Dynamic micro-simulation provides a powerful tool for policy analysis and development planning in the context of rapid socio-demographic change.
Micro-simulation can be perceived as experimenting with a virtual society of thousands - or millions – of individuals created in a computer.
Dynamic micro-simulation follows individuals over time tracking their whole life-course. It therefore lends itself naturally for the modeling of processes and policies with a longitudinal component like education, social insurance, and health. It is especially powerful in the context of rapid socio-demographic change as it allows to disentangle policy effects from general trends and composition effects. Dynamic Micro-Simulation is also a powerful tool for detailed population projections as it supports the modeling of a rich set of individual and family characteristics and places people into their specific geographical context.
DYNAMIS-POP is a portable dynamic micro-simulation platform allowing to create realistic data-driven simulations with emphasis on applications addressing development issues. It is based on data readily available for most developing countries. By combining the information of various data sources and integrating statistical analysis to computer simulations, DYNAMIS-POP enhances the policy-relevance of existing data.
As a highly modular system it can be adapted and refined for specific uses in a broad field of policy-relevant applications. DYNAMIS-POP supports the interaction between people as well as interactions between people and the environment. In addition, DYNAMIS-POP supports the alignment of aggregated outcomes to existing demographic projections.
Built as a highly modular, free and portable platform, DYNAMIS-POP aims at making the strengths of dynamic micro-simulation accessible at low cost for many countries and a wide field of policy applications.