a viable option everywhere, especially in countries that have poor IT-infrastructure, do not have sufficient financial resources or where register databases (such as tax registers or unemployment registers) are not widespread or reliable. As such, MPD can be a great supplement to the census, as it is much more cost-efficient and does not rely on register databases. Additionally, MPD does not require physical contact, meaning that data collection is not as affected by events such as the COVID-19 pandemic or conflicts.
There are many possible applications of MPD-based dynamic population mapping that are relevant to census activities. MPD could be implemented at different stages of conducting a census and for various purposes, as described below. This area is still new, with very few (if any) studies having been performed to test the feasibility of these applications. However, with many countries planning new census rounds, there may be opportunities to explore such applications.
