1. UNSD Census Workshop Data Capture: Intelligent Character Recognition
Day 2 - Session 8
Data Capture: Intelligent Character Recognition
Andy Tye – International Manager
DRS are Worldwide specialists in Census data capture

2. Data Capture Intelligent Character Recognition (ICR) Elements
Form design
Hardware/Software requirements
Scanners
Computer infrastructure
Workflow
Accuracy
Advantages
Disadvantages
DRS are Worldwide specialists in Census data capture

3. Data Capture - ICR Forms design Typical stock grade paper (90GSM)
Corner Stones advised
Dropout colour is recommended but not essential
DRS are Worldwide specialists in Census data capture

4. Data Capture - ICR Hardware requirements Software requirements
Image Scanners
TWAIN or ISIS
Database Server (Full redundancy)
Storage Server – Terabytes
(Raid 5, Mirrored, etc.)
Network (Gb preferred)
Administrator PC
CS-Pro PCs
Key correction PCs (Verification)
Character Inspection PCs
(Mass verification - optional)
Scanner PCs
Automatic data capture PCs
Software requirements
MS-SQL or other database
Data Storage, Archive and Retrieval
Backup Software
Software for Administrator PC
CS-Pro for analysis and reporting PCs
Software for Key correction PCs
Software for Character inspection PCs
Software for Scanner PCs
Software for automatic data capture
DRS are Worldwide specialists in Census data capture

5. Data Capture - ICR Typical Workflow ICR
DRS are Worldwide specialists in Census data capture

6. Data Capture - ICR Typical Workflow
Paper Movement – Processing Centre/s
DRS are Worldwide specialists in Census data capture

7. Data Capture - ICR Typical Workflow Receiving
DRS are Worldwide specialists in Census data capture

8. Data Capture - ICR Typical Workflow Logging/Checking Open Batch
Verify Contents
Register Batch
DRS are Worldwide specialists in Census data capture

9. Data Capture - ICR Typical Workflow Sifting Orientation Other Forms
DRS are Worldwide specialists in Census data capture

10. Data Capture - ICR Typical Workflow Spine removal Cut Booklets
30,000/day
DRS are Worldwide specialists in Census data capture

11. Data Capture - ICR Typical Workflow Scanning Double Sided High Speed
Double Detection
Ease of Use
DRS are Worldwide specialists in Census data capture

12. Data Capture - ICR Typical Workflow Scanning/sorting
Automatic Identification
Data Capture
DRS are Worldwide specialists in Census data capture

13. Data Capture - ICR Typical Workflow Storage Conditions Retrieval Space
DRS are Worldwide specialists in Census data capture

14. Data Capture - ICR Typical Workflow
Image Movement/Data Extraction – Processing Centre/s
DRS are Worldwide specialists in Census data capture

15. Data Capture - ICR Typical Workflow Image interpretation
Automated Process
Background Task
Page Identification
De-skew
Image Clean up
Pre-defined Areas
DRS are Worldwide specialists in Census data capture

16. Data Capture - ICR Typical Workflow Character inspection Tiling
High Confidence
Operator Decision
Field Context
Tall to Short
DRS are Worldwide specialists in Census data capture

17. Data Capture - ICR Typical Workflow Key correction Low Confidence
Operator Decision
From Context
External Verification
DRS are Worldwide specialists in Census data capture

18. Data Capture - ICR Typical Workflow Key Correction ASCII File
CSV Format
1 Line/Form
CSPro Import
DRS are Worldwide specialists in Census data capture

19. Data Capture - ICR Typical Workflow ICR
DRS are Worldwide specialists in Census data capture

20. Data Capture - ICR Accuracy Handprint
This is always the first question
Handprint
Numeric only in isolated fields 98%
Numeric only in semi constrained fields 95-96%
Alpha upper case only 90%
Alpha lower case only 85-87%
Alpha mixed case 75-80%
Alpha/Numeric mixed case 50% or less
reduce by 5% if there are special characters not a-z and 0-9
The accuracy level post data correction (e.g. the final output accuracy) should be 100% (subject to good operators)
DRS are Worldwide specialists in Census data capture

21. Data Capture - ICR Accuracy continued…
The accuracy of all modern ICR engines are pretty much comparable
The major differences with suppliers solutions are the methods and workflow utilised with each offering
False positive detection takes 10 times longer than entry of characters recognised with low confidence – false positives (substitutions) are the most expensive errors
DRS are Worldwide specialists in Census data capture

22. Data Capture - ICR Accuracy continued… Accuracy can be improved by:
Restricting the responses to any given question
Using external verification
Using multiple ICR engines to ‘vote’ which is expensive
Training your ICR engines on local hand writing styles (If possible)
DRS are Worldwide specialists in Census data capture

23. Data Capture - ICR Advantages No specialist hardware required
An image archive can be automatically produced of every form
Very high speed scanning can be achieved
Both OMR and ICR can be interpreted using ICR software
Forms designed for ICR relatively easy to fill in. Locally printed forms can be used.
Allows capturing much more complex data than with OMR alone
DRS are Worldwide specialists in Census data capture

24. Data Capture - ICR Disadvantages
Significant hardware/software and trained IT staff will be required
Accuracy dependant on manual intervention
High calibre IT staff are required to support the ICR system
More complex cost/benefit analysis than with OMR alone
DRS are Worldwide specialists in Census data capture

25. Data Capture - ICR Indicative Costs
For 65 Million Population Census (20M Single Sided A4 household form)
Processing period of 12 Weeks (8 hours/day 5 days/week)
Hardware $800k-$1M in total
Software $700k-$1.3M in total
Total Indicative Costs are $1.5M to $2.3M
No. of Staff in total
6-10 Managers
PC Operators
DRS are Worldwide specialists in Census data capture

26. Data Capture - OMR ‘the forms are filled in correctly and
Summary
ICR offers considerable flexibility at the cost of
higher skilled IT personnel
The single most important factor for timely and
accurate data capture is to make sure
‘the forms are filled in correctly and
are returned in good condition’
DRS are Worldwide specialists in Census data capture

27. UNSD Census Workshop Thank you for listening
Day 2 - Session 8
Thank you for listening
Andy Tye – International Manager
DRS are Worldwide specialists in Census data capture