Presenting the project Coleta de Dados por Computadores de Mão para Censos de Proporções Continentais (Data Collection through Handheld Computers for Censuses of Continental Proportions), IBGE was the winner of the 12^th edition of the Award Innovation in the Management of Federal Public Institutions. The prize is granted by the National School of Public Administration, a subdivision of the Ministry of Budget, Planning and Management. IBGE’s innovation was chosen the best among other 117 projects from several federal institutions.

After the analysis of works, a jury formed by 24 members chose 20 places to be visited. Ten specialists from the technical committee evaluated the experiments in loco and made a report for the analysis of the jury, which nominated the 10 finalists after a second meeting. The last phase of the contest, in Brasília, included the presentation of works by these 10 institutions selected, and IBGE was declared winner.

Data collection for the 2007 Censuses encompassed two surveys conducted simultaneously and in an integrated way – the Census of Agriculture and the Population Count, besides the National List of Addresses. For the first time in the country, this census operation was completely computerized, with about 80 thousand census takers conducting surveys through handheld computers equipped with GPS receivers and digital maps. It was the first operation of this kind in the world, taking into consideration the continental dimensions of Brazil.

The second prize in the contest was received by the project Cartão Cidadão (Citizen’s Card) of Caixa Econômica Federal. This enterprise also won the award Prominence in the Management of Public Policies for Social Inclusion.  The project Nossa Várzea – Cidadania e Sustentabilidade na Amazônia Brasileira  (Our Meadow – Citizenship and Sustainability in the Brazilian Amazon), of the Secretariat of National Patrimony was in the third position.