Civil registration and vital statistics


CRVS are governmental solutions to declare and record citizen vital statistics in a centralized database.
A CRVS system is defined by World Health Organization as "A well-functioning civil registration and vital statistics system registers all births and deaths, issues birth and death certificates, and compiles and disseminates vital statistics, including cause of death information. It may also record marriages and divorces."
Originally, the civil status or vital record are registered at a local level in a civil registry. Most of the time at the city or county level. The main problem with this traditional method to proceed is that the vital statistics are stored in a decentralized database. The limitation of this kind of system is the lack of coherence between data and reality plus the impossibility to verify the veracity of such data.
In the era of big data, veracity is a must. The increasing capability of technologies and the speed of telecommunication have led to the first initiatives of centralized system in the early 21st century.

Initiatives

Non-governmental initiatives

Monitoring Of Vital Events (MOVE-IT) – World Health Organization

is a non-governmental program led by the World Health Organization that aimed to improve the monitoring of vital record. From 2008 until it was dissolved in 2013, the Health Metrics Network started innovative projects using information technologies across the world with one common goal, improving CRVS systems.

iCivil Africa

is a new technology start-up created by Mr. Adama Sawadogo and Francis Bourrieres to end the problem of "ghost" children. iCivil's target is to register all newborns. The first pilot project have started in 2015 in Burkina Faso.
iCivil CRVS System is the combination of a mobile-based application that uses the SMS network and a unique bubble seal bracelet for newborns. “What makes this system so special is that uses a bubble tagging technology,” stated Mr. Sawadogo to Mr. Rawlson King during ID4Africa forum.
The bubble seal bracelet for new born is based on a chaosmetric technology that gives it physical properties of uniqueness, immutability and impossible to reproduce. This technology is called the bubble tag.

Governmental initiatives

Rwanda: Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) systems

is in line with the program of development of the country which target is to define an action plan.

Oman: Civil Status Mobile Registration Unit

is a centralized digital CRVS System that aims to improve the life of their citizen in facilitating access to information.

New Zealand: SmartStart program

The program is an online platform of services that helps parents along the birth registration process