Demographic microsimulation is a computationally-intensive tool used by population scientists to model demographic processes, gain insights into life course transitions and make projections (Zagheni, 2015). In microsimulation models, the sequences of events that each simulated person, characterized by its demographic characteristics such as age, sex, marital status, etc., experiences over time are the result of stochastic events (often using a competing risk model) with predetermined probabilistic rules in which the transitions between states are generally generated using algorithms and computer techniques also known as Monte Carlo methods (hence " simulation"). Each individual is considered as the unit of the analysis (hence 'micro') and constitutes an observation in a rectangular data file (i.e., a matrix containing records of demographic characteristics and other key variables of interest). For every predefined time interval of the simulation, everyone might experience the risk of several events including death, marriage, childbirth, immigration, and emigration (Zagheni, 2015). Considering that the selection of the event and the waiting time until the event occurs are determined stochastically, everyone faces the risk of experiencing during the simulated time interval several events including death, marriage, childbirth, and migration (Zagheni, 2015). However, to restrict the range of potential events for subgroups of the population (for example, to respect the advisable minimum time space between pregnancies or avoid social taboos, etc.) some constraints are sometimes applied to the simulation program. Therefore, each event for which the individual is at risk is often modeled as a piecewise exponential distribution in which the individual next event is the one with the shortest waiting time, the latest randomly generated based on the input demographic rates (Zagheni, 2015). Hence, population files and demographic rates are taken as input by the simulator and demographic projections are built accordingly (Zagheni, 2015). In this technical manual, we describe the architecture and use of the first prototype of the KCMD Demographic Tools Platform (here referred to as DTP), an online dashboard that will permit users to run demographic microsimulation in a user-friendly environment. The DTP combines the power of two well-known microsimulation software, i.e., Modgen and OpenM++, with the practicality and versatility of the Shiny dashboard and R environment. The Demographic Tools Platform, conceived and implemented both as an online platform but also as an R package that can be used in different Operating Systems, should represent a valid tool for different types of users, be they policymakers, policy officers, or consultants working in the policy sector, demographers (e.g., Modgen or OpenM++ experienced users) or just researcher and students who might do not have specific knowledge of programming but who are interested in carrying out demographic microsimulations by using open-source resources packaged and supplied in a user-friendly environment.
