High-Volume Scanning Captures Census

Processing a census is one of the biggest projects a Government will ever undertake, and one of the most challenging aspects is the capture of paper-based census forms. This case study illustrates the value of high-volume scanning, coupled with intelligent capture, when speed of capture, accuracy, and confidentiality are paramount.

The census is a highly visible process; the Public needs assurance that nothing will be lost or incorrectly processed. Every page is personalized, and therefore unique, so the integrity of captured data must be guaranteed.

CACI (UK) is a leading supplier of IT solutions, specializing in providing systems integration, software applications and ICT consultancy services to organizations from across the public and private sectors.

Since 2001 the company has developed expertise in census processing, starting with the Irish census, which occurred in 2001 and 2006.

For the 2001 Irish census, CACI reviewed alternatives and purchased scanners from the Kodak 3500 Series, which became the property of the client and were re-used for the 2006 census.

By 2007, when CACI decided to bid for the Scottish census contract, scanning and capture technology had advanced considerably. Leading edge scanning solutions were capable of scanning significantly higher volumes more accurately, whilst using intelligent processes to extract document data on-the-fly.

In addition to census-related technical considerations, CACI conducted a business review, which resulted in the decision to establish a Managed Services operation in West Lothian, to handle value-added capture projects on an ongoing basis. "We needed a robust and reliable high-volume scanning solution for the Scottish census, which involved capturing uniform paper-based documents. In parallel we were looking for a scanning platform that would accommodate a wide range of mixed documents to support applications such as medical records, financial application processing and digital mailroom," explains CACI Director Mathew Cooper. "CACI was about to make a sizeable investment in high-volume scanning technology. We wanted to leverage this investment and diversify our business over the long term," said Cooper. "We had a long-established relationship with Kodak, ibml's reseller in Europe," continues Cooper. "We liaised with their scanning team and they recommended the ibml ImageTrac High-Volume Scanning Platform." Access this content to read this case study in its entirety.