Powerful analytic software might seem a low priority for deeply impoverished nations, where safe water is scarce and electricity for computers is unreliable at best. But it could make all the difference in the world.

Under an innovative program managed by Statistics Norway, Norway's central agency for official statistics, a growing list of underdeveloped nations receive software from SAS, the leader in business analytics. The struggling countries will use advanced SAS Analytics to analyze poverty statistics and census data for the 2010 World Population and Housing Census. The software will also generate documentation to support aid requests from agencies such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, United Nations and others.

“Statistics form a crucial base for governments monitoring and managing economies, an imperative for efficient resource allocation and decision making in both private and public sectors,” said said Dag Roll-Hansen, Senior Adviser/Sociologist, Division for Development Cooperation at Statistics Norway. “Statistics reveal differences and changes in living conditions and are needed to improve the situation of the poor. Statistical analysis underpins evidence-based, transparent policy making by establishing a factual basis for open public debate in the media and in national decision-making bodies.”

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