12 data, including age, sex, race, religion, family status, education level, income, occupation, and race. The 2014 Myanmar Population and Housing Census25 is the most up-to-date census in Myanmar, but many government departments, most notably the GAD, frequently collect detailed, community-level demographic data.26 z Economic data. As many as 16 Union ministries and 61 departments have economic governance functions,27 and many of them collect data on the local economic and business environment. For example, the Planning Department is responsible for collecting data to calculate the annual GDP. Data is collected on the vast majority of businesses— especially micro, small, and medium enterprises— that pay their taxes, register land, and receive business inspections through local township offices. z Land data. Government departments collect a variety of data relating to land use, titling, and ownership. There are at least 20 government agencies involved in land issues, with the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Irrigation taking the lead for lowland agricultural land management and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation for upland (forest) land management.28 Land data collected by the government can be important in resolving land disputes, and has historically been used to legitimate land ownership claims of Myanmar’s political and economic elite, although maps and records are often outdated, incomplete, or inaccurate.29 Through the 2012 Farmland Law and the 2012 Vacant, Fallow, and Virgin Land Law (amended in 2018), more land users have been registering their claims, but land disputes are a persistent problem, and many households and communities have insecure claims.30 z Sector-specific data. All departments present at the township level collect their own sector-specific data as part of their routine administrative work, as well as to help the department and its parent ministry understand the current situation. For example, township Electricity Supply Enterprise offices maintain up-to-date information on the local electrical grid, including geographic reach, technical data on grid infrastructure, and community-level information about the number of villages with access to electricity, sources of electricity, and household access to electricity. The Department for Public Health, to select another example, collects a broad range of detailed health data, such as the prevalence and spread of various diseases. The present report does not provide a comprehensive list of all departments and data collected, but annex A gives an overview of certain leading departments and the data they collect. z Case data. A number of departments routinely collect case-specific data in the course of case management. For example, departments of the Ministry of Health and Sports that provide frontline medical services record information on specific patients as part of their diagnosis and treatment. Likewise, Myanmar Police Force staff may create records related to specific crimes as part of their evidence gathering. The collection of a broad range of data by a large number of agencies can pose challenges for sharing data and developing a single, shared version of the truth. The current system of data collection reflects the long history of siloing ministries and departments, which has hindered data sharing and led them to develop their own data and methods. Government officials in this system are often unaware of data that is already being collected by other departments or ministries. Different departments may duplicate data collection, and often collect different data values to measure the same thing. As a consequence, departments may assemble different or competing “versions of the truth,” which, taken together, are as likely to confuse as to enlighten. For example, different departments, having collected different demographic data, may give different accounts of how many people live in a subject area, and these accounts may be difficult to reconcile and the reality hard to discern. Even straightforward questions such as “Where is village X located?” or “Where is the township boundary?” may be unexpectedly difficult to answer (see box A). Data collection at the local level is mostly carried out by department officials and remains predominantly paper based. In many township departments, a specific official will have the chief responsibility for routine data collection. These officials may do most of the data collection themselves, or they may have junior officials or frontline practitioners such as school principals, doctors, midwives, etc., collect data on their behalf. For example, in the Department of Basic Education, the deputy township education officer may be responsible for a range of data—student information, test results, school infrastructure planning, etc.—the collection of which will be conducted or organized by principals of each school. Most departments still collect the majority of their data on paper. The continued need for paperbased signatures for approvals further entrenches paper systems. Paper-based data is perceived as cheaper and less easily lost.31 However, paper-based collection has a higher risk of data inaccuracies (due to the absence of quality-control checks, for example32) and of loss by fire or water, and has a number of detriments for sharing, storage, use, and analysis (see the following subsections).